Lady Wu (858-919), formally Lady Zhuangmu of Wuyue (吳越莊穆夫人), was the wife of Qian Liu

Qian Liu

Qian Liu , courtesy name Jumei , nickname Poliu , formally King Wusu of Wuyue with the temple name of Taizu , was founder and first king of the Kingdom of Wuyue during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, ruling over roughly modern Zhejiang on the east coast of China.- Background :Qian...

 (King Wusu), the first king 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...

 state Wuyue

Wuyue

Kingdom of Wuyue , 907-978, was a small independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Qian family, which remains widespread in the kingdom's former territory.-Founding:...

 of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Background

Lady Wu was born in 858, during the reign of Emperor Xuānzong

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang , personal name Li Longji , known as Wu Longji from 690 to 705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty...

. Her family was from Anguo (安國, in modern Hangzhou

Hangzhou

Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...

, Zhejiang

Zhejiang

Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...

). Her father was one Wu Zhongxin (吳仲忻), who had served on the staff of a governor (觀察使, Guanchashi) of Zhexi Circuit (浙西, then-headquartered in modern Zhenjiang

Zhenjiang

Zhenjiang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Jiangsu province in the eastern People's Republic of China . Sitting on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Changzhou to the east, and Yangzhou across the river to the north.Once...

, Jiangsu

Jiangsu

' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...

).

Marriage to Qian Liu

It is not known exactly when Lady Wu married Qian Liu — but it must be before his rise to prominence, because it was said that at that time, the people in Wu Zhongxin's household opposed the marriage proposal from Qian on the basis that he did not care for property management. Wu Zhongxin's older brother, however, believed in Qian's talent and agreed to the marriage proposal. It was said that after they became married, Lady Wu organized the household well and was filially pious to his parents. As Qian had an impatient and harsh disposition, she often tried to moderate his temper by her tender advice. She bore 13 of Qian's 38 sons, although the only son that was clearly known to be born by her was his third son Qian Chuanying (錢傳瑛), and his eventual successor Qian Yuanguan was not her son but that of his concubine Lady Chen

Lady Chen (Wusu)

Lady Chen , formally the Lady Dowager Zhaoyi of Jin , was the mother of Qian Yuanguan , the second king of the Chinese state Wuyue of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.Little is known about Lady Chen's background...

. However, she was said to be loving to all of his sons, including the ones that she did not bear. For example, when Qian Yuanguan was forced by circumstances to serve as a hostage from Qian Liu to Tian Jun

Tian Jun

Tian Jun is a male Chinese rower, who competed for Team China at the 2008 Summer Olympics.-Major performances:*2006 World Championships - 1st lightweight fours;*2007 World Cup Leg 1/2 - 1st lightweight fours;...

 the military governor of Ningguo Circuit (寧國, headquartered in modern Xuancheng

Xuancheng

Xuancheng is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province of Eastern China. It borders Wuhu to the northwest, Chizhou to the west, Huangshan to the southwest, and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu to the southeast and northeast respectively....

, Anhui

Anhui

Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...

) in 902

902

Year 902 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* August 1 – Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabid army....

, she wept bitterly and worried about the dangers that Qian Yuanguan would be in.

Through Qian Liu's career, initially as a vassal of Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 and later as a vassal of Tang's succeeding dynasty Later Liang Dynasty

Later Liang Dynasty

The Later Liang was one of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China. It was founded by Zhu Wen, posthumously known as Taizu of Later Liang, after he forced the last emperor of the Tang dynasty to abdicate in his favour...

, Lady Wu also received increasingly honorable titles — Lady of Yan, then Lady of Jin, and finally Lady Zhengde of Wuyue. She often visited Fengguo Temple (奉國寺), and Qian put aside silk for her to be able to donate to monks. However, she pointed out that this was a high expenditure that the state could not afford, and declined it on that basis. She was also accustomed to visit Qian's hometown Yijin Base (衣錦軍, in modern Hangzhou) every spring.

Lady Wu died in 919

919

Year 919 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Edward the Elder of England conquers Bedford....

, while Qian Liu was still reigning (and serving as a vassal of the Later Liang emperor Zhu Youzhen). She was given the posthumous name

Posthumous name

A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life...

of Zhuangmu ("victorious and solemn").