Empress Wang (Jingtai)

Empress Wang (1427-1507) was a Chinese Empress consort of the Ming Dynasty, married to the Jingtai Emperor.

Wang was married to Jingtai in 1449. When the elder brother of Jingtai was taken prisoner by the Mongols later that year, Jingtai became emperor, and Wang was given the position of empress by his side. Empress Wang had two daughters with the emperor, but no son. In May 1452, Jingtai declared the son of his secondary Consort Hang heir to the throne. At the same time, he promoted Hang to the position of empress, being the mother of the crown prince, and demoted Wang and stripped her of the title.

After her demotion, the ex-empress Wang lived a quite life outside of the palace walls. She survived the deposition and death of Jingtai in 1457, when the rest of his concubines and spouses were ordered to commit suicide. The reason for this was possible because she had assisted the nepew of her spouse, the future Chenghua Emperor to hide from Jingtai.^[1]

Notes

1. Goodrich L. Carington; Fang Chaoying, et al., Dictionary of Ming biografi, 1368-1644 . New York: Columbia University Press, 1976. xxi + 1751 s. ISBN 0-231-03801-1 (1 vol.) 023103833X (vol. 2)