Empress Sun

Empress Sun (1399–1462 CE) was a Chinese Empress consort of the Ming Dynasty, married to the fifth Ming monarch, the Xuande Emperor. She was mother of Zhu Qizhen, the Yingzong Emperor. He became the sixth Ming emperor as a child, but then as a young man led a disastrous campaign against the Mongols during which hundreds of thousands of Ming warriors were killed, and he himself was captured during an event referred to as the Tumu Crisis. He was forced to abdicate in 1449, and his half-brother Zhu Qiyu was installed as the seventh Ming ruler, the Jingtai Emperor, for several years. After Qizhen's return from Mongol hands, he eventually led a coup against his half-brother and resumed his role as monarch in a newly named reign as Tianshun Emperor before passing away in 1464. Empress Sun remained known as "Empress Dowager" through the Yingzong, Jingtai, and Tianshun reigns, until her death in 1462.

Empress Xiaogongzhang

Life

Sun was born in 1399 in present day Binzhou in the northern Shandong province, the daughter of the official Sun Zhou Taichung and lady Dong Yanzhen. In 1417, she became one of the concubines of the crown prince, the future Xuande Emperor, who was married to Empress Hu Shanxiang.

When Xuande became emperor in 1425, Sun was promoted to the title of Noble Consort. In 1427, she gave birth to a son. As Empress Hu had not given birth to a son, the son of Sun was made crown prince. In 1428 Empress Hu was deposed, and Sun herself, the mother of the crown prince, was promoted to the position of empress.

Upon the death of Xuande in 1435, her son succeeded to the throne while still a child. She was however not named regent; her power position as the mother of an underage monarch was undermined by the influence of her mother-in-law, Empress Zhang (Hongxi), who became regent in her stead. In 1442, her son was declared of legal majority.

Her posthumous name was :

孝恭懿憲慈仁莊烈齊天配聖章皇后

which is translated as:

Empress Xiaogong-yixian-ciren-zhuanglie-qitian-peisheng-zhang

In popular culture

• Empress Sun, played by Tang Wei, is the main character in the fictionalized 2019 TV series Ming Dynasty

Notes

References

• McMahon, Keith (2016). Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9781442255029.

Sources

• http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/China_Heads.htm