The Dynasty of the Western Han Dynasty is quite interesting, it can be said that it is a woman who becomes a woman and a woman who loses. If it were not for Lü Hou's iron-blooded wrist, the Xiongnu in the outer town would not have revived the rule of Wenjing, not to mention the achievement of Liu Che, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, if it were not for Wang Zhengjun, the empress of the Han Yuan Emperor Liu Yi, the Wang clan foreign relatives would not have single-handedly covered the sky, and it was even more unlikely that there would be a situation of "one door and ten marquises, five simas", which led to Wang Mang's chaotic government and the establishment of a new dynasty by usurping the throne.
But in addition to these two women, there are really many famous women in the Western Han Dynasty, such as Zhao Feiyan, Zhao Hede sisters, and then such as the Dou Empress to be talked about today, Dou Yifang. The name Empress Dou is estimated to be familiar to everyone, but what she did is not very clear, so if the first Princess Liu Yan of Guantao, who opened the princess's ceremony in history, was her daughter? Did you suddenly remember who she was?
Princess Guantao was also known as Princess Dou, precisely because she was under the shadow of her mother, Empress Dowager Dou. Empress Dou's date of birth is unknown, her real name is unknown, and even the name Dou Yifang was mentioned by Sima Zhen of the Tang Dynasty in writing the "History of Suoyin". Dou Yifang was born in an ordinary family in Qinghe County, and when she grew up slowly, Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, had long since died, and the actual ruler became the first woman in China's feudal society to claim the title of emperor, Empress Lü.
During Lü Hou's reign, he once selected a good family son to serve himself in the palace, and Dou Yifang was selected among them and became Lü Hou's maid, known as Dou Ji. Dou Yifang learned a lot from Following Lü Hou's side, especially for the political skills. Later, Dou Yifang's group of palace women grew older and older to the age of being released from the palace, and Lü Hou was reluctant to "waste" the palace women she had cultivated for so many years, and was ready to give them to the princes.
It is said above that Dou Yifang was born in Qinghe County, which is very close to the Zhao Kingdom, and Dou Yifang specially found the eunuchs who were sent and stuffed a lot of good things, hoping that the eunuchs could assign themselves to the Zhao Kingdom. The eunuch promised well at that time, and as a result, when it came time to write the dispatch list, sloppily recorded the Zhao state as a daiguo.
Writing a wrong word, but let Dou Yifang far away from his hometown for thousands of miles, Dou Yifang was of course not happy, but even if she was no longer willing, and then let out a cry, the edict had been issued, Dou Yifang could only cry and cry and embark on the road to the country. Fortunately, the days of the Daiguo were not as difficult as Dou Yifang originally thought.
The King of Daiguo was Liu Heng, the fourth son of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gaozu, and the half-brother of Liu Ying, the reigning Emperor Hui of Han at the time, and his mother was Bo Ji. Liu Hengsheng was kind and kind, and he and Dou Yifang saw the same thing, even if there were 4 palace women sent together, Liu Heng only favored Dou Yifang. Soon Dou Yifang gave birth to a daughter for Liu Heng, the famous eldest princess Liu Yan.
Liu Ying was gentle and kind, because he could not stand the iron wrist of his mother Lü Hou, he died of fright in 188 BC; after Liu Ying's death, Lü Hou successively appointed the young emperor Liu Gong and Liu Hong as emperors, but in fact, the government at that time had all been owned by Lü Shi. In 180 BC, Lü Hou died of illness, and the Qunchen did not recognize the young emperor Liu Hong, who was established by Lü Hou, and killed Liu Hong and established Liu Heng as emperor. The reason for establishing Liu Heng as emperor was very simple, because his mother Bo Ji had no power and no longer had to worry about foreign relatives messing with politics.
In this way, Dou Yifang originally only wanted to return to the vicinity of his hometown, but he became an empress by mistake. This Liu Heng was the famous Emperor Wen of Han who created the rule of Wenjing in history, and the son Liu Qi, whom Empress Dou gave birth to, was the famous Emperor Jing of Han. After the death of Emperor Wen of Han, Empress Dowager Dou also controlled some of the imperial power, but did not have the same authority as Empress Lü, but would give her son Liu Qi a chance.
By the way, Empress Dou's grandson is more famous than the Han Wu Emperor Liu Che mentioned at the beginning; the reason why Liu Che was able to become emperor was due to Empress Dou's credit. From a palace girl to a famous empress who has been famous for thousands of years, Empress Dou's life is indeed a legend.
References: "Shi Ji Jia Jia Jia", "Notes on the Three Families of Shi Ji"