Jia Nanfeng, nicknamed Shi, was a Chinese empress consort.
23 Facts About Jia Nanfeng
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Jia Nanfeng was a daughter of Jia Chong and the first wife of Emperor Hui of the Jin dynasty and a granddaughter of Jia Kui.
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Jia Nanfeng is commonly seen as a villainous figure in Chinese history, as the person who provoked the War of the Eight Princes, leading to the Wu Hu rebellions and the Jin Dynasty's loss of northern and central China.
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Jia Nanfeng was their oldest daughter, although Jia Chong had two daughters from his previous marriage to noble lady Li Wan, a daughter of Li Feng.
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Jia Nanfeng had a nursemaid, Xu Yi, who later served her as a trusted court maid.
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The Jia Nanfeng family lacks male children, and Lady Jia Nanfeng is jealous, ugly, short, and dark-skinned.
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Jia Nanfeng became quickly known for her jealousy, but she established a relationship with the crown prince where he both loved and feared her.
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Empress Yang Zhi was created empress dowager and Crown Princess Jia Nanfeng was created empress.
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Empress Jia Nanfeng was not happy about having little input in governance, however.
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Jia Nanfeng therefore conspired with the eunuch Dong Meng and the generals Meng Guan and Li Zhao against the Yangs.
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Jia Nanfeng tried to include Emperor Hui's granduncle Sima Liang, the most respected of the imperial princes, into the conspiracy, but Sima Liang declined; instead, she persuaded Emperor Hui's brother, Sima Wei the Prince of Chu, to join her plan.
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Empress Jia Nanfeng then made the bold declaration that Empress Dowager Yang was committing treason.
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Sima Liang and Wei tried to get the government on track, but Empress Jia Nanfeng continued to interfere with management of daily governmental matters.
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Empress Jia Nanfeng, who had already resented Wei for having, during Emperor Wu's reign, suggested that he change his heir, and therefore resolved to undergo a second coup.
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Jia Nanfeng closely associated with her cousin-once-removed Guo Zhang, her sister Jia Wu, and Emperor Wu's concubine Zhao Can.
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Jia Nanfeng lacked self-control, and was violent and capricious in her ways, but Zhang, Pei, and Jia Mo were honest men who generally kept the government in order.
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However, as she grew increasingly unbridled in her behavior, Zhang, Pei, and Jia Nanfeng Mo considered deposing her and replacing her with Crown Prince Yu's mother Consort Xie, but they hesitated and never took actual action.
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At one point, Empress Jia Nanfeng falsely claimed herself to be pregnant and planned to falsely claim her nephew Han Weizu to be her own, but for reasons unknown did not actually carry out that plan.
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When Crown Prince Yu was in the palace to make an official petition to have his ill son Sima Bin created a prince, Empress Jia Nanfeng forced him to drink a large amount of wine and, once he was drunk, had him write out a statement in which he declared intention to murder the emperor and the empress and to take over as emperor.
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Jia Nanfeng sent assassins and had Crown Prince Yu assassinated.
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Jia Nanfeng started a coup less than two weeks later, killing Jia Mi, Zhang, Pei, and other associates of Empress Jia.
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Empress Jia Nanfeng was deposed on the same day and forced to commit suicide a few days later by drinking "jinxiaojiu".