Asian Queenship

Chengtian Huáng Táihòu

Early Years

Born in 953 to Xiao Siwen and Yelü Lübugu, Chengtian would rise to become one of the most powerful women on the Khitan Liao Dynasty (916-1125).  As a result of Xiao Siwen’s promotion to Northern Prime Minister, Chengtian was married to Jingzong Huáng dì 皇帝 (r. 969-982) only two months later.  Throughout Jingzong’s reign, Chengtian played an essential role in aiding his government by maintaining government affairs and, during periods of his absence, assumed control of the regime.1  This, however, was not an uncommon feature of the Khitan Liao due to its nomadic presidency.  As highlighted by Hang Lin, the eleventh to thirteenth centuries witnessed an “epoch of powerful regent empresses in various parts of Eurasia,”2 of which the Khitan witnessed several: Yingtian (879-953), Chengtian (discussed here) and Qin’ai (c.980-1058).  It was also during the years of their marriage that Chengtian gave birth to six children, of which one, Yelü Longxu born in 971, would eventually become Shengzong Huáng dì 皇帝 (r. 982-1031).

From Huánghòu (Empress) to Táihòu (Dowager Regent)

However, in 982, Jingzong died, leaving behind his wife Chengtian and a twelve-year-old boy ruler.  A key official, Han Derang, realising the potential risk that now befell the empire, without orders, immediately sent guards to protect both mother and child.  He was then able, with the consent of Chengtian Huáng Táihòu 皇太后 (Regent), to remove key opponents to the crown, as well as to arrest the wives and daughters of other officials as a tool by which to force these nobles back to their lands without any cross communications.3  This granted Derang and Chengtian time to conceive proposals for maintaining control of the government and regime.  As a result of these measures, neither Shengzong nor Chengtian were challenged for the seat of power, but due to his young age, Chengtian assumed complete control over the court.  During these years, Chengtian also made promotions and marriages which aimed to strengthen her and her own natal family’s position.  In 986, she appointed her brother, Xiao Jixian, to the position of Northern Prime Minister (one held by their father).  She also wed her brother to her eldest daughter, Guanginnü, and in 1001, she proclaimed that her niece was the empress of Shengzong.4  As the boy ruler aged, his mother never relinquished control, with accounts highlighting that, in fact, she berated her son, especially in front of the nobility, to assert her authority.5

Chengtian as Military Leader

Chengtian would remain in power until she died in 1009. By that time, her success as regent was galvanised as a paragon of queenly motherhood, alongside her most significant success – the defeat of the Song Dynasty invasion 1004-1005.  To the south, the Song Dynasty, believing that female rule over the Liao had weakened them, launched a full-scale invasion to reclaim lost territories at the fall of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).  The now over fifty-year-old regent led her armies on horseback against the southern invaders. Early Song successes soon turned to catastrophic defeats, seeing the Kitan push into Song Territories, only being halted due to the Yellow River.  At this river, a stand-still occurred, of which the Song in 1005 eventually sued for peace.  The peace treaty ensured that the song would never invade again, with a yearly tribute of 200,000 bolts of tabby woven silk and 100,000 ounces of silver.6  Of note here is that the first tribute awarded to the Liao in 1006 was addressed to Chengtian and not Shengzong (rightful ruler), indicating that Chengtian was indeed in power. 

The Liaoshi (The History of the Liao) regarded Chengtian in positive light by stating that she was “an enlightened ruler who understood the art of governance and was always willing to listen to advice; the officials all swear loyalty to her.”7 This legacy was even transferred to the Shengzong, who is accredited for being an exceptional ruler by stating it was “due to the instruction and guidance of his mother, the Dowager.”8

Footnotes:

  1. Hang Lin, “Empress Dowagers on Horseback: Yingtian and Chengtian of the Khitan Liao (907–1125),” Acta Orientalia Hung 73 (2020): 595. ↩︎
  2. Hang Lin, “The Khitan Empress Dowagers Yingtian and Chengtian in Liao China, 907-1125,” In A Companion to Global Queenship, ed Elena Woodacre (Kalamazoo: Arc Humanities Press, 2018): 198. ↩︎
  3. Linda C. Johnson, Women of the Conquest Dynasties: Gender and Identity in Liao and Jin China, 1st ed (United States: University of Hawaii Press, 2011), 128. ↩︎
  4. Lin, “Empress Dowagers on Horseback,” 597. ↩︎
  5. Johnson, Women of the Conquest Dynasties, 129. ↩︎
  6. Lin, “Empress Dowagers on Horseback,” 598. ↩︎
  7. Lin, “Empress Dowagers on Horseback,” 598. ↩︎
  8. Keith McMahon, Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao, 1st ed (Blue Ridge Summit: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, 2013), 260. ↩︎

For further resources, refer to the Comprehensive Bibliography.