Empress Dou (, personal name unknown; 63? – 8 October 97 CE), formally Empress Zhangde (, literally "the polite and virtuous empress"), was an empress of the Chinese Han dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Zhang. She was already influential and powerful during her husband's reign, but became particularly highly powerful and influential as empress dowager and regent between 88 and 92 for her adoptive son Emperor He after Emperor Zhang's death. Her family members, particularly her brother Dou Xian, became extremely powerful, until they were toppled in a coup d'etat by Emperor He, in 92. Empress Dou lost her power, but remained honored until her death.
Family background
Lady Dou's father Dou Xun () was a grandson of the statesman Dou Rong (). Her mother was Princess Piyang (), a daughter of Liu Jiang (), the Prince of Donghai, who was a highly honored older brother to Emperor Ming and was Emperor Guangwu's first crown prince; therefore, she was created a princess even though her father was not an emperor. Dou Xun was able to marry a princess because the Dous were a powerful noble family at the time, although he himself would eventually be accused of bribing other officials and would die in prison.
Marriage to Emperor Zhang and palatial intrigue
Lady Dou became an imperial consort to Emperor Zhang in 77. She was his favorite, and he created her empress on 3 April 78; he was 22 at the time.
Empress Dou was a jealous woman, and she became engaged in power struggles with other imperial consorts soon after she became empress. She was completely in control of the palace and exercised the power of rewards and punishments stubbornly over the palace.
While Emperor Zhang's adoptive mother Empress Dowager Ma was alive, she selected two daughters of Song Yang () as consorts for Emperor Zhang. In 78, the elder Consort Song gave birth to a son named Liu Qing (), and because Empress Dou was sonless, Prince Qing was created crown prince in 79. The Consorts Song was greatly favored by Empress Dowager Ma until Empress Dowager Ma's death in 79.
Later in 79, however, Empress Dou would (perhaps remembering Empress Dowager Ma's example) adopt the son of another imperial consort, Consort Liang, Liu Zhao (), as her own son, and she plotted, along with her mother Princess Piyang and her brothers, to have her adopted son made crown prince. After Empress Dowager Ma's death, she put her plan into action. She had her brothers collect dossiers on faults of the Song clan while bribing the servants and eunuchs of Consorts Song to gather their own faults.
In 82, an opportunity came for Empress Dou. The elder Consort Song had become ill, and in her illness, she craved raw cuscuta, and she requested that her family bring them. Empress Dou seized the cuscuta and falsely accused Consort Song of using it for witchcraft. Emperor Zhang was enraged and expelled Crown Prince Qing from the palace. He had the Consorts Song arrested and interrogated by the eunuch Cai Lun. Consorts Song saw that they were in deep straits, and they committed suicide by poison. Crown Prince Qing was deposed and created the Prince of Qinghe instead; he was replaced by Prince Zhao as crown prince. Prince Zhao, however, was friendly to his brother, and they often spent time together.
The Song sisters would not be Empress Dou's only victims. After Prince Zhao was made crown prince, his birth mother's clan, the Liangs, did not dare to openly celebrate but were secretly happy. When the Dou clan heard of this, they were displeased and fearful, and they felt that they had to destroy the Liangs. Empress Dou began to give false reports about Prince Zhao's birth mother Consort Liang and her sister, also an imperial consort, and they lost Emperor Zhang's favor. In 83, the Dous further submitted false anonymous accusations against the Consorts Liang's father Liang Song (梁竦), causing him to die in prison. Consorts Liang died of sadness and fear.