Empress Dowager Zheng

Empress Dowager Zheng
Died26 December 865
SpouseLi Qi
Emperor Xianzong
IssueEmperor Xuānzong
Posthumous name
Empress Xiaoming 孝明皇后

Empress Dowager Zheng (鄭太后, personal name unknown) (died December 26, 865[1][2]), formally Empress Xiaoming (孝明皇后, "the filial and understanding empress"), was an empress dowager of the Chinese dynasty Tang dynasty. She was a concubine to Emperor Xianzong and, after her son Emperor Xuānzong became emperor, she became empress dowager and continued to serve in that role until her death, during the reign of her grandson Emperor Yizong (when she was grand empress dowager).

  1. ^ "唐懿宗咸通6年12月".
  2. ^ Empress Dowager Zheng's biography in the Old Book of Tang indicated that she died toward the end of Emperor Xuānzong's Dazong era (847–859), but that account contradicted not only her biography in the New Book of Tang (which gave the 865 date) but also the chronicle of Emperor Yizong's reign in the Old Book of Tang, and therefore appeared to be in error. Compare Old Book of Tang, vol. 52 Archived 2008-09-21 at the Wayback Machine with Old Book of Tang, vol. 19, part 1 Archived 2008-06-21 at the Wayback Machine, New Book of Tang, vol. 77 Archived 2009-02-02 at the Wayback Machine, and Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 250.