Empress Duan (An Lushan's wife)

Empress Duan (段皇后, personal name unknown) was the second wife of An Lushan, a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty and later emperor of his rebel state of Yan. After he declared himself emperor of Yan in 756, she probably carried the title of empress, but historical records are not completely clear.[1]

Little historical records exist about her. She was already considered An Lushan's wife in 747, even though his first wife Lady Kang was still alive. In 747, when Emperor Xuanzong of Tang gave An the honorary title as chief imperial censor, she was created a lady, with a rank rivaling the sisters of Emperor Xuanzong's favorite concubine Consort Yang Yuhuan. She bore him at least one son, An Qing'en (安慶恩), who was not one of three oldest of his 11 sons but whose birth rank is otherwise unknown.

In 755, An Lushan rebelled against Emperor Xuanzong's reign at Fanyang (范陽, in modern Beijing), and quickly advanced south, capturing the Tang eastern capital Luoyang later in the year. In spring 756, he declared himself emperor of new state of Yan. Historical records, however, did not explicitly state that she was created empress at that time. (In response to An's rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong executed his first wife Lady Kang and oldest son An Qingzong (安慶宗), both of whom were then at the Tang capital Chang'an.) Lady Kang's son An Qingxu was the second oldest son, but was not favored by An Lushan. Instead, An Lushan favored both Lady Duan and her son An Qing'en, and was considering creating An Qing'en crown prince. By spring 757, An Lushan was severely ill and blind. He was also ill-tempered, and his attendants, as well as An Qingxu, all feared death. An Qingxu therefore entered into a conspiracy with the high-level official Yan Zhuang (嚴莊) and An Lushan's eunuch Li Zhu'er (李豬兒), and they assassinated An Lushan. An Qingxu succeeded to the Yan throne. No further reference was made to Empress Duan after that point.

Notes and references

1. The sources differ about whether she was An Lushan's wife or concubine, and further were unclear as to her title. The New Book of Tang referred to her as "Lady Duan" and indicated that she was favored by him and bore him An Qing'en, and referred to her as his wife when Emperor Xuanzong granted him certain titles in 747. The Zizhi Tongjian confirmed her as favored by him and mother of An Qing'en but indicated that she was a concubine. However, the modern historian Bo Yang, in his Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, referred to her as Empress Duan without citing a source, but also stated that she was a concubine. The Old Book of Tang made no reference to her at all but stated that An Qingxu's mother Lady Kang was An Lushan's "original wife." As an empress title would imply that she was a wife, rather than a concubine, she will be treated here as his wife. Compare Old Book of Tang, vol. 200, part 1; New Book of Tang, vol. 225, part 1; Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 219; and Bo Yang Edition of the Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 53 [757].