Empress Guo Shengtong
Encyclopedia
Empress Guo Shengtong (died AD 52) was an empress during Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

. She was the first empress of her husband Emperor Guangwu
Emperor Guangwu of Han
Emperor Guangwu , born Liu Xiu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han...

 (Liu Xiu), the one who established Eastern Han Dynasty as a restoration of the overthrown Western Han Dynasty. She eventually lost her husband's favor and was deposed in 41. However, both she and her family continued to be respected and honored even after she was deposed.

Family background and marriage to Liu Xiu

Guo Shengtong came from a wealthy family. Her father Guo Chang (郭昌) was a major landowner in the Zhending Commandery (真定, roughly modern Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang
Shijiazhuang is the capital and largest city of North China's Hebei province. Administratively a prefecture-level city, it is about south of Beijing...

, Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...

). Her mother was a daughter of Liu Pu (劉普), Prince Gong of Zhending—a hereditary prince descended from the Western Han imperial house, as a sixth generation descendant of Emperor Jing
Emperor Jing of Han
Emperor Jing of Han was an emperor of China in the Han Dynasty from 156 BC to 141 BC. His reign saw the limit and curtailment of power of feudal princes which resulted in the Rebellion of the Seven States in 154 BC. Emperor Jing managed to crush the revolt and princes were thereafter denied rights...

, and she carried the courtesy title of Lady. After Guo's maternal grandfather's death in 7 BC, her uncle Liu Yang (劉楊) inherited the principality. When Wang Mang
Wang Mang
Wang Mang , courtesy name Jujun , was a Han Dynasty official who seized the throne from the Liu family and founded the Xin Dynasty , ruling AD 9–23. The Han dynasty was restored after his overthrow and his rule marks the separation between the Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty...

 usurped the Han throne, he was demoted to duke, and the following year demoted to a commoner.

Circa 23, as Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty
Xin Dynasty
The Xin Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty which lasted from AD 9 to 23. It followed the Western Han Dynasty and preceded the Eastern Han Dynasty....

 was crumbling, Liu Yang rose in rebellion and, as his family had hereditary authority in Zhending, the people followed him, and he reclaimed the title of Prince of Zhending. He became a regional power in his principality and nearby commanderies. He nominally submitted to Emperor Gengshi
Emperor Gengshi of Han
Emperor Gengshi of Han, ch. 漢更始帝, py. gèng shĭ dì, wg. Keng-Shih-ti, , also known as the Prince of Huaiyang , courtesy name Shenggong , was an emperor of the restored Chinese Han Dynasty following the fall of Wang Mang's Xin...

. When the pretender Wang Lang, claiming to be a son of Emperor Cheng
Emperor Cheng of Han
Emperor Cheng of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty ruling from 33 BC until 7 BC.Under Emperor Cheng, the Han dynasty continued its slide into disintegration while the Wang clan continued its slow grip on power and on governmental affairs as promoted by the previous emperor...

 (with the name Liu Ziyu (劉子輿)) rose against Emperor Gengshi in late 23, Prince Yang supported his claim. In 24, however, as Liu Xiu, still an official under Emperor Gengshi, was trying to pacify the region, he engaged in talks with Liu Yang, and they reached an alliance, under which Liu Xiu took Liu Yang's niece Guo in marriage. (Liu Xiu was already married to Yin Lihua
Empress Yin Lihua
Empress Yin Lihua , formally Empress Guanglie was an empress during Han Dynasty. She was the second empress of her husband Emperor Guangwu -- even though she married him as his wife before his first empress, Empress Guo Shengtong, did. She was famed for her beauty and meekness...

 at the time, and it is not clear what Guo's status was vis-à-vis Yin, although Yin was likely in Liu's and her home territory of Nanyang (modern Nanyang
Nanyang, Henan
Nanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, People's Republic of China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the north, Sanmenxia to the...

, Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...

) at the time, thus avoiding a direct difficult situation.)

In 25, after Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor of a restored Han Dynasty (as Emperor Guangwu), Guo was created an imperial consort. That year, she bore him his firstborn son, Liu Jiang (劉疆). Her position would not change, even though her uncle Liu Yang was suspected of planning a rebellion and killed in 26. (Despite that incident, Emperor Guangwu permitted Liu Yang's son and Consort Guo's cousin Liu De (劉得) to inherit the Principality of Zhending, although he would be demoted to marquess in 37 as part of a major reorganization of noble titles.)

Also in 26, Emperor Guangwu considered creating an empress. He favored his first love, Consort Yin. However, Consort Yin had not yet had a son by that point, and she declined the empress position and endorsed Consort Guo. Emperor Guangwu therefore created Guo empress and her son Prince Jiang crown prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

.

As empress

Empress Guo would be one of the empresses who would give birth to the most princes in Han history (a status she would eventually share with Yin), as she gave birth to five sons. However, as the years went by, Emperor Guangwu continued to favor his first love Consort Yin and not Empress Guo. This is even as he favored her brother Guo Kuang (郭況) as an official and promoted him on a number of occasions. She continuously complained about her lack of favor, which made Emperor Guangwu angry. In 41, he deposed her from her empress position and created Yin empress to replace her.

Empress Guo did not suffer the fate of other deposed empresses in history, however—imprisonment or death. Rather, Emperor Guangwu, who has by that point created his sons only as dukes, promoted her son Liu Fu (劉輔) to Prince of Zhongshan and created her the Princess Dowager of Zhongshan—a title that had not previously been and would not be later used for any mother of an imperial prince whose husband was still alive.

As princess dowager

After Empress Guo was deposed, Emperor Guangwu continued to bestow her family honors as would otherwise befit an empress' family. Her brother Guo Kuang, already a marquess, was bestowed a large march
Marches
A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....

, and given such great wealth that his mansion was nicknamed "the gold mine" by the people of the capital Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...

. Her cousins Guo Jing (郭竟) and Guo Kuang (郭匡, not to be confused with her brother), for their achievements in Emperor Guangwu's administration, were created marquesses as well, as was her cousin's husband Chen Mao (陳茂).

In 44, Prince Fu's principality was moved to Pei, and Princess Dowager Guo went with him.

In 50, Princess Dowager Guo's mother died, and Emperor Guangwu personally attended her wake
Wake (ceremony)
A wake is a ceremony associated with death. Traditionally, a wake takes place in the house of the deceased, with the body present; however, modern wakes are often performed at a funeral home. In the United States and Canada it is synonymous with a viewing...

and burial. He also posthumously created Guo Chang, Princess Dowager Guo's father, a marquess and had his casket reburied with honors with his wife.

In 52, Princess Dowager Guo died and was buried with honors, but not the honors of an empress, nor was she buried at Emperor Guangwu's eventual tomb.
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