Empress dowager Totally Explained

Everything about Empress Dowager totally explained

Empress Dowager (Chinese: 皇太后; Chinese, Korean pronunciation: Hwang Tae Hu, Japanese pronunciation: Kōtaigō, Vietnamese pronunciation: Hoàng Thái Hậu) was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor.
The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand Empress Dowager. Numerous empress dowagers held regency during the reign of an underage emperor. Many of the most prominent empress dowagers also extended their control for long periods after the emperor was old enough to govern. This was a source of political turmoil according to traditional view of Chinese history.
The title Dowager Empress was also given to the wife of a deceased emperor of Russia.

Chronological list of notable Chinese empress dowagers

Empress Dowager Wenming Tang Dynasty

Empress Dowager Wu, more commonly known as Wu Zetian

Empress Dowager Wei, daughter-in-law of Wu Zetian. Qing Dynasty

Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang

Empress Dowager Ci'an

Empress Dowager Cixi, de facto ruler of the Qing Dynasty for 40 years

Empress Dowager Longyu, abdicated on behalf of Puyi

Russia

Dowager Empresses of Russia held precedence over the Empress-Consort. This was occasionally a source of tension. For example, when Emperor Alexander III died, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) held precedence over Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (Alix of Hesse) which put an enourmous strain on their already tense relationship. The power struggle culminated when the Dowager Empress refused to hand over certain jewels which were traditionally associated with the Empress Consort.
There have been three Dowager Empresses of Russia. They are:

HIM Empress Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) Empress Consort of Paul I

HIM Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia) Empress Consort of Nicholas I

HIM Empress Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark) Empress Consort of Alexander IIIFurther Information

Get more info on 'Empress Dowager'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://empress_dowager.totallyexplained.com">Empress dowager Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.