A Dynasty in Transition: The Rise of Emperor Yingzong

The year 1063 marked a pivotal moment in the Northern Song Dynasty. Following the death of Emperor Renzong, his adopted heir Zhao Shu ascended the throne as Emperor Yingzong. However, this transition was far from smooth. Yingzong’s legitimacy was fragile—he had been chosen as heir only after Renzong’s biological sons died young, and his relationship with Empress Dowager Cao, Renzong’s widow, quickly deteriorated into open conflict.

The infamous “Han Chong’er False Pregnancy Case” had already exposed tensions between Yingzong and the Empress Dowager. When rumors spread that a palace maid named Han Chong’er was pregnant with Renzong’s child—potentially threatening Yingzong’s position—the scholar-officials, including powerful ministers like Han Qi and Ouyang Xiu, firmly sided with the emperor. Their support proved crucial; by autumn 1063, Yingzong had recovered from a mysterious illness and began handling state affairs with increasing confidence. Yet one symbolic obstacle remained: the silk curtain behind which Empress Dowager Cao continued to observe court proceedings.

The Lingering Veil of Power

Though Yingzong now conducted daily governance—meeting ministers in the morning at the front hall and reviewing documents in the afternoon—the physical presence of the curtain in the Inner East Gate Palace served as a constant reminder of divided authority. The History of Song paints Empress Dowager Cao as reluctant to wield power, claiming she deferred to ministers’ decisions and promptly returned authority once Yingzong recovered. Yet contradictions in the historical record suggest otherwise. One passage describes her as deeply versed in classical texts, actively citing historical precedents to guide policy—hardly the behavior of a passive observer.

Her background explains this political acumen. As granddaughter of Cao Bin (931–999), the celebrated general who conquered the Southern Tang Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cao came from a family that mastered the art of survival through calculated humility. Her personal journey also shaped her resilience. Married to Renzong at 19 after an unprecedented coronation ceremony, she endured decades as a childless empress while her husband favored concubines like the ambitious Consort Zhang. One telling incident saw Consort Zhang brazenly request to borrow the empress’s ceremonial parasol—a shocking breach of protocol that Cao permitted, only for Renzong to intervene.

The Breaking Point: Han Qi’s Calculated Move

By 1064, the scholar-officials decided the curtain must fall. Their strategy unfolded through symbolic acts reinforcing Yingzong’s legitimacy: the emperor began classical studies with Confucian scholars, while his eldest son Zhao Xu (later Emperor Shenzong) moved out of the palace—a precursor to establishing the succession. When Censor-in-Chief Wang Chou proposed a public procession to showcase Yingzong’s health, Empress Dowager Cao resisted, citing incomplete mourning rites for Renzong.

Historian Sima Guang then played a masterstroke. His memorial reframed the procession as a rain-prayer ceremony—a sacred imperial duty that even the Empress Dowager couldn’t oppose. On April 28, 1064, Yingzong’s triumphant public appearance at Xiangguo Temple shattered any pretense for continued regency.

The final act came weeks later. Chief Councillor Han Qi engineered a dramatic confrontation. After praising Yingzong’s administrative competence, he feigned resignation to gain private audience with the Empress Dowager. When she murmured, “This old woman ought to retire first,” Han seized the moment. Before she could reconsider, he barked orders to the ceremonial guards: “Remove the curtain!” As recorded by historian Li Tao, the curtain fell so abruptly that observers glimpsed the Empress Dowager’s retreating robes behind a screen.

Legacy of a Fractured Court

On May 13, 1064, Empress Dowager Cao formally relinquished power, though she delayed surrendering the imperial seals—the ultimate symbols of authority—for weeks under mounting pressure. Yingzong’s first question to his ministers—”How shall we remedy these deep-rooted problems?”—hinted at reformist ambitions reminiscent of the earlier Qingli Reforms.

Yet Sima Guang foresaw trouble. His memorials warned that Yingzong’s grudges against his adoptive parents threatened the dynasty’s moral foundation. Indeed, the emperor reduced his “sisters” (Renzong’s daughters) to second-class status, even confiscating their residences. Meanwhile, the rift between Han Qi and senior statesman Fu Bi over the curtain incident revealed dangerous fractures among the ruling elite.

The purge of eunuch Ren Shouzhong—accused of sowing discord between Yingzong and the Empress Dowager—failed to heal the wounds. Behind palace walls, the former regent endured lonely twilight years, while Yingzong, though finally holding undivided power, remained haunted by past humiliations. As Sima Guang predicted, the manner of the transition cast long shadows: the very officials who secured Yingzong’s throne now eyed each other with distrust, setting the stage for future political storms that would culminate in Wang Anshi’s controversial reforms.

This 11th-century power struggle reveals timeless truths about authority and its relinquishment. Empress Dowager Cao’s story transcends her era—a reminder that even in systems bound by ritual, the transfer of power is rarely graceful, and the scars it leaves often outlast the regimes themselves.