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, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power. She was de facto in charge of the governmental affairs during her husband's reign, though she was not formally regent. Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 — a death traditionally believed to be a poisoning she carried out together with her daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle — made her the empress dowager, and she took formal power as regent de jure during the minority of Emperor Shang of Tang. After a reign of seventeen days as regent, she was overthrown and killed in a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's nephew Li Longji (the later Emperor Xuanzong) and Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping.
When Emperor Zhongzong was Crown Prince, he took Empress Wei as his consort. In the first year of the Sisheng era (684), she was installed as Empress. However, Emperor Zhongzong’s attempt to assert independence from his mother, Wu Zetian—encouraged by Empress Wei—led to his deposition in the same year, and she accompanied him in exile to Fangzhou (present-day Fang County , Hubei). Empress Wei gave birth to Crown Prince Yide (Li Chongrun) and four princesses: Princess Yongtai (Li Xianhui), Princess Yongshou, Princess Changning, and Princess Anle (Li Guo'er). In the first year of the Shenlong era (705), after Li Xian was restored to the throne, Empress Wei colluded with Wu Sansi and others to form a faction known as the Wu-Wei clique, aiming to monopolize government affairs. She also indulged Princess Anle in selling official titles and intervening in government matters. Empress Wei was a Buddhist and extensively constructed monasteries and temples. Later, she aspired to emulate Wu Zetian and become the second female emperor. In the fourth year of the Jinglong era (710), she conspired with her daughter, Princess Anle, to poison Li Xian to death. They installed Li Chongmao (Emperor Shang of Tang) as emperor, and Empress Wei was honored as Empress Dowager. She assumed regency, controlled the government, established a court dominated by the Wei faction, and had a stone monument carved to commemorate her achievements on Tianjie Street in Luoyang . Shortly afterwards, Princess Taiping and Li Longji (Emperor Xuanzong of Tang) launched a palace coup. Both Empress Wei and Princess Anle were killed within the palace.
Empress Wei not only attempted to emulate Wu Zetian's practice of administering governance for Emperor Gaozong, but under her management, treacherous and unscrupulous individuals in the court often waited outside the palace to privately arrange licentious outings with palace maids. Some even sought official positions and wealth for their personal desires, leading to great chaos in both the court and the inner palace. Fan Wenlan's General History of China (Volume Three) states: "Empress Wei only had tyrannical actions, but lacked Wu Zetian's political talent. Foolish cowardice combined with foolish tyranny; while the forms played out were quite similar, the results were completely different." However, her attempt to emulate Wu Zetian led historians to label this period as the Wu-Wei Disturbance. Nevertheless, female dominance at court did not come to an end until Princess Taiping’s suicide, which followed a power struggle during the coup of 713, when her nephew Li Longji—later known as Emperor Xuanzong—seized control. Women’s involvement in politics continued, though less intensely, until Empress Zhang’s execution in 762.
It is not known when Empress Wei was born. She was the sister of Buddhist monk Jingjue (淨覺), who was regarded as the author of Lengqie shizi ji. During the reign of her husband's grandfather Emperor Taizong, her grandfather Wei Hongbiao (韋弘表) served as the military advisor to Emperor Taizong's son Li Ming (李明) the Prince of Cao. When Emperor Zhongzong, then using the name Li Zhe, was crown prince, he married her as his second wife (his first wife, Princess Zhao, was starved to death when her mother Princess Changle offended Li Zhe's mother Empress Wu (later known as Wu Zetian) and crown princess.
At the time that they were married, Li Zhe's father Emperor Gaozong promoted her father Wei Xuanzhen (韋玄貞) from being the military advisor to the prefect of Pu Prefecture (普州, roughly modern Ziyang, Sichuan) (eighth rank, second class, second division) to be the much more important post of being prefect of Yu Prefecture (豫州, roughly modern Zhumadian, Henan) (fourth rank, first class, second division). In 682, she gave birth to their only son, Li Chongzhao. Sometime during her stint as crown princess, she also gave birth to at least one daughter (the later Princess Changning) and possibly another (Li Xianhui, the later Princess Yongtai).
Emperor Gaozong died in late 683, and Li Zhe took the throne (historically known as Emperor Zhongzong). However, actual power was in the hands of his mother Empress Wu, now empress dowager. In spring 684, Emperor Zhongzong made Crown Princess Wei the empress. He soon wanted to promote Wei Xuanzhen to be Shizhong (侍中), the head of the examination bureau of government (門下省, Menxia Sheng) and a post considered one for a chancellor. This move, as well as another wish of his—to make the son of his wet nurse an official of the fifth rank—were opposed by the chancellor Pei Yan. As they argued, Emperor Zhongzong, in anger, remarked:
What would be wrong even if I gave the empire to Wei Xuanzhen? Why do you care about Shizhong so much?
Pei, in fear, informed this to Empress Dowager Wu. Just less than two months after Emperor Zhongzong had taken the throne, Empress Dowager Wu summoned the officials and generals and issued an edict deposing Emperor Zhongzong and reducing to the title of Prince of Luling. She instead created his younger brother Li Dan the Prince of Yu emperor (historically known as Emperor Ruizong). Li Chongzhao, who had been given the title of Deputy Crown Prince by Emperor Gaozong, was reduced to commoner rank and Wei Xuanzhen, along with his family, were exiled to Qin Prefecture (欽州, roughly modern Qinzhou, Guangxi). Empress Dowager Wu soon ordered that Li Zhe and his family first be delivered to Fang Prefecture (房州, in modern Shiyan, Hubei), and then Jun Prefecture (均州, also in modern Shiyan), to be held under house arrest at the house that his uncle Li Tai had been placed after Li Tai was deposed in 643.
Li Zhe was constantly in fear in exile, as Empress Dowager Wu had previously shown willingness to kill her own children—having forced his older brother Li Xián to commit suicide in 684 and having been rumored to have poisoned another older brother, Li Hong, in 675—and whenever there would be imperial messengers arriving from then-capital Luoyang, he would consider committing suicide, fearing that they brought orders for even worse fates. Princess Wei would repeatedly tell him:
There is no set pattern to bad and good fortune. Since we will all die one day anyway, why hasten death?
At this point, they were deeply in love with each other, and at another point, he told her:
If we will see the light of day again, I will not stop you from doing anything.
While they in exile, she gave birth to their youngest daughter, Li Guo'er—whose name Guo'er meant, "child who was wrapped" and referred to how, when she was born, Li Zhe was required to take off his shirt and wrap her in the shirt. Li Zhe and Princess Wei both greatly favored this child born in distress.
Meanwhile, while Li Zhe and Princess Wei were in exile, so were Wei Xuanzhen and his family. After Wei Xuanzhen died soon thereafter, a local tribal chief, Ning Chengji (寧承基), demanded to marry Princess Wei's younger sister. When Princess Wei's mother Lady Cui refused, Ning killed her and her four sons Wei Xun (韋洵), Wei Hao (韋浩), Wei Dong (韋洞), and Wei Ci (韋泚).