Empress Zhen
Empress Zhen (died October 7, 951?) was an empress of the Khitan-led Liao dynasty of China. She was one of the two empresses of Emperor Shizong (Yelü Ruan).
Also recorded as Zhen Shi
Empress Zhen
- Born
- 907
- Died
- 951
- Nationality
- Liao dynasty
- Occupation
- poet
- Fields
- poetry
- Languages
- Chinese
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Empress Zhen. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q8254137
In this article
Background
Background
It is not known where or when the future Empress Zhen was born. She was said to be a lady in the Later Tang palace, but it is not clear whether she was a concubine of one of Later Tang's emperors or a lady in waiting. She was described to be beautiful. It is not known whether she remained in the palace during the succeeding state Later Jin. In 946, Yelü Ruan, then the Prince of Yongkang under his uncle Emperor Taizong, followed Emperor Taizong on his campaign to destroy Later Jin. After Later Jin was destroyed, Emperor Taizong awarded Lady Zhen to Yelü Ruan, and it was said that he greatly favored her.
As empress
As empress
Emperor Taizong died in 947, and the Liao chieftains supported Yelü Ruan to succeed him (as Emperor Shizong). Sometime after becoming emperor, he created Lady Zhen empress. It was said that she was strict, intelligent, and elegant. She was said to govern his palace with proper principles, and did not just do so with her own personal desires. She participated in Emperor Shizong's decision-making processes, and had strategies on how to deal with Later Jin's successor states Later Han and Later Zhou, but her strategies were not implemented. She gave birth to his third son, Yelü Zhimo (耶律只沒). In 950, for reasons lost to history, Emperor Shizong also created his oldest son Yelü Xian's mother Xiao Sagezhi as an empress, but Empress Zhen remained empress as well. In 951, Emperor Taizong's cousin Yelü Chage (耶律察割) mutinied and killed Emperor Shizong in a coup. Empress Zhen was also killed, probably on the same day, as Empress Xiao Sagezhi was specifically indicated to have been killed on the next day. After Yelü Xian became emperor in 969, he buried both Empresses Zhen and Xiao at Yiwulü Mountain, and built a temple dedicated to them.
In popular culture
In popular culture
• Portrayed by Wang Yuanke in the 2020 Chinese TV series The Legend of Xiao Chuo.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Empress Zhen (Liao dynasty), revision 1349084017 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.History of Liao, vol. 5.
- 2.Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar Converter.
- 3.History of Liao, vol. 71.
- 4.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 285.
- 5.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 286.
- 6.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 287.
- 7.History of Liao, vol. 64.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Citizenship
1- Liao dynastyPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Empress XuAuthor
- Empress YamatoAuthor
- Empress ZhangsunAuthor
- Empress Zhao FeiyanAuthor
- Empu SedahAuthor
- Emrys RobertsAuthor
- Emyr DaviesAuthor
- Emyr HumphreysAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Empress Zhen?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.