Emperor Cheng of Han, personal name Liu Ao, was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty ruling from 33 until 7 BC. He succeeded his father, Emperor Yuan. Under Emperor Cheng, the Han dynasty continued its growing disintegration as the emperor's maternal relatives from the Wang clan increased their grip on the levers of power and on governmental affairs as encouraged by the previous emperor. Corruption and greedy officials continued to plague the government and, as a result, rebellions broke out throughout the country. Emperor Cheng died childless after a reign of 26 years; both of his sons by concubines had died in infancy. One of them starved to death and another was suffocated in prison. The babies and their mothers were killed by the order of Emperor Cheng's favorite consort Zhao Hede, with the implied consent of the emperor. He was succeeded by his nephew, Emperor Ai, whose death was followed by Wang Mang's rise to power.
Emperor Ai of Han, personal name Liu Xin, was an emperor of China's Han dynasty. He ascended the throne when he was 20, having been made heir by his childless uncle Emperor Cheng, and he reigned from 7 to 1 BC.
Emperor Ling of Han, personal name Liu Hong, was the 12th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was also the last Eastern Han emperor to exercise effective power during his reign. Born the son of a lesser marquis who descended directly from Emperor Zhang, Liu Hong was chosen to be emperor in February 168 around age 12 after the death of his predecessor, Emperor Huan, who had no son to succeed him. He reigned for about 21 years until his death in May 189.
Emperor Xian of Han, personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220.
Wang Zhengjun, officially Empress Xiaoyuan (孝元皇后), later and more commonly known as Grand Empress Dowager Wang, born in Yuancheng, was an empress during the Western Han dynasty of China, who played important roles during the reigns of five successive Han emperors and later led to the usurpation of the throne by her nephew Wang Mang. She is largely viewed sympathetically by historians as an unassuming and benevolent if overly doting woman who suffered much in her long life, who tried to influence the empire as well as she could, and tried to use her power for the benefit of the empire, and who was not a party to her nephew's machinations, but whose failure, leading to the downfall of the Western Han Dynasty, was her overdependence on her clan.
The Ten Attendants, also known as the Ten Eunuchs, were a group of influential eunuch-officials in the imperial court of Emperor Ling in Eastern Han China. Although they are often referred to as a group of 10, there were actually 12 of them, and all held the position of zhong changshi in Emperor Ling's imperial court.
Zhao Feiyan, formally Empress Xiaocheng (孝成皇后), was a Chinese courtesan and empress. She was an empress during the Han dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Cheng. She was known in the collective consciousness of Chinese society more for her beauty than for the regal presence that she and her sister, the Consort Zhao Hede engaged in and exuded, but unlike most of the famous beauties in Chinese history, she was often vilified by her own sisters. She was often compared and contrasted with Yang Guifei, the concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, because she was known for her slender build while Yang was known for her full build. This led to the Chinese idiom huanfei yanshou, which describes the range of the types of beauties. Later, the idiom was also used as a figurative expression on literary styles that can be either verbose or sparse, but were equally effective.
Liu Qing, formally Prince Xiao of Qinghe (清河孝王) or Emperor Xiaode (孝德皇), was a crown prince of the Han dynasty under his father Emperor Zhang who lost his position and his mother Consort Song due to palace intrigue at the hands of his father's wife Empress Dou. He, however, maintained a strong relationship with his half-brother Emperor He, and was able to avenge himself and his mother in conjunction with his brother. During his lifetime, he saw his son Liu Hu (劉祜) become emperor as successor to his nephew Emperor Shang, who died in infancy.
Dou Miao, formally Empress Huansi, was an empress during the Han dynasty. She was the third wife of Emperor Huan. After his death in January 168, she served as regent for his successor Emperor Ling, assisted by her father Dou Wu and the Confucian scholar Chen Fan (陳蕃). Dou and Chen had a major confrontation with powerful eunuchs later in 168 and were defeated and killed. After that, she was under house arrest until her death.
Dou Wu, courtesy name Youping (游平), was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was known as a Confucian scholar and served as a low-level official during the reign of Emperor Huan until his daughter Dou Miao was elevated from imperial consort to empress, which caused him to be promoted, eventually to become one of the most important imperial officials when his daughter became empress dowager and regent for Emperor Ling. He, along with Chen Fan, attempted to curb the eunuchs' power and install Confucian scholars in imperial government, but after a plot by him and Chen to exterminate the most powerful eunuchs was discovered, he was defeated in battle and committed suicide.
Fu Shou was an empress of the Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the first wife of Emperor Xian, the last Han emperor. She is best known for initiating a conspiracy against Cao Cao, the ruler of state of Cao Wei.
Cao Jie, posthumous name Empress Xianmu, was the last empress consort of the Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the second wife of Emperor Xian, the last Han emperor, and became known as the Duchess of Shanyang after her husband's abdication. She was a half-sister of Cao Pi, who ended the Han dynasty by forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne in his favour and established the state of Cao Wei. She fiercely opposed the coup d'état orchestrated by Cao Pi, repeatedly refusing to hand over the imperial seal.
Liu Shi (柳奭), courtesy name Zishao (子邵), was a chancellor of the Chinese Tang dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong. His niece was Emperor Gaozong's first wife Empress Wang; as Emperor Gaozong's favors for her waned, Liu found himself in a precarious position. In 654, he resigned his chancellor post, but was not able to escape being exiled in 655 when Empress Wang was deposed and killed, in favor of Empress Wu. In 659, as part of a campaign of Empress Wu's attempt to take vengeance on anyone who opposed her ascension, Emperor Gaozong issued an edict to have Liu executed.
Consort Xiao, Pure Consort Xiao or Xiao Shufei, was a concubine of Emperor Gaozong of Tang. She was initially favored by him and bore him a son and two daughters—Li Sujie and the Princesses Yiyang and Gao'an—but later, after her romantic rival Empress Wang introduced another concubine, Consort Wu, to Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Gaozong became enamored with Consort Wu. Empress Wang and Consort Xiao instead joined forces to try to counter Consort Wu, but in 655, Emperor Gaozong deposed both of them on accusations of witchcraft and replaced Empress Wang with Consort Wu. Soon, they were executed on the new Empress Wu's orders.
Cao Jie (fl.125–181), courtesy name Hanfeng, was a Chinese court eunuch and politician during the Eastern Han dynasty. He rose to power during the reign of Emperor Ling. He was involved in a power struggle against a rival faction led by Dou Wu and Chen Fan during the reign of Emperor Huan and early reign of Emperor Ling. His son-in-law Feng Fang later became one of the 8 colonels of the Army of the Western Garden.
Empress Dowager Guo, formally Empress Yi'an, was an empress dowager of the Chinese Tang dynasty. During the reign of her husband Emperor Xianzong, she was commonly regarded as his wife and the proper empress even though she never received the title from him, and she subsequently served as empress dowager during the reign of their son Emperor Muzong, their grandsons Emperor Jingzong, Emperor Wenzong, Emperor Wuzong, and his son Emperor Xuānzong.
Empress Cao, formally Empress Hewuxian (和武憲皇后), was an empress of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Later Tang. Her husband was Later Tang's second emperor Li Siyuan, and she was empress dowager during the subsequent reigns of his son Li Conghou and adoptive son Li Congke. Eventually, when her son-in-law Shi Jingtang rebelled against Li Congke, establishing his own Later Jin and attacked the Later Tang capital Luoyang, she died in a mass suicide with Li Congke, his family, and some officers.
Consort Dowager Wang, who has another title Wang Taifei (王太妃), known commonly by her imperial consort title Shufei (王淑妃), nicknamed Huajianxiu, was a noble consort to Li Siyuan, the second emperor of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Later Tang state. During Li Siyuan's reign, she, as his favorite concubine, exerted substantial influence within his administration. After the destruction of both Later Tang and its successor state Later Jin, her adoptive son Li Congyi was forced to claim imperial title by the evacuating Liao forces, and both she and he were subsequently killed by the succeeding Later Han's founding emperor Liu Zhiyuan.
Lady Chen was the wife of Liu Hong (刘鸿), Prince Xiao of Bohai, and the biological mother of Liu Zuan who became Emperor Zhi of Han.
Wang Fu was a powerful eunuch in the court of Emperor Ling of Han. After Ling took the throne in 168 at the age of twelve, Dou Wu—father of the regent, Empress Dowager Dou Miao—sought to consolidate his power and neutralize that of the eunuch faction. So he drew up a list of four powerful eunuchs to be executed: Guan Ba, Su Kang, Cao Jie, and Wang Fu. But the list was discovered by another eunuch, Zhu Yu, resulting in a complete foiling of the plot and the subsequent death of Dou Wu.
