Empress Wu (Ming dynasty)


Empress Wu was a Chinese Empress consort of the Ming dynasty, married to the Chenghua Emperor.
Empress Wu originated from the capital of Beijing itself. In 1464, she was selected to be the first consort of the newly crowned emperor, and chosen to become his empress. Soon after the wedding, however, she became involved in a conflict with the emperors favorite concubine, Consort Wan, and ordered her to be whipped for impertinence. The emperor, however, took the side of his favorite against the empress and had empress Wu demoted and stripped from her title and position. All this occurred one month after the wedding.
The former Empress Wu lived the rest of her life in obscurity in the garden of the forbidden city. She was not without influence in the palace life, however: from 1470 until 1475, she, in cooperation with a group of loyal courtiers, hid the concubine Paní Ťi and her son, the future Hongzhi Emperor, in her room to protect them from Consort Wan.