Empress Dowager Li

Empress Dowager Li (李太后, personal name unknown; died 965) was the mother of Meng Chang, the last emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period state Later Shu. She was a concubine of Meng Chang's father Meng Zhixiang (Emperor Gaozu).

Background It is not known when the future Empress Dowager Li was born, but it is known that she was from Taiyuan. At one point, she became a concubine of Li Cunxu—the future founding emperor of Later Tang and, at that time, the heir to Li Keyong the Prince of Jin. Sometime later, she was awarded to the Jin official Meng Zhixiang as a concubine of his, possibly as an attendant to Li Keyong's daughter, whom Li Keyong gave in marriage to Meng as Meng's wife.

As Meng Zhixiang's concubine In 918 or 919, there was a time when Lady Li dreamed of a star falling into her abdomen. She informed this dream to Meng Zhixiang's wife (who would later, after Later Tang's founding in 923, be created the Grand Princess Qionghua), who believed this to be a favorable omen. The future princess thus had her attend to Meng.

In 934, Meng Zhixiang, who then carried the title of Prince of Shu as a Later Tang subject, declared himself Emperor of Shu. With Grand Princess Qionghua having died by that point, he posthumously honored her as empress, and created Lady Li an imperial consort, initially with the rank of Furen (夫人), and then the greater title Guifei (貴妃).

Empress Dowager Li was said to be intelligent and of good judgment.

Meng Chang did not listen to her, however.

However, Meng Chang died a few days after arriving at Kaifeng. Empress Dowager Li did not weep for him, but instead poured wine on the ground, stating:

She stopped eating, and died several days later. Emperor Taizu was saddened by her death, and had both Meng Chang and her buried at Luoyang in a grand ceremony.

Notes and references

New History of the Five Dynasties, vol. 64. History of Song, vol. 479. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 279, 293. Continuation to the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 4. Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms, vol. 50.