Wei Zifu, posthumously known as Empress Si of the Filial Wu or Wei Si Hou, was an empress consort during ancient China's Han dynasty.
22 Facts About Wei Zifu
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Wei Zifu was the second wife of the famous Emperor Wu and his spouse for 49 years.
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Wei Zifu stayed as his empress for 38 years, the second longest in Chinese history.
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Wei Zifu was the mother of Emperor Wu's heir apparent Liu Ju and a great-grandmother of Liu Bingyi, as well as an older half-sister of the famed general Wei Qing, a younger aunt of Huo Qubing, and a step-aunt of Han statesman Huo Guang.
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Wei Zifu was born of humble means to a serf family.
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Wei Zifu's younger half-brother Wei Qing, born not long after her, was an illegitimate child from an extramarital affair by her mother with a low-level official serving the Princess's household.
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When Wei Zifu was still young, she was recruited as a courtesan at the princess' estate, where she was trained in dancing and the four arts.
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Wei Zifu was good at singing and composing, she had beautiful long hair.
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Wei Zifu was then demoted to an insignificant palace maid and was largely neglected.
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Wei Zifu was made to stay and fell pregnant very shortly later.
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Wei Zifu's pregnancy was exciting news for Emperor Wu, who was upset over himself being blamed for Empress Chen's infertility.
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Consort Wei Zifu then went on to monopolize Emperor Wu's love for over a decade, and bore him three daughters.
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Empress Wei Zifu's nephew Huo Qubing was a distinguished military tactician with a series of highly successful campaigns over the control of the Hexi Corridor.
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Emperor Wu's trust in Empress Wei Zifu was such that when she wanted to inform him of important decisions to be made in the palaces during his absence, Emperor Wu received her reports verbally and most of the time refused to listen to them.
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Wei Zifu fully trusted Empress Wei's judgment on palaces' affairs.
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Later on, civil unrest broke out between Consort Li's family and Wei Zifu's family, leading to Li's downfall and several of Li's relatives being executed.
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Liu Ju's sisters Princess Zhuyi and Princess Yangshi as well as cousin Wei Zifu Kang were accused of involvement in witchcraft and executed, effectively removing almost all of his political allies in the Han court.
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Wei Zifu then announced that he found overwhelming evidence of crime particularly at the Crown Prince's household.
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Wei Zifu then denounced and personally executed Jiang, and reported his actions to his mother.
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Empress Wei Zifu, faced with the dilemma between her husband and son, chose to support her son and authorized Liu Ju to rally her palace guards and recruit civilian militias in preparation to defend himself against retaliation by the conspirators.
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Wei Zifu committed suicide in response, and was buried with a small coffin in Tongbai on the east side of an avenue outside Fu'ang Gate.
22.
Wei Zifu promoted Tian Qianqiu to prime minister, and made major policy change rectifying the ideals supported by his dead son.