In the thousands of years of feudal history in the mainland, female rulers are rare, Liu Bang's Empress Lu, Tang Zhongzong's Empress Wei, and Xianfeng's Lan Guiren are all a little closer, and Wu Zetian is the only female emperor.
In fact, during the Song Dynasty, there was also a figure comparable to Wu Zetian, who almost became the second empress, she was Liu E.
Looking back at the history of Liu E's development, from a poor orphan to the empress dowager of the Song Dynasty, the legendary experience is full of wisdom, tenacity and selfless dedication. Of course, although she eventually gave up the opportunity to become emperor, her position and influence in history cannot be ignored.
Today, let's talk about Liu E's life and see how a woman became the mainstay of the Northern Song Dynasty with her personal talent and wisdom in feudal society.
Liu E's life experience and early life experience
Liu E's ancestral home is Taiyuan, Shanxi, and according to some literary and historical records, she was born into a military family, and her grandfather and father were both generals with great military achievements. However, Liu E's parents died one after another when she was still an infant, and she became an orphan at a young age.
Without the protection of her parents, Liu E had to spend a difficult childhood in poverty, begging and working on the street to make ends meet.
Living in a harsh environment, she is often hungry and cold, but her tenacious character and intelligent mind make Liu E learn to survive in the face of adversity.
At the age of 15, Liu E's fate ushered in a huge turning point, the young Song Zhenzong passed through Taiyuan, saw her performing on the street, was deeply absorbed by her beauty and talent, and then brought back to the palace, and Liu E's life has changed dramatically.
In addition to this version, there are different theories about Liu E's early life, regardless of the version, Liu E eventually entered the court and became one of the three thousand beauties in Song Zhenzong's harem.
At the beginning of her entry into the palace, she was not immediately reused, and her status was not high, although she was famous for her beauty and talent, she was just an ordinary concubine.
Started with appearance and fell into talent, whenever Song Zhenzong encountered troubles, Liu E could always resolve his worries with wisdom and humor, making the emperor laugh.
At various banquets in the palace, Liu E won everyone's appreciation with her outstanding talent performances.
Liu E's uniqueness made Song Zhenzong's favor for her grow day by day, but the rules in the palace were strict and he had to be careful not to arouse the jealousy and suspicion of others, and this political acumen made her status rise day by day.
Over time, Liu E gradually established her own power in the palace and established good relations with important people in the palace, especially with some powerful eunuchs and palace maids.
Through these connections, not only do you get more information, but you also have a favorable position in the power struggle in the palace.
In order to further consolidate her position, Liu E also actively participated in the affairs of the imperial court, made many constructive suggestions to Song Zhenzong, and showed outstanding political skills in handling some important affairs.
Liu E not only knew how to capture the emperor's heart, but also knew how to win over the ministers of the court, skillfully resolve various contradictions, and ensure the stability and order of the court.
With the emperor's favor and the support of his ministers, these efforts made Liu E's position in the palace increasingly solid, and even Song Zhenzong began to rely on her advice.
When dealing with some important matters, Liu E is often consulted and even asked to make decisions on her behalf.
This scene is very similar to the situation of Emperor Xianfeng and Empress Dowager Cixi in his later years, and Liu E's power and influence expanded rapidly, but compared to Cixi, Liu E has one shortcoming, that is, she has no heirs of her own.
From concubines to queen mothers
The ancients said that "mothers are more expensive than children", although Liu E was deeply favored, but she has not been able to give birth to heirs for Song Zhenzong, which is a huge defect in feudal society, and it is difficult for a concubine without heirs to gain a foothold in the palace, let alone go further.
In order to make up for this shortcoming, Liu E planned an incident of "borrowing the womb to give birth to a child", choosing Mrs. Li in the palace and letting her get pregnant in the name of Liu E, and the child was declared to be born to Liu E after birth.
There is a plot in the film and television drama "Bao Qingtian" called "Tanuki for the Prince", the source of the story is this history, but the plot has more artistic processing.
To get back to the point, "borrowing the womb to give birth to a child" not only solves Liu E's dilemma of having no children, but also makes her position in the palace more stable.
Previously, Song Zhenzong intended to crown Liu E as the queen, but her identity background was insufficient, and she had no children, so the matter was delayed again and again until Song Zhenzong died of illness.
In 1022 AD, Zhao Zhen, who was only 13 years old, succeeded to the throne, and Liu E won the title of "Queen Mother". Due to the young age of the little emperor, Liu E began to listen to the government and officially entered the core of power.
It was not easy to put his son on the throne, during which he experienced political civil strife and the seizure of power by ministers, but Liu E still relied on his own means and wisdom to let his son Zhao Zhen successfully succeed to the throne and become the emperor, and she also became the most powerful woman in the Northern Song Dynasty.
During this period, Liu E has grown from an unknown concubine to a strong woman who can control the government. It is no exaggeration to say that it is easy to become Wu Zetian.
During the 11 years that she was in power, Liu E showed outstanding political ability and leadership wisdom, not only handling the affairs of the government in an orderly manner, but also actively promoting a series of reform measures.
At the same time, it also assisted the emperor in paying attention to the people's livelihood, reducing the tax burden, building water conservancy, and seeking benefits for the people.
During her time in power, Liu E's biggest challenge came from opposition in the court, with many conservative ministers resentful of her expansion of power, arguing that a woman should not hold so much power.
In response to these objections, Liu E showed great political wisdom and skill, and took a series of measures to successfully win over influential ministers, while also using force to suppress those who tried to resist.
He successfully defused crises many times to maintain the stability of the Song Dynasty, and then consolidated his position through extensive political alliances and also focused on cultivating the younger generation of politicians, laying a solid foundation for the long-term stability of the Song Dynasty.
Under Liu E's rule, the Song dynasty not only made remarkable progress in domestic affairs, but also excelled in foreign policy.
She maintained good diplomatic relations with neighboring countries, successfully avoided many wars between countries, and maintained the peace and stability of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Liu E's diplomatic skills and political wisdom enabled the Song Dynasty to survive a period of relative stability and prosperity under her leadership, and these measures not only won praise from the government and the public, but also earned her the reputation of "virtuous queen".
Compared with Liu E and Wu Zetian, everything the former does is not much different from Wu Zetian, but the latter gives orders as the emperor, while the former is the queen mother. Speaking of this, a question arises, why doesn't Liu E become the emperor herself?
Why did Liu E give up being the emperor?
Liu E and Wu Zetian have a lot of similarities, but if you look closely, you will find that there are certain differences, and these differences lead to different choices between the two.
Liu E wielded enormous power during her reign, and it was suggested that she follow Wu Zetian's example as emperor, but Liu E eventually chose to give up.
She knew very well that her status as the empress dowager had been obtained through special means, and if she rashly became emperor, it would cause greater turmoil and opposition in the court. What is a "special means", Song Zhenzong is not Liu E's biological son, and this matter cannot stand up to investigation.
With Liu E's political wisdom, she should understand that if she rashly becomes emperor, she may provoke strong opposition from the ministers of the DPRK and China, and even trigger a coup d'état, and her identity background does not support such a big leap.
So she chose to maintain the existing power structure, to ensure the stability of the government and her own security, and at the same time to ensure her own status.
At the same time, Liu E was a relatively traditional woman, and her deep affection for Song Zhenzong and loyalty to the Zhao dynasty also made her unwilling to destroy the foundation of the Song dynasty because of her personal ambitions.
Although the "tanuki for the prince" incident was inhumane, she did not kill people afterwards, but properly placed Mrs. Li, which can be seen from this point that it is not the kind of royal ruthless blade.
After the curtain was over, Liu E chose to retreat into the background and return power to the adult Song Renzong, while she herself continued to live in the palace as the empress dowager until her death.
During the reign of Song Renzong, Liu E also continued to teach his own ideas and means of governing the country, looking back at the various policies of the reign of Renzong, it can be seen that there is Liu E's shadow behind it, and the methods and concepts of the two are quite similar.
Overall, Liu E's final choice not only maintained the stability of the Song Dynasty, but also won the respect of later generations.
Later generations have mixed reviews of Liu E, with some people believing that she is scheming and tough, but more people praise her leadership and selfless dedication at a time of national crisis.
The series of reform measures implemented during the period of the curtain to listen to the government played a positive role in the stability and development of the Song Dynasty, and her wisdom and determination made her an outstanding female politician in history.
Liu E's legendary life is a chapter in the history of the Northern Song Dynasty, from a poor orphan to a powerful empress dowager, her outstanding political wisdom and tenacity to maintain the stability and prosperity of the Song Dynasty.
Although she finally chose to retreat into the background and failed to become the second empress, her contributions and deeds during her reign won the respect of the court and the people, not the second Wu Zetian but did not lose to Wu Zetian at all.
What do you think differently about this?
Resources: https://kns.cnki.net/kcms2/article/abstract?v=0uJvuxkiqRtR9zkBTq0JNXDYtrb-Vcb1cKzvTqINj91thHulJVQzlCkbhxGzENA7iwwVmXJhy4j1fee2u_FpE2maqoUb4i2YfpkJxH8NZG2MZ-Qg1Mc8WDNzE4GmSoPsnhh5hicFlW2xhYiUfqhPFg==&uniplatform=NZKPT&language=CHS
Analysis of the reasons why Empress Liu (Liu E) of Song Zhenzong is not the emperor - CNKI (cnki.net)
Wu Zetian of the Song Dynasty - CNKI (cnki.net)