Consort Dowager Cao (died 562) was an imperial consort of the Chinese

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

 dynasty Liang Dynasty

Liang Dynasty

The Liang Dynasty , also known as the Southern Liang Dynasty , was the third of the Southern dynasties in China and was followed by the Chen Dynasty...

. She was a concubine of Emperor Xuan

Emperor Xuan of Western Liang

Emperor Xuan of Liang , personal name Xiao Cha , courtesy name Lisun , was a emperor of the Chinese Liang Dynasty...

, and she was the mother of his son and crown prince

Crown Prince

A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

 Xiao Kui

Emperor Ming of Western Liang

Emperor Ming of Western Liang , personal name Xiao Kui , courtesy name Renyuan , was a emperor of the Chinese Liang Dynasty...

.

Xiao Kui was not initially considered Emperor Xuan's heir, as Emperor Xuan had an older son Xiao Liao (蕭嶚), who was initially his heir apparent

Heir apparent

An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....

. However, by the time that Emperor Xuan took the throne with Western Wei

Western Wei

The Western Wei Dynasty followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei, and ruled northern China from 535 to 556.After the Xianbei general Yuwen Tai killed the Northern Wei emperor Yuan Xiu, he installed Yuan Baoju as emperor of Western Wei while Yuwen Tai would remain as the virtual ruler...

 support in 555, Xiao Liao had already died, and so Xiao Kui, as the next son, was created crown prince. When Emperor Xuan died in 562, Xiao Kui succeeded to the throne (as Emperor Ming). He honored Emperor Xuan's wife Empress Wang

Empress Wang (Xiao Cha)

Empress Wang , formally Empress Jing , was a empress of the Chinese dynasty Liang Dynasty...

 as empress dowager

Empress Dowager

Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...

and honored Consort Cao as consort dowager. Consort Dowager Cao died in the fall of that year.