Empress He 何皇后

The Lady He, or eventually Empress He, was a woman known for her beauty. She was the younger half-sister of He Jin and He Miao, wife of Emperor Ling and mother of Liu Bian.

Biography
Presumably born around 160 A.D. and mentioned in the Book of the Later Han as being a woman of great beauty, Lady He was selected to be in Emperor Ling’s harem during the annual selection of concubines, which took place in the eighth month of each year.

She earned the title of Guiren or Honoured Lady, because of her personality and beauty. She later gave birth to a son, Liu Bian, the later Emperor Shao. The date of birth of her son is said to be 173 A.D. or 176 A.D.

In 180 A.D., Lady He was made Empress.

Empress He was a jealous woman. In 181 A.D. another concubine, The Beauty Wang, in the harem apartments, gave birth to a son named Liu Xie. Empress He poisened her and the Beauty died. The Emperor became furious when he found out about this and he wanted te depose her, but the eunuchs spoke on behalf of the Empress He and managed to dissuade him.

Empress He's own son was sent to a Taoist named Shi Zimiao, where Liu Bian became known as Lord Shi. This was done because several of the Emperor's children had all died at a very young age and because of that it was sometimes suspected that evil influences might be operating, so children were sent away to escape the effect. Liu Xie was sent to live with Empress-Dowager Dong.

Empress He had two half brothers, one was He Miao, from 133 A.D. and the other was He Jin from 135 A.D. He Jin held considerable rank when Empress He was in court. He was promoted to the high rank of General-in-Chief and led the Han forces to victory against Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turbans in 184 A.D.

Empress He and He Jin had the same father, He Zhen, but a different mother. Empress He's mother was also the mother of He Miao, and received the title of Lady of Wuyang in 183 A.D.

Emperor Ling's Passing
Emperor Ling died in 189 A.D., 13 May, and Empress He became Empress Dowager. The Emperor had not yet named an heir to his throne. He thought Liu Bian lacked dignity and was frivolous and therefore wanted Liu Xie on the throne, but he never made this official. Empress He was now to decide who would receive the throne. On 15 May Liu Bian was made Emperor and named Shao.

Power Square
Following Emperor Shao's ascension to the throne, a power square was formed in the capital. On one side there was Emperor Shao and Empress-Dowager He with He Miao. On the other side there was He Jin, General-in-Chief on another side there were Zhang Rang and his and lastly there was Jian Shuo, also a eunuch like Zhang Rang and party, but from a different faction.

Jian Shuo was made Colonel of the First Army, which made him superior to He Jin, a serious insult and demotion to the General-in-Chief. He was also entrusted the care of Liu Xie, who he wanted on the throne. Jian Shuo had plans to kill He Jin, but when he was found out about this, He Jin wished to kill him instead. Jian Shuo felt uneasy about this and asked for the aid of some of Zhang Rang's eunuchs. They declined, Guo Sheng obtained Jian Shuo's letter, showed it to He Jin who then had Jian Shuo promptly executed on 27 May 189 A.D.

Dong Zhong and ally of Zhang Rang's faction, disputed He Jin's authority. He was used by Empress-Dowager Dong to threaten Empress-Dowager He. Whenever the Empress-Dowager Dong sought to interfere in matters of government the Empress-Dowager He always stopped her. The Lady Dong was furious and shouted:

"You are powerful now because you rely on your brother! But I can order the General of Agile Cavalry to cut off He Jin's head, and that would be easy as turning my hand!"

The Empress-Dowager He heard this and told He Jin, who then surrounded Dong Zhong's offices on 7 June and stripped him of his rank. Dong Zhong killed himself. One month later, 7 July, Empress-Dowager Dong died of grief and fear. Because of this people no longer approved the He clan.

Following this, He Jin, after being pressed once more by Yuan Shao, asked Empress He to dimiss all palace eunuchs and to appoint Gentlemen of the Household to fill their places. Empress He declined his request, saying:

"Since ancient times it has been a custom of the house of Han that eunuchs control the forbidden apartments. You cannot do away with that. Moreover, when the late Emperor has only just left the world, how can I act so brazenly as to deal with men face to face?"

He Jin accepted this, but still wanted to punish Zhang Rang and the eunuchs of his faction.

Lady Wuyang and He Miao, who had often received bribes and gifts from the eunuchs, were convinced that He Jin wished to kill all eunuchs and told Empress He about this multiple times. Empress-Dowager He suspected this might be true.

He Jin then approved Yuan Shao's idea to move all their soldiers closer to the capital, as a means to put pressure on Empress-Dowager He.

(more later)

Family

 * Parents
 * He Zhen - father
 * Lady of Wuyang - mother
 * Children
 * Liu Bian
 * Brothers
 * He Jin - half-brother
 * He Miao - half-brother