Liang Na
Chinese Han dynasty empress (116-150)
Liang Na (Chinese: 梁妠; 116 – 6 April 150), formally Empress Shunlie (順烈皇后, literally "the kind and achieving empress"), was an empress during the Han dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Shun of Han. She later served as regent for his son Emperor Chong, and the two subsequent emperors from collateral lines, Emperor Zhi and Emperor Huan. As empress dowager and regent, she appeared to be diligent and honest, but she overly trusted her violent and corrupt elder brother Liang Ji, whose autocratic nature would eventually draw a coup d'etat from Emperor Huan after Empress Dowager Liang's death, leading to the destruction of the Liang clan.
Family background and marriage to Emperor Shun
The future empress was born in 116. Her father was Liang Shang (梁商)—an honest official who was also the Marquess of Chengshi, being a grandson of a brother of Consort Liang, the mother of Emperor He. Liang Na was described as diligent in handcraft and sewing, as well as history and the Confucian classics, as a child.
In 128, when she was 12, both she and her paternal aunt were selected to be Emperor Shun's imperial consorts. (Emperor Shun was 13.) She was a favored consort, but she often declined offers to have sexual relations with the emperor, reasoning that an emperor needs to be equitable and give opportunities to other consorts. Emperor Shun became greatly impressed with her.
The public source identifies “Liang Na” as chinese Han dynasty empress (116-150). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Liang, Chinese and dynasty.
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This entry incorporates text from “Liang Na” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.