Empress Wang

Empress Wang (died January AD21), formally Empress Xiaomu, was empress of China from AD9 to 21 during the Xin dynasty.

Life Lady Wang married her husband, the eventual Xin emperor Wang Mang while he was still a commoneralbeit a well-connected commoner, being a nephew of then-Han empress Empress Wang Zhengjun. She was a daughter of Wang Xian (王咸), the Marquess of Yichun, who was a grandson of Han prime minister Wang Xin (王訢). (Her marriage to Wang Mang is evidence that at that time, the Chinese prohibition against endogamy based on the same family name was not as strict as it was later.)

Wang Mang was publicly known for his marital faithfulness, and he put on the appearance that he had no concubines or other female liaisons in addition to his wife. However, that was not true, for Wang Mang had affairs with at least three servant women and, later, a lady-in-waiting to Empress Wang. He was also known for his minimising personal expenditure which extended to his wife. In one incident when he was the commander of the armed forces under his cousin Emperor Cheng of Han, after his mother died, when Lady Wang came to greet the mourners she was in clothes that were so plain that she was mistaken for a servant. Lady Wang was created empress. Of her two surviving sons, the younger Wang Lin was considered more capable, so Wang Mang created him crown prince, while Wang An was created the Lord of Xinjia. Due to Empress Wang's blindness, Wang Mang asked Crown Prince Lin to move into the palace to attend to her.

Empress Wang died in January of the year 21. After her death, her two surviving sons also died in the same year. Wang Lin committed suicide by the sword after his plot to kill his father was discovered, the two having shared the same mistress, Empress Wang's lady-in-waiting Yuan Bi (原碧). Wang An died of natural causes. Empress Wang's husband and her daughter would die in October of AD23 when the Xin dynasty was destroyed by a series of agrarian revolts.