Yan Ji
Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnoteTemplate:More footnotes Yan Ji (閻姬) (died 28 February 126[1]), formally Empress Ansi (安思皇后, literally "the peaceful and deep-thinking empress"), was an empress during the Eastern Han dynasty. Her husband was Emperor An. She was known for her conspiratorial and nepotistic behavior, both as empress and (briefly) as empress dowager regent. She ruled as Regent for seven months during the rule of Marquess of Beixiang in 125. However, her plan, along with her brothers, to hold on to power for a long time ultimately resulted in failure and the deaths of her clan members.
Yan Ji was known for her talent and beauty. In the first year of the Yuanchu era (114), she entered the imperial palace and gained the favor of Emperor An, receiving the title of Noble Lady. In 115, she was established as empress. She became highly favored but was also jealous and domineering, and she poisoned Consort Li, the mother of imperial prince Liu Bao. But as long as Deng Sui was alive, Yan Ji could not advance much further, because even the emperor himself was under her regency and functioned merely as a ceremonial ruler. Her death in 121 changed everything. Emperor An finally began his personal rule, and as a result, those around him also gained power. Yan Ji and her family effectively seized part of the government’s authority; Emperor An showed exclusive favor toward the empress and was greatly influenced by her, while her brothers simultaneously served as the emperor’s trusted confidants and held important civil and military positions at court. In 124, she falsely accused Crown Prince Liu Bao, leading to his deposition and demotion to Prince of Jiyin. In 125, after Emperor An died, Yan Ji became empress dowager. In order to retain control of the government, she enthroned the young Liu Yi and ruled as regent.
During her regency, Yan Ji executed corrupt officials including General-in-Chief Geng Bao, the eunuch Fan Feng, Huben Commandant Xie Yun, and Palace Attendant Zhou Guang. She also exiled Emperor An’s influential wet nurse Wang Sheng and her daughters Borong and Wang Yong, thereby ending the disorderly political climate in which “treacherous ministers could not be punished and favored women caused chaos unchecked.” She then promoted upright and loyal officials such as Lai Li, while also elevating and relying heavily on members of the Yan clan; her brothers Yan Xian, Yan Yao, Yan Yan, and Yan Jing, who had already wielded considerable power since Emperor An’s reign, became even more powerful under her regency, causing alarm both inside and outside the court, especially Yan Xian, who took on the leading role within the Yan family. The Yan clan came to believe that they were unrivaled and invincible in power, but the tide suddenly turned and this illusion of unchallenged dominance collapsed. Soon afterward, Liu Yi died. Liu Bao’s wet nurse Song E joined with the eunuch Sun Cheng to launch the “Yan’guang Coup,” eliminating the eunuch faction allied with Empress Dowager Yan and enthroning Liu Bao as emperor. Upon learning of this, Yan Ji initiated another palace coup attempt, sending troops to capture and kill Emperor Shunwhile offering rewards to anyone who could capture him and the leaders of the coup. The attempt failed, and as a result, the Yan clan and their supporters were executed. Yan Ji herself was transferred from the Northern Palace to the Southern Palace and placed under house arrest in a separate residence within the palace, away from public view.
In the first year of the Yongjian era (126), Shortly after her fall from power and subsequent house arrest, Yan Ji fell ill due to grief and depression and died within a few months. She was given the posthumous title “Si” (“Thoughtful”), and is historically known as Empress Ansi. She was buried together with Emperor An in Gongling Mausoleum on Mangshan Mountain near Luoyang.
Family background and marriage to Emperor An
Yan Ji's father Yan Chang (閻暢) was the son of Yan Zhang (閻章), an official under Emperor Ming whose two sisters were imperial consorts, and who was described as a capable official whose promotion however was halted by Emperor Ming, who did not want to appear nepotistic.
When Lady Yan was young, she was described as intelligent and beautiful. In 114,[2] she was selected as an imperial consort for Emperor An, who was 20, and she quickly became his favorite. On 1 June 115,[3] he created her empress—even though she was also described as jealous, to the extent that that year, she poisoned Consort Li, who had given birth to a son of the emperor, Liu Bao (劉保).
As empress
During most of Emperor An's reign, he was mostly overshadowed by his regent, Empress Dowager Deng Sui. But after Empress Dowager Deng died in April 121, he asserted his authority and put a number of his trusted individuals in power to displace the late empress dowager's family, many of whom were forced to commit suicide. Among these entrusted individuals were Empress Yan's brothers Yan Xian (閻顯), Yan Jing (閻景), Yan Yao (閻耀), and Yan Yan (閻晏), all were powerful, particularly Xian who was both reliable and powerful. Empress Yan herself influenced her husband in his actions greatly, much to the detriment of the empire. It is said that from the beginning she was trying to gain power after her husband's death and tried to eliminate the opposition, establish her own clan in key positions and collect a bunch of officials, generals and eunuchs close to the emperor. In 124, she falsely accused nine-year-old Prince Bao, who had been made crown prince because he was Emperor An's only son, of crimes, and Emperor An deposed Prince Bao and created him Prince of Jiyin.
As empress dowager regent
In April 125, Emperor An died suddenly while on a trip to Wancheng (宛城, in modern Nanyang, Henan). The empress, who was with him, did not immediately announce his death, but conspired with her brothers and the powerful eunuchs Jiang Jing (江京) and Fan Feng (樊豐), to find an alternative to Prince Bao, who would otherwise appear to be his father's natural successor. They chose a young cousin of Emperor An's, Liu Yi (劉懿) the Marquess of Beixiang, and Marquess Yi was made emperor over Prince Bao. (They had made this decision because the Marquess of Beixiang was young and easy to control.)
The Yans, working with Jiang, quickly moved to grab more power. They falsely accused some other of Emperor An's trusted individuals—including his stepuncle Geng Bao (耿寶), his wet nurse Wang Sheng (王聖), and the eunuch Fan of crimes. Fan was executed, while Geng and Wang were exiled with their families. The Yans were firmly in power—or so they thought. A major illness to the young emperor would foil their plans.
The eunuch Sun Cheng (孫程), believing that Prince Bao was the proper emperor and knowing that the young emperor was ill, formed a conspiracy with Prince Bao's assistant Changxing Qu (長興渠) and a number of other eunuchs with intent to restore Prince Bao. When, late in the year, the young emperor died, Empress Yan and her brothers again did not announce his death but summoned the sons of the imperial princes to the capital, intending to again bypass Prince Bao. Several days later, Sun and 18 of his fellow eunuchs made a surprise attack on the palace, killing Jiang and several eunuchs in his party and forcing his colleague Li Run (李閏) to lead their coup d'état. They welcomed Prince Bao to the palace and declared him emperor (as Emperor Shun). For several days, the eunuchs' forces battled with the empress dowager's forces, finally defeating the empress dowager and her brothers. The Yan clan was slaughtered, while Empress Dowager Yan was confined to her palace.
Death
Some officials advised Emperor Shun to depose Empress Dowager Yan from her title of empress dowager. After some consideration, Emperor Shun declined such action and continued to treat her with the honors due an empress dowager. However, perhaps in fear and in mourning for her family, she died in February 126 and was buried with her husband Emperor An.
References
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