Dou Miao

This article is about the third wife of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han. For the snow pea shoots known as dou miao in Chinese, see Snow pea. For other empresses of the same surname, see Empress Dou.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Dou.

Dou Miao (Chinese: 竇妙; died 18 July 172[1]), formally Empress Huansi (literally, "the diligent and deep-thinking empress"), was an empress during the Han dynasty. She was the third wife of Emperor Huan. After his death in January 168, she served as regent for his successor Emperor Ling, assisted by her father Dou Wu and the Confucian scholar Chen Fan (陳蕃).[2] Dou and Chen had a major confrontation with powerful eunuchs later in 168 and were defeated and killed. After that, she was under house arrest until her death.

  1. ^ guisi day of the 6th month of the 1st year of the Xi'ping era, per Emperor Ling's biography in Book of the Later Han
  2. ^ Lily Xiao Hong Lee, A.D. Stefanowska, Sue Wiles:Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E