Empress Zheng

Empress of Emperor Huizong of Song, former lady-in-waiting.

via Wikipedia: Empress Zheng (Song dynasty) · see source

Empress Zheng (1079–1130) was the empress of Emperor Huizong of Song. Born to a member of the gentry in Kaifeng, she began her career as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Xiang, the official mother of the future emperor. In 1099, Empress Xiang presented Zheng and another lady-in-waiting, also called Wang, to Huizong as concubines. Zheng rose through the ranks to become Virtuous Consort in 1102 and was appointed empress in 1110, two years after the death of Empress Wang. Her elevation was controversial because empresses were generally from military or official families, not former servants. She was described as a beauty, a skillful dancer and singer, and adept at music and study.

Quick Facts

Reign: 20 March 1110 – 18 January 1126
Predecessor: Empress Xiangong
Successor: Empress Renhuai
Born: 1079
Birthplace: Bianjing, Henan, China
Died: 8 October 1130
Place of death: Wuguo, Heilongjiang, China
Burial place: Yongyouling (永佑陵); Shaoxing, Zhejiang

Facts from the source article.

Exile

Emperor Huizong abdicated in favor of his son Emperor Qinzong in 1126. In 1127, the capital of Kaifeng was captured by the Jurchen during the Jin–Song Wars. Emperor Qinzong was deposed, captured, and exiled to Manchuria along with Emperor Huizong and most of the imperial court, in what is now called the Jingkang Incident. The consorts, concubines, and palace women who were captured were distributed among the Jurchen men. The Jurchen defined five of Huizong's consorts as wives, among them Empress Zheng, which meant that she accompanied him into exile. Patricia Buckley Ebrey states that Empress Zheng would have been too old at this point to have been considered a good war prize for the Jurchen.

Death

Empress Zheng died in 1130 in Wuguo, Heilongjiang, where the Jurchen held the exiled members of the imperial clan. When Emperor Gaozong was eventually told of the death of Huizong and Empress Zheng in 1137, he reportedly reacted quite severely, ordering an extended period of mourning.