The Rise of an Unlikely Empress
The story of China’s first Empress Dowager begins not in the halls of power, but in the dance houses of Handan, capital of the warring state of Zhao. A beautiful dancer caught the eye of Lü Buwei, a wealthy merchant with political ambitions. Their affair took a dramatic turn when Lü, recognizing an opportunity, presented her to Yiren (later King Zhuangxiang of Qin), a disgruntled royal hostage in Zhao. Soon after bearing his son—the future First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang—she was elevated from concubine to consort.
This ascent was no accident. Lü Buwei’s machinations extended beyond the bedroom. When the aging King Zhaoxiang of Qin died without heirs, Lü’s bribes and diplomacy secured the throne for Yiren’s adoptive father, King Xiaowen. Within days of his coronation, Xiaowen died (rumors suggest poison), making Yiren king and the dancer-turned-consort queen. Three years later, 13-year-old Ying Zheng inherited the throne, and his mother became Empress Dowager—a title never before held in Chinese history.
The Shadow Government of Lü Buwei
As regent for the young emperor, Lü Buwei wielded unprecedented power. His ministerial title, “Second Father,” hinted at rumors that he was Ying Zheng’s biological father. The Empress Dowager, now widowed in her prime, rekindled her affair with Lü, creating a dangerous liaison between private passion and public governance.
Lü’s household rivaled the palace’s splendor, with 10,000 servants and a scholarly court that produced the Lüshi Chunqiu, an encyclopedic text meant to guide the young emperor. Yet as Ying Zheng matured, Lü recognized the peril of their illicit relationship. His solution? A calculated retreat through the introduction of Lao Ai.
The Lao Ai Affair: A Scandal That Shook the Empire
Lü’s scheme was audacious: he presented Lao Ai, a man famed for his sexual prowess, to the Empress Dowager. Faking Lao’s castration (bribing officials to merely pluck his beard), Lü installed him as a palace eunuch. The ruse worked—too well. The Empress Dowager became inseparable from Lao Ai, bearing him two sons in secret at Yong City, far from the capital.
Lao’s influence grew monstrous. With thousands of retainers and the title Marquis of Changxin, he allegedly plotted to overthrow Ying Zheng. In 238 BCE, when the 22-year-old emperor learned of the deception, the confrontation turned bloody.
The Coup and Its Brutal Aftermath
During Ying Zheng’s coronation rites at Yong, Lao Ai struck first, stealing the imperial seal to mobilize troops. The emperor’s response was decisive: offering noble ranks to soldiers who crushed the rebellion. After fierce fighting in Xianyang, Lao was captured and executed by chelie (dismemberment by chariots), his followers slaughtered or exiled.
The emperor’s wrath extended to his mother. Her sons with Lao were beaten to death in sacks; she was banished to a cold palace. When 27 officials protested her treatment, they were impaled on spikes—their corpses displayed as warnings.
The Moralist Who Defied a Tyrant
Enter Mao Jiao, a philosopher from Qi. Unlike his predecessors, he framed his plea as statecraft: “Even the cruelest despots didn’t exile their mothers. Will the world follow a ruler worse than Jie and Zhou?” As boiling oil awaited him, Ying Zheng relented, restoring his mother to honor. The reconciliation preserved imperial dignity while exposing the fragility of Qin’s moral authority.
Legacy: Sex, Power, and the Making of Imperial China
This scandal shaped Chinese history in profound ways:
1. Institutional Distrust: Ying Zheng never appointed another empress, fearing female influence. The Han Dynasty later formalized seclusion for imperial women.
2. Legalist Extremes: The purge reinforced Qin’s reliance on draconian laws, a factor in its rapid collapse.
3. Historical Template: For centuries, the story served as a cautionary tale about the dangers of mixing private desire with public office.
The Empress Dowager’s final decade in the Ganquan Palace was one of gilded isolation—a fitting metaphor for the Qin Dynasty itself: magnificent, ruthless, and ultimately alone on the stage it had conquered. Her life reminds us that behind China’s first imperial unification lay human dramas of ambition, betrayal, and the precariousness of power.