Miao Dou

Background

Dou Miao was born in 151. She was the eldest daughter of Dou Wu a descendant of the northwestern warlord Dou Rong.

Career

Dou Miao became an imperial consort in 165, around the time that Emperor Huan deposed his second wife. Officials, led by the Confucian scholar Chen Fan pressured Emperor Huan to create Consort Dou empress.

At the end of 167, the emperor became seriously ill and died on 25 January, 168. Empress Dou became empress dowager and regent. She and her father examined the potential successors within the imperial Liu clan, and they settled on the 12-year-old Liu Hong, the Marquess of Jieduting, and he ascended the throne as Emperor Ling. Empress Dou continued to serve as regent. She trusted Chen and her father Dou Wu, and gave them great power.

After Dou Wu and Chen Fan became the leading officials, Dou and Chen did much to try to clean up the government. They recalled the officials who had been victims of the first Disaster of Partisan Prohibitions and gave them authority to try to stamp out corruption. The eunuchs tried to counter this by flattering Empress Dowager Dou constantly, and Empress Dowager Dou became more trusting of them as the days went by, particularly Cao Jie and Wang Fu. Chen and Dou Wu became alarmed, and they began to set up a plan to exterminate the powerful eunuchs. In the summer of 168, they approached Empress Dowager Dou with the plan, and Empress Dowager Dou was surprised and opposed it - reasoning that an extermination plan was unfair to those who had not committed offenses. With her opposition, the plan was delayed.

Later the eunuchs discovered the plan and became enraged. They quickly took Emperor Ling into custody (claiming to him - which he believed - for his own protection) and issued edicts executing the military commanders who supported Chen and Dou, and then kidnapped Empress Dowager Dou. They then sent forces to capture Chen and Dou. Chen was quickly captured and executed, while Dou publicly declared that the eunuchs were rebelling and put on resistance. Dou killed himself after defeat, and the Dou clan was slaughtered.

Empress Dowager Dou herself was placed under house arrest in the Cloud Terrace of the Southern Palace at Luoyang. She was not treated well by her eunuch jailers. She was never able to regain any real power, as the eunuchs controlled the political scene for years. Her position of influence was effectively taken by Emperor Ling's mother Empress Dowager Dong.

In 172, Empress Dowager received news that her mother had died in exile, and she became depressed. She died in the summer of that year. The eunuchs argued that her funerary rites should be no more than those of a Worthy Lady, but Emperor Ling determined that she should be buried with full imperial honors, and on 8 August she was placed in the same tomb as her late consort Emperor Huan.

Achievements

• Dou Miao was a famous character of Chinese history, who served as regent for his successor Emperor Ling. As regent, Empress Dowager Dou appeared to be diligent and paid attention to many important matters.

Connections

Dou Miao was the third wife of Emperor Huan. She had no children.

Father:

Dou Wu

Dou Wu was a low-level official during Emperor Huan's administration and a well-known Confucian scholar; he also came from a background of nobility, as a descendant of Dou Rong.

husband:

Liu Zhi

Liu Zhi, also known as Emperor Huan, was the 27th emperor of the Han Dynasty after he was enthroned by the Empress Dowager and her brother Liang Ji on 1 August 146.

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