Empress Wei (664–710)
Born 664 CE, died 710 CE.
Empress Wei (Chinese: 韋皇后; pinyin: Wéi Huánghòu; personal name unknown; died July 21, 710) was an empress consort of the Chinese Tang dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong (Li Xian), who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian in accumulating power to eventually take the emperor’s throne. From the beginning of Emperor Zhongzong’s second reign in 705, Empress Wei was de facto in charge of most governmental affairs, though formally not regent. Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 — traditionally believed to be a poisoning she carried out together with her daughter Princess Anle (Li Guo'er) — made her the empress dowager, and she took formal power as regent de jure during the minority of Emperor Shang of Tang. After reigning for 17 days, she was overthrown and killed in a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's nephew Li Longji (later Emperor Xuanzong) and Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping. When Emperor Zhongzong was Crown Prince during the reign of his mother Wu Zetian, he took Empress Wei as his consort. In the first year of the Sisheng era (684), she was installed as Empress.
Text from the Wikipedia article Empress_Wei_(Tang_dynasty), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.