Grand empress dowager

Summary

Grand empress dowager (also grand dowager empress or grand empress mother) (Chinese and Japanese: 太皇太后; pinyin: tàihuángtàihòu; rōmaji: taikōtaigō; Korean: 태황태후 (太皇太后); romaja: Tae Hwang Tae Hu; Vietnamese: Thái Hoàng thái hậu (太皇太后) was a title given to the grandmother,[1] or a woman from the same generation, of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere.

The great empress dowager was preferred over the empress dowager and had priority over the emperor in terms of respect. Some grand empresses dowager held regency during the emperor's childhood. Some of the most prominent empress dowagers extended their regencies beyond the time when the emperor was old enough to govern alone. This was seen as a source of political turmoil, according to the traditional views of Chinese historians.

Chinese grand empresses dowager edit

Han dynasty edit

Cao Wei edit

Jin dynasty (266–420) edit

Liu Song dynasty edit

Chen dynasty edit

Northern Wei dynasty edit

Northern Qi dynasty edit

Northern Zhou dynasty edit

Tang dynasty edit

Song dynasty edit

Liao dynasty edit

Jin dynasty (1115–1234) edit

  • Tangkuo, Grand Empress Dowager of Qingyuan Palace (1135–1136), during the reign of Emperor Xizong
  • Heshilie, Grand Empress Dowager of Mingde Palace (1135–1143), during the reign of Emperor Xizong

Yuan dynasty edit

Ming dynasty edit

Qing dynasty edit

Japanese grand empresses dowager edit

See also edit

  • Empress dowager
  • Từ Dụ (1810–1902), Vietnamese royal and only ever person to be crowned Great Grand Empress Dowager

References edit

  1. ^ Twitchett, Denis C.; Mote, Frederick W. (1998-01-28). The Cambridge History of China: Volume 8, The Ming Dynasty. Cambridge University Press. p. 18. ISBN 9780521243339.