Empress Meng
Chinese empress
Empress Meng (Chinese: 昭慈圣献皇后; 1073 – 1131) was a daughter of Meng Yuen and the Chinese empress consort of the Song dynasty, married to Emperor Zhezong of Song. She served as a regent of China in 1127, and during the minority of Emperor Zhang, the son of Emperor Gaozong of Song, who was temporarily placed upon the throne for 25 days in 1129. She played a significant political role in Chinese politics: first by legitimizing the Da Chu dynasty in 1127, and then ending it by legitimizing Emperor Gaozong of Song as the heir of the Song dynasty.
Life
Empress
Meng was selected to become the primary spouse and empress of Emperor Zhezong by the Empress Dowager Regent Gao, and the wedding was conducted in 1092. She came from a "literati family", was very well-educated, and from her introduction to court, she was taught "wifely etiquette".
The relationship between Meng and Zhezong was not a good one, and Zhezong resented her, possibly because she had been chosen for him by the Empress Dowager Regent Gao. Reportedly, he tolerated, and maybe even encouraged, his favorite, Consort Liu, to be rude to Meng. Her mother-in-law, Dowager Empress Xiang, however, had a very good impression of her and a good relationship with her, and took her side against Liu, though she later admitted, that both Meng and Liu had a temper and were both to blame for their infected rivalry.
Witchcraft scandal
In 1096, a scandal occurred when Empress Meng was accused of witchcraft. When her infant daughter became ill, the empress asked her sister for advice.
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