153:. 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. Empress Yan with her family and next to the eunuchs Jiang Jing (江京) and Li Run (李閏) and his wet nurse Wang Sheng (王聖), effectively ran the imperial administration, and used the opportunity to seize power and wealth for themselves. Emperor An, their advice, especially Empress Yan Ji's, was even if that advice was negative consequences accepted by him while he rejected the advice of his experienced and benevolent key officials. 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. After this, Empress Yan, with the help of her family and a team of courtiers allied with her, she organized the entire palace and even the government according to her will that provided the basis for her later rise to power.
193:(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
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When Lady Yan was young, she was described as intelligent and beautiful. In 114, she was selected as an imperial consort for
Emperor An, who was 20, and she quickly became his favorite. On 1 June 115, he created her empress—even though she was also described as jealous, to the extent that that year,
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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
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With the death of her husband and the ascension of Liu Yi (as
Emperor Shao), Empress Dowager Yan achieved her long-held ambition and assumed power as regent and began to rule. The Yans, working with Jiang, quickly moved to grab more power. They falsely accused some other of Emperor An's trusted
185:
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.
197:). 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.
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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
117:. 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
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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.
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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.
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Yan Ji's father Yan Chang (閻暢) was the son of Yan Zhang (閻章), an official under
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individuals—including his stepuncle Geng Bao (耿寶), his
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257:day of the 4th month of the 2nd year of the
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125:Family background and marriage to Emperor An
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49:This article includes a list of general
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101:(閻姬) (died 28 February 126), formally
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572:Deng Mengnü
547:Empress Yin
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508:Empress Shi
491:Xin dynasty
470:Zhao Feiyan
415:Empress Dou
392:Western Han
377:Han dynasty
189:The eunuch
111:Han dynasty
68:introducing
25:family name
936:126 deaths
925:Categories
856:3 Kingdoms
805:Lady Gouyi
587:Empress He
537:Empress Ma
475:Empress Fu
465:Empress Xu
445:Xu Pingjun
420:Empress Bo
410:Empress Lü
400:Empress Lü
210:References
145:As empress
139:Consort Li
115:Emperor An
51:references
685:Yin Lihua
532:Yin Lihua
430:Chen Jiao
405:Zhang Yan
227:Yong'jian
191:Sun Cheng
183:wet nurse
715:Dou Miao
710:Liang Na
700:Deng Sui
637:Wang Zhi
577:Dou Miao
562:Liang Na
552:Deng Sui
435:Wei Zifu
425:Wang Zhi
329:Liang Na
327:Empress
311:Deng Sui
309:Empress
259:Yuan'chu
243:Yuan'chu
151:Deng Sui
19:In this
800:Lady Li
592:Fu Shou
291:vol. 51
171:eunuchs
163:Nanyang
107:empress
64:improve
30:Yan (閻)
896:W. Xia
838:Xia →
705:Yan Ji
557:Yan Ji
279:vol. 5
255:bingwu
223:xinwei
99:Yan Ji
53:, but
23:, the
840:Shang
201:Death
167:Henan
912:Qing
908:Ming
904:Yuan
892:Song
888:Liao
880:Tang
844:Zhou
900:Jīn
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245:era
27:is
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