The Fragile Fortunes of Imperial Kinship

The early Western Han Dynasty witnessed a complex interplay of power, ambition, and chance that would shape China’s imperial future. At the center of this drama stood Emperor Jing of Han (188–141 BCE), whose fourteen sons by various consorts became pawns in a high-stakes succession battle. Among them, the young Liu Che (later Emperor Wu) emerged victorious through a confluence of maternal maneuvering and historical circumstance—a story inextricably linked to five influential women whose rivalries altered the course of history.

The Matriarch’s Gamble: Grand Empress Dowager Dou’s Fatal Move

The origins of this power struggle trace back to Grand Empress Dowager Dou, whose unlikely ascent from weaving girl to imperial matriarch reads like a historical parable. Originally a concubine of the rebel king Wei Bao, she entered Emperor Gaozu’s palace after Wei’s defeat, spending years in obscurity before a single night with the emperor produced the future Emperor Wen. Her survival through the turbulent reign of Empress Lü—where favored consorts faced brutal reprisals—demonstrated remarkable political acumen.

By Emperor Jing’s reign, the aged Dou sought to cement her clan’s position by arranging his marriage to her grandniece. This strategic move mirrored Empress Lü’s earlier disastrous attempt to wed her niece to Emperor Hui, highlighting a recurring dynastic pattern. The childless Empress Dou maintained her position solely through her great-aunt’s influence, creating a precarious situation that would unravel upon the grand dowager’s death in 155 BCE.

The Power Vacuum: Consequences of a Childless Empress

Empress Dou’s 151 BCE deposition marked a turning point with three critical consequences:
1. It eliminated the principle of primogeniture through the empress, opening succession to all fourteen princes
2. It ignited fierce competition among imperial consorts, particularly between Lady Li (mother of Crown Prince Liu Rong) and Wang Zhi (mother of Liu Che)
3. It established a precedent for imperial divorces that would echo through Han history

The deposition revealed a hard truth of Han politics: imperial marriages served dynastic stability, not personal affection. Emperor Jing’s prolific fathering of twenty children (none with Empress Dou) underscored this institutional reality.

Wang Zhi: The Ultimate Imperial Opportunist

The most consequential figure in Liu Che’s rise was his mother Wang Zhi, whose life embodied ruthless ambition. Originally married to commoner Jin Wangsun with whom she bore a daughter, Wang abandoned her family after her mother received a prophecy that her daughters would “attain nobility.” This calculated gamble saw Wang and her sister enter then-Crown Prince Jing’s household through unknown means—a remarkable feat given their marital histories.

Wang’s political instincts manifested in two pivotal actions:
– Propagating dreams of “the sun entering her womb” during her pregnancy with Liu Che, invoking solar imagery associated with emperors
– Cultivating alliances with key figures like Princess Liu Piao while undermining Lady Li

Her sister Wang Erxu’s bearing of four sons further strengthened their collective position, creating a maternal faction controlling five imperial princes.

The Decisive Struggle: Five Women Shape an Empire

The succession crisis unfolded as a clash between five women:

1. Grand Empress Dowager Dou – The fading patron whose death doomed her namesake empress
2. Empress Dou – The childless figurehead whose removal opened the succession
3. Lady Li – Mother of initial heir Liu Rong, whose arrogance alienated Emperor Jing
4. Wang Zhi – Master strategist who turned prophecy into political reality
5. Princess Liu Piao – Emperor Jing’s influential sister who endorsed Liu Che

The turning point came when Lady Li refused a political marriage for her son proposed by Princess Piao, prompting the princess to warn Emperor Jing about her temperament. Wang Zhi exploited this by secretly urging officials to petition for Lady Li’s elevation to empress—a move that backfired spectacularly when the emperor interpreted it as power-hungry maneuvering.

Cultural Reverberations of the Succession Struggle

This palace intrigue established patterns that would define imperial politics:
– The “Motherly Virtue” Paradox: Empress Dou’s virtuous disinterest enabled her survival under Lü but doomed her namesake’s political relevance
– Propaganda Through Omens: Wang Zhi’s solar dreams inaugurated a tradition of legitimizing claims through supernatural signs
– The Maternal Advantage: Subsequent dynasties would carefully scrutinize imperial consorts’ families to avoid another Lü clan scenario

The struggle also reflected evolving Han attitudes toward female remarriage—Wang Zhi’s transition between husbands occurred without scandal, illustrating pre-Confucian flexibility.

Emperor Wu’s Legacy and Historical Ironies

Liu Che’s 141 BCE accession as Emperor Wu validated his mother’s ruthless calculus, beginning one of China’s most transformative reigns. The boy who became emperor through maternal machinations would himself centralize imperial authority, ironically reducing the very harem politics that enabled his rise.

The Dou clan’s trajectory—from Grand Empress Dowager’s humble origins to brief dominance and sudden collapse—epitomizes the volatility of imperial favor. As Sima Qian noted in Records of the Grand Historian, their story embodies the Daoist principle that “fortune and misfortune intertwine like rope strands.”

For modern readers, this 2,100-year-old power struggle remains startlingly familiar in its depiction of ambition, gender politics, and the unpredictable consequences of human decisions upon history’s grand stage. The instruments of Liu Che’s ascent—propaganda, alliance-building, and strategic patience—continue to resonate in leadership struggles across cultures and eras.