Empress Deng Mengnü (died 165), also briefly known as Liang Mengnü (梁猛女) then as Bo Mengnü (薄猛女), was an empress during Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

. She was the second wife of Emperor Huan

Emperor Huan of Han

Emperor Huan of Han, ch. 漢桓帝, py. hàn húan dì, wg. Han Huan-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He was a great-grandson of Emperor Zhang....

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Family background

Deng Mengnü's father Deng Xiang (鄧香) was a low level official in the imperial administration. (It is not clear under which emperor(s) he served.) He was a cousin of Empress Deng Sui

Empress Deng Sui

Empress Deng Sui , formally Empress Hexi was an empress during Han Dynasty. She was Emperor He's second wife. She later, as empress dowager, served as regent for his son Emperor Shang and nephew Emperor An, and was regarded as an able and diligent administrator...

 and therefore a grandson of the statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

 Deng Yu

Deng Yu

Deng Yu , courtesy name Zhonghua , was a Han Dynasty general and statesman who was a major contributor to Emperor Guangwu 's campaign to reestablish the Han Dynasty...

. Deng Mengnü's mother was named Xuan (宣). Deng Xiang died early, and after he did, Lady Xuan remarried Liang Ji (梁紀—note different character than the Liang Ji referenced below), the uncle of Sun Shou (孫壽), the wife of the powerful official Liang Ji

Liang Ji

Liang Ji , courtesy name Bozhuo , was a politician and military commander of Han Dynasty China. He dominated government in the 150s together with his sister, Empress Liang Na. After his sister's death, Liang Ji was overthrown in a coup d'etat by Emperor Huan, with the support of the eunuch...

 (梁冀), who dominated the political scene throughout the reigns of Emperor Huan and his two predecessors, Emperors Chong

Emperor Chong of Han

Emperor Chong of Han, ch. 漢冲帝, py. hàn chōng dì, wg. Han Ch'ung-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty and the eighth emperor of the Eastern Han period....

 and Zhi

Emperor Zhi of Han

Emperor Zhi of Han was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty. He was a great-great-grandson of Emperor Zhang. His reign was dominated by Liang Ji, the brother of Empress Dowager Liang, who eventually poisoned the young emperor....

, as the brother of the regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 Empress Dowager Liang

Empress Liang Na

Empress Liang Na , formally Empress Shunlie , 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...

.

Marriage to Emperor Huan

After Lady Xuan remarried, Deng Mengnü lived for a while with her mother and her stepfather. Because she was beautiful, Liang Ji and Sun Shou had offered her to Emperor Huan to be an imperial consort—and adopted her and changed her family name to Liang. After the death of Liang Ji's sister Empress Liang Nüying

Empress Liang Nüying

Empress Liang Nüying , formally Empress Yixian was an empress during Han Dynasty...

 in 159, Liang Ji was hopeful to continue to use her to control Emperor Huan and hoped that she would become empress. To completely control her, Liang Ji planned to have her mother, Lady Xuan, killed, and in fact sent assassins against her, but the assassination was foiled by the powerful eunuch Yuan She (袁赦), a neighbor of Lady Xuan. This set in motion a series of events that led to Liang Ji's downfall, as Emperor Huan, angry about the assassination attempt, formed a conspiracy with five powerful eunuchs and overthrew Liang in a coup d'etat

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

later in 159. The Liang and Sun clans were slaughtered.

After the fall of the Liang clan, later in 159, Emperor Huan created then-Consort Liang empress, but disliked her family name, and so ordered her family name be changed to Bo (薄). Only later did the emperor find out that she was actually Deng Xiang's daughter, and therefore had her original family name of Deng restored. A number of her uncles and cousins were promoted to important positions but not given much real power.

Downfall and death

For a while, Emperor Huan greatly favored the beautiful Empress Deng. However, his affection was not undivided, and he had a large number of other favorites, including Consorts Guo and Tian. Empress Deng became very arrogant and jealous, and she and Consort Guo engaged in a series of false accusations against each other. In 165, Emperor Huan decided to rid himself of Empress Deng and ordered her deposed and imprisoned. She died in anger and depression. Her relatives who were promoted when she became empresses were removed from their positions, and her uncles Deng Wanshi (鄧萬世) and Deng Hui (鄧會) were executed.