Empress Dowager Du

Lady Du
Empress Dowager Zhaoxian
Palace portrait on a Hanging scroll, kept in National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Empress dowager of the Song dynasty
Tenure4 February 960 – 17 July 961
EmperorZhao Kuangyin (Emperor Taizu) (son)
Born902 or January 903[1]
Dingzhou, Hebei, China
Died(961-07-17)17 July 961 (aged 58–59[2])
Kaifeng, Henan, China
Burial
An Mausoleum (安陵, in present-day Gongyi, Henan)
SpouseZhao Hongyin
Issue
3 others died young
Names
Surname: Dù (杜)
Given name: unknown
Posthumous name
961:[2] Empress Dowager Míngxiàn (明憲太后)
964:[2] Empress Dowager Zhāoxiàn (昭憲太后)
HouseZhao (by marriage)
FatherDu Shuang (杜爽)
MotherLady Fan (范氏)

Empress Dowager Du (杜太后, given name unknown, c. 902[1] – 17 July 961[4]) was an empress dowager of imperial China's Song dynasty. She was the wife of general Zhao Hongyin and the mother of Emperor Taizu of Song, who founded the Song dynasty.

After her death, another son, Emperor Taizong, succeeded Emperor Taizu, claiming legitimacy on grounds of their mother's will, alleged to be sealed in a golden shelf at her death. Many historians believe that this was actually a fabrication by Emperor Taizong.

  1. ^ a b From her date and Chinese age at death, we can deduct that she was born in the 2nd year of the Tian'fu era of the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (between 11 February 902 and 31 January 903).
  2. ^ a b c Song Shi, ch. 242.
  3. ^ Chikusa, p. 84.
  4. ^ Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, ch. 2.