Bo Huanghou Xiao Jing

Background

Bo Huanghou was from the family of Empress Dowager Bo. There is no exact information about the date and the place of her birth.

Career

Empress Bo married the heir apparent Liu Qi in 179. This marriage was arranged by her great-aunt Empress Dowager Bo, who was also the paternal grandmother of Liu Qi. Empress Bo did not produce any children, however, and the heir apparent transferred his affections to two other palace women, Concubine Li, who bore his eldest son, Liu Rong, and Consort Wang.

Although appointed empress when Liu Qi ascended the throne, as a childless wife Empress Bo was in an unenviable position. Her situation worsened after the death in 155 of her great-aunt and mentor, Empress Dowager Bo. Within two years Liu Rong, the son of Concubine Li, had been appointed heir apparent and two years after that, in 151, Empress Bo was deposed. She died of melancholy and despair four years later and was buried in 147.

Connections

Bo Huanghou was the first empress of Emperor Jing. Empress Dowager Bo was probably her paternal grandaunt.

husband:

Liu Qi

Emperor Jing was the sixth emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty from 157 B.C. to 141 B.C.

References

• Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: Antiquity Through Sui, 1600 B.C.E. - 618 C.E This new volume of the "Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women" spans more than 2,000 years from antiquity to the early seventh century. It recovers the stories of more than 200 women, nearly all of them unknown in the West.
  1998