Consort Han

Consort Han, imperial consort rank Shufei (韓淑妃, personal name unknown) was the first wife of Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (Li Cunxu), the founding emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Later Tang state. Despite her status as his wife, he bypassed her and created a favored concubine, Empress Liu, empress after he claimed imperial title.

Background It is not known when Lady Han was born, or what her family background was. It is also not known when she married Li Cunxu, but it appeared that it was before his becoming Prince of Jin, for it was said that she was his first-married wife and that a favorite concubine, Lady Hou, was taken in his victory over Later Liang forces and Lady Hou's then-husband, the Later Liang general Fu Daozhao (符道昭), was killed in battle — which occurred in 908, shortly after he inherited the title of Prince of Jin after his father Li Keyong's death. In any case, she was considered his wife, while the next-two ranked concubines were Lady Yi and Lady Liu. Shortly after, he wanted to create Lady Liu empress, but could not bring himself to do so, because Lady Han was his wife; also, his mother Empress Dowager Cao disliked Lady Liu, and his chief of staff Guo Chongtao also opposed elevating her over Lady Han. In 924, however, Guo, troubled over accusations that Emperor Zhuangzong's favorite eunuchs and performers were making against him, changed his mind and began supporting Lady Liu, believing that an alliance with her would ensure the emperor's continuing trust. Emperor Zhuangzong, with Guo supporting his wishes, thus created Lady Liu empress. Both Lady Han and Lady Yi were angry over Empress Liu's elevation over them, so Emperor Zhuangzong tried to placate them by carrying out formal creation ceremonies creating them honorable imperial consort titles — with Lady Han created Shufei and Lady Yi created Defei (德妃). Emperor Mingzong later ordered that Emperor Zhuangzong's imperial consorts be sent back to their homes, and Consorts Han and Yi took up residence at Taiyuan. Khitan forces arrived at Taiyuan and took Consorts Han and Yi north. Nothing further was recorded in history about what happened to them.