Five Dynasties · Empress Consort and Dowager of Zhou

Later Empress Fu 後符後

Fu

Attested AD 948 - AD 960

Passages: 10
Chapters: 4
Histories: 2

Overview

Later Empress Fu was an empress Consort and Dowager of Zhou.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal name	Lady Fu	符氏

Life and dates

Attested activity

AD 954 世宗即位
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passage 116
AD 960 國初
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 48
AD 959 後立皇后符氏
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passages 44, 46
AD 959 显德六年六月
Dated from the passage context · New History of the Five Dynasties 12, passage 141
AD 948 to AD 950 漢乾祐中
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passages 110-111
AD 959 顯德六年
Dated from the passage context · Old History of the Five Dynasties 119, passage 84

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Guo Wei (郭威)
adoptive father 養父 · Adoptive parentage
Strongly inferred · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passage 99
Child of Fu Yanqing (符彥卿)
daughter 女
father 父
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 119, passage 84; Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passage 108
Spouse of Emperor Shizong (世宗)
empress 皇后 · Primary marriage
Primary marriage
installed as empress 立皇后 · Primary marriage
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 46; Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passages 107, 116; New History of the Five Dynasties 12, passage 141
Spouse of Shizong (世宗)
empress 皇后 · Primary marriage
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 119, passage 84
Child of Mother of Empress Xuanyi
mother 母
Strongly inferred · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passages 37, 47
Child of Mother of the Fu empresses (符氏之母)
mother 母
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passage 117
Sibling of Empress Xuanyi Fu (宣懿皇后符氏)
younger sister 女弟 · Full siblings
younger sister 妹 · Full siblings
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passage 107; New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 47
Spouse of Li Chongxun (李崇訓)
Marriage
Textual variant · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passage 110

Key source chapters

Career and standing

Installed
Empress
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 119, passage 84
Dowager of Zhou 周太后
Dowager · Styled
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 48

Places and affiliations

At Western Palace 西宮 · Relation Moved to
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 20, passage 48

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · Mode named-source-report Source Work Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties 五代史補
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passages 112, 117

Events and relationships

Preserved herself at fall of Hezhong
Escape · Survivor · At Hezhong 河中 · Mode named-source-report Source Work Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties 五代史補
Textual variant · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passages 112, 114

Assessments and attributes

Assessment extraordinary; refused tonsure · Mode named-source-report Source Work Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties 五代史補
Directly stated · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passages 114, 117

Source notes

Hezhong escape narrative also told of Xuanyi in main biography
With Empress Xuanyi Fu (宣懿皇后符氏)
Uncertain · Old History of the Five Dynasties 121, passages 98, 112

References in the histories

Search passages

History

10 passages

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 119Volume 119 Book of Later Zhou 21: Shizong Annals 6 · 1 passage

癸未，立魏王符彥卿女為皇后，仍令所司擇日備禮冊命。 On guiwei, the daughter of Fu Yanqing, Prince of Wei, was installed as empress, and the responsible offices were ordered to choose a day for the investiture ceremony.

Old History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 121Volume 121 Book of Later Zhou 23: Biographies 1: Empresses and Consorts · 5 passages

〈（案：世宗有後符後，即宣懿之女弟也，薛史不為立傳，未免闕略。 (Note: Shizong later had another consort, Lady Fu, the younger sister of Empress Xuanyi; Xue's History gives her no separate biography, which is a regrettable omission.

《五代史補》：世宗皇后符氏，即魏王彥卿之女。 The 《Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties》 states that Empress Fu of Shizong was the daughter of Prince of Wei Yanqing.

後知高祖與其父有舊，城破之際，據堂門而坐，叱諸軍曰：「我符魏王女也，魏王與樞密太尉，兄弟之不若，汝等慎勿無禮。」 Knowing the High Ancestor and her father were old associates, when the city fell she sat in the hall doorway and shouted at the soldiers, "I am the daughter of Prince of Wei Fu; the Prince of Wei and the Grand Preceptor are as close as brothers—you must not treat me with disrespect."

既免河中之難，其母欲使出家，資其福壽，後不悅曰：「死生有命，誰能髡首跣足以求茍活也！」 After she escaped the disaster at Hezhong, her mother wished to have her take Buddhist orders to secure blessings and long life; the lady refused angrily: "Life and death are fated—who would shave her head and go barefoot merely to cling to life!"

世宗素以後賢，又聞命不以出家為念，愈賢之，所以為天下母也。）〉 Shizong had always known her for her virtue, and when he heard she would not take orders merely to prolong life, he esteemed her all the more—thus she became mother of the realm.)〉

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 12Volume 12 Later Zhou Annals 3: Shizong, Emperor Gong · 1 passage

六月癸未，立皇后符氏，符氏无国爵，不曰立符氏为皇后，嫌同于不正也。盖其位先定而后娶，故书曰「立皇后符氏」，文理宜然，无褒贬也。 On guiwei in the sixth month Empress Lady Fu was enthroned. She held no state title, so the annals avoid saying “installed Lady Fu as empress” lest it seem irregular. Her status had been settled before the wedding, so the phrasing “installed Empress Lady Fu” is formally correct and carries no judgment.

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 20Volume 20: Shizong of Later Zhou's Family · 3 passages

後立皇后符氏， Later, another Lady Fu was established as empress,

后妹也。 The new empress was her younger sister.

國初，遷西宮，號周太后。 At the dynasty's founding she was moved to the Western Palace and styled Dowager of Zhou.