Background
Zhao Gouyi was born in 113 B.C. in Hebei province. Her father was castrated at some stage as punishment for an offense and served in the capital, Chang’an, in the minor eunuch position of palace attendant.
趙婕妤
Zhao Gouyi was born in 113 B.C. in Hebei province. Her father was castrated at some stage as punishment for an offense and served in the capital, Chang’an, in the minor eunuch position of palace attendant.
Zhao Gouyi met Emperor Wu on his hunting expedition. The emperor took her as his favorite, naming her Consort Gouyi. She was quickly promoted to the rank of Lady of Handsome Fairness and installed in Gouyi Palace within Ganquan Palace outside the city. In 94 B.C. she gave birth to a son, named Liu Fuling. Emperor Wu was pleased with the child's connection with the sage emperor, and named a gate in the palace the "Gate of Yao's Mother".
The favor shown to Lady Gouyi and her son led to speculations that Emperor Wu wanted to demote Crown Prince Liu Ju, the son of Empress Wei Zifu, and make Fuling the heir apparent. The court was thrown into chaos when there were accusations of witchcraft and necromancy implicating Prince Ju and the Empress. Hundreds of people were executed and Empress Wei and Prince Ju were both forced to commit suicide in 91 B.C.
However, Emperor Wu hesitated to appoint Liu Fuling heir apparent because Consort Gouyi was still young and he feared she might seize power through her son. After much hesitation, Emperor Wu made Liu Fuling the heir apparent. Emperor Wu appointed the trusted official Huo Guang as the future regent and summoned Lady Gouyi. He berated her for no apparent reason and ordered her imprisonment. In History of the Han Dynasty, it is said that Zhao Gouyi died of anxiety, but in Zizhi tongjian, Sima Guang reports that she was “ordered to die”.
Emperor Wu died in 87 B.C., and the young Prince Fuling acceded to the throne as Emperor Zhao of Han. He conferred the title empress dowager to his mother posthumously, and mobilized 20,000 troops to construct a mausoleum for Lady Gouyi, called the Yunling.
Zhao Gouyi was a consort of Emperor Wu. According to a legend Lady Gouyi's fists were always clenched, but when she met Emperor Wu the emperor touched her hands, her fists miraculously opened up. Emperor Wu took her as a consort naming her Lady Gouyi, which means Lady of the Fists.
Zhao Gouyi had a son named Liu Fuling.