郭皇后
Guo Huanghou was born in Qinghai province, but there is no information about the date of her birth. She was a daughter of Guo Man and Lady Du. Her family was a powerful clan, but during the reigns of Cao Rui's father Cao Pi, her clan was implicated in a rebellion, and she, among others in her family, was confiscated by the Wei government in the aftermath.
Guo Huanghou was taken into the palace after her home commandery rebelled in the early 220s. She was promoted to the rank of Lady at the age of sixteen when Cao Rui assumed the throne and became very fond of her, granting official positions to her father, uncle, and brother. He named her empress a few days after he fell ill in 239. He died a month later, and Empress Guo became empress dowager, but not regent, over his adopted son Cao Fang.
By Cao Rui's will, his distant cousin Cao Shuang and Sima Yi were regents, but Cao Shuang soon became the dominant figure in the government. How Empress Dowager Guo felt about this is not clear, for her political role during Cao Shuang's regency appeared to be minimal – even though Cao Shuang all at least formally submitted important matters to her, they decided on those matters without real input from her.
In 249, Sima Yi, with support of officials who were tired of Cao Shuang's incompetence, carried out a putsch and deposed Cao Shuang, and later had him and his associates, as well as all their clans, slaughtered, and then took complete control of the government. After Sima Yi's death in 251, his son Sima Shi succeeded him and kept the government in as much control as his father did. Sima Shi had deposed Cao Fang in the name of the empress dowager, accusing him of “conducting himself with unbounded license and with indecent intimacy toward singing-girls.
In 255, declaring that they had received a secret edict from Empress Dowager Guo, Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin made a failed attempt to overthrow Sima Shi, by starting a rebellion from Shouchun. There was no real evidence that Empress Dowager Guo was actually in communication with them, however. Later Empress Dowager Guo did insist, however, on handing the imperial seal in person to the next puppet emperor, thirteen-year-old Cao Mao (Duke of Gaoguixiang, 241-260; r. 254-260), a grandson of Emperor Wen.
When Cao Mao died six years later in 260 leading an unsuccessful coup against the Sima family, Empress Dowager Guo was obliged to welcome a third young puppet emperor, Cao Huan (Prince of Chen, 245-302; r. 260-265), a grandson of Cao Cao, the founding father of Wei. This time, further, Sima Zhao would completely ignore Empress Dowager Guo's wishes in determining Cao Mao's successor, and he made Cao Huan, the Duke of Changdao District, a grandson of Cao Cao, emperor, even though Cao Rui's brothers still had an issue. She died in February 264 without being able to make any further impact against the power of the Simas, and Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan eventually usurped the throne in 265 and established the Jin dynasty.
Empress Guo was the third wife of Cao Rui. She bore him a daughter.
