How the Dou Family Rose in Eastern Han Politics

Empress Ma's restraint did not last forever, and the Dou family soon climbed rapidly inside the court.

After the Ma relatives left the stage, Eastern Han did not escape the problem of imperial relatives. On the contrary, a harder and more calculating family began moving into Emperor Zhang's harem and court.

The Dou Family Entered the Palace

That family was the Dou clan.

Empress Dou was the great-granddaughter of Dou Rong, an important minister of early Eastern Han. The Dou family had once been eminent, but later members committed crimes, and Empress Dou's grandfather and father were both executed. For a time, the family declined.

It is hardest for a family that has fallen from wealth and honor to accept the fall. The Dou family often asked fortune-tellers about disaster and blessing. When physiognomers saw the Dou girl, they often said she would one day be very rich and noble. Some said she did not have the face of an ordinary concubine and would marry high.

These words gave the family hope again, so they trained her carefully from childhood.

In Jianchu year two, Emperor Zhang selected women for the harem. Dou and her younger sister were sent into Changle Palace. Emperor Zhang had already heard of Dou's beauty and literary talent, and when he saw her, he became even more attached. Empress Dowager Ma saw that her son liked her and allowed the matter to proceed.

After entering the harem, Dou worked hard to please Empress Dowager Ma, Emperor Zhang, and the people around them. She was intelligent, good at responding, and soon gained a fine reputation. The next year, Dou was made empress, and her sister became an honored consort.

Empress Dou had reached the center of the palace. But she was not at ease.

She had no son.

Wanting an Emperor Son

Emperor Zhang loved Empress Dou, but he saw that she was often sad. When he asked why, she said she had no son.

The emperor comforted her by pointing to Empress Dowager Ma. Had Ma not also lacked a biological son, yet still been honored and supported?

Empress Dou felt even more wronged. Ma had no biological son, but she had raised the emperor himself. If Dou had no child and the emperor died in the future, who would be her support?

Emperor Zhang remembered his own relationship with Empress Dowager Ma and decided to find a young prince for Empress Dou to raise. After choosing, he selected Liu Zhao, the son of Consort Liang.

Liu Zhao was still small, suitable for the empress to raise. Emperor Zhang's meaning was clear: just as Empress Ma had raised him, Empress Dou could raise Liu Zhao, and mother and son could depend on each other in the future.

But Empress Dou thought further.

After Emperor Zhang had been raised by Empress Ma, he later became crown prince and then emperor, which allowed Ma to become empress dowager. Liu Zhao was now in Dou's care, but he was not crown prince. Emperor Zhang had already made Liu Qing, son of Consort Song, the crown prince.

If Liu Qing succeeded, Consort Song would become honored as the birth mother of the emperor. What would happen to Empress Dou, the formal mother, was uncertain.

Once Empress Dou understood this, her goal became clear. To make Liu Zhao crown prince, she first had to bring down Consort Song and Crown Prince Liu Qing.

The Disaster of Consort Song

Empress Dou first moved against the Song sisters.

Consort Song was related to Empress Dowager Ma and was favored by Emperor Zhang. In Jianchu year three, the elder Consort Song gave birth to Liu Qing. The next year, Liu Qing was made crown prince. To move against the heir, Empress Dou first had to make Emperor Zhang distrust the Song family.

She joined with her mother, Princess Biyang, and repeatedly spoke ill of Consort Song before the emperor. Over time, although the Song sisters had committed no major fault, Emperor Zhang's affection for them slowly cooled.

Once they lost favor, Empress Dou attacked from two directions. Outside the palace, her brothers, including Dou Xian, searched for tiny faults in the Song family. Inside the palace, attendants watched Consort Song's every move.

The opportunity came quickly.

Consort Song became ill and wanted fresh rabbit meat, so she asked her natal family to find some. Catching rabbit was a small matter. Empress Dou turned it into witchcraft: Song did not want to eat rabbit, she said, but was using it to curse the emperor.

Emperor Zhang became uneasy and ordered Cai Lun to investigate.

Cai Lun later became famous for improving paper, but at this time he was a trusted palace eunuch. He understood what result the empress wanted. The investigation soon confirmed the charge that the Song women had cursed the emperor.

Emperor Zhang was furious. He first ordered Crown Prince Liu Qing to leave the crown prince's residence. Then he issued an edict removing his title and making him King of Qinghe. Liu Zhao became the new crown prince.

Once Liu Qing lost the heir's position, the Song sisters could not protect themselves. Emperor Zhang expelled them from the inner palace and imprisoned them, still under Cai Lun's interrogation. The two Consorts Song could not endure the pressure and killed themselves.

Empress Dou had removed her first enemy.

The Liang Family Also Could Not Remain

With Liu Zhao made crown prince, Empress Dou should have felt secure. But she soon saw another problem: Liu Zhao still had a birth mother, Consort Liang.

When the Liang family learned Liu Zhao had become crown prince, they privately celebrated. Although the prince was raised by Empress Dou, he had been born from Liang. If Liu Zhao became emperor, the Liang family might rise through the birth mother's connection.

Empress Dou could not tolerate this. She wanted the Dou family to be the only maternal house on which Liu Zhao could rely.

She began slandering Consort Liang and her sister before Emperor Zhang, gradually distancing him from them. The Dou family also wrote anonymous letters accusing Consort Liang's father of involvement in treason.

Liang's father died in prison, and his family was exiled to Jiuzhen. The Liang sisters also died in fear and grief.

By this point, the Song and Liang families had both been cleared away. Liu Qing was deposed, and Liu Zhao became crown prince. Empress Dou had finally placed the future emperor in her own hands.

The Dou family's rise was completely different from the Yin and Ma families before it. The Yin family lay low. The Ma family had been restrained by Empress Dowager Ma. The Dou family actively struck, pushing palace rivals down one after another.

Dou Xian Rose

After the Dou family gained power, the first man to rise was Empress Dou's elder brother Dou Xian.

Dou Xian became Palace Attendant and General of the Tiger Guards. His younger brother Dou Du also served in the palace. They received many gifts and were trusted by Emperor Zhang.

Once power arrived, clients gathered. Many men attached themselves to Dou Xian, praised him, carried messages for him, and helped expand Dou family influence.

Diwu Lun stepped forward again to remonstrate.

When Emperor Zhang had favored the Ma family, Diwu Lun had warned him not to over-favor maternal relatives. The Ma family later indeed got into trouble. Now that the emperor favored the Dou family, Diwu Lun memorialized again. He said princes, princesses, and imperial relatives in the capital were arrogant and extravagant beyond rank. If the capital looked like this, how would the provinces imitate it?

Emperor Zhang read the memorial and thought it reasonable, but did not change course.

Diwu Lun submitted another memorial, this time naming Dou Xian directly. Dou Xian was the empress's relative and controlled palace guards. He entered and left the palace, yet around him gathered many men of bad conduct who had been punished by law. Scholars without firm principles recommended one another and flocked to noble houses. Many breaths together could move a mountain; many mosquitoes buzzing together could sound like thunder. This, he said, was the source of arrogance and extravagance.

He advised the emperor and empress to order Dou Xian to close his gate, keep to himself, and stop freely associating with officials and scholars.

This time Emperor Zhang was angry. Diwu Lun was always urging him to restrain imperial relatives, and the emperor was tired of hearing it. He allowed him to retire.

Once Diwu Lun left, fewer men at court dared speak directly against the Dou family.

Seizing a Princess's Estate

Dou Xian soon did something that enraged Emperor Zhang.

He forced the low-price purchase of Princess Qinshui's estate. Princess Qinshui was Emperor Ming's daughter and Emperor Zhang's sister, and her husband's family descended from the founding minister Deng Yu. Yet the Dou family was so powerful that the princess did not immediately dare confront him.

One day Emperor Zhang's carriage passed the estate. It looked familiar, and he asked Dou Xian what was going on. Dou Xian could not admit that he had seized it from the princess. He stammered and secretly ordered those around him not to answer.

The emperor did not explode on the spot. After returning to the palace, he thought about it and sent people to investigate. When the truth became clear, he was furious. He summoned Dou Xian and rebuked him severely.

If even an honored princess could be plundered by you, he said, how much worse for common people? If the state wanted to discard Dou Xian, it would be as easy as throwing away a worthless thing.

Dou Xian kowtowed repeatedly and did not dare raise his head. In the harem, Empress Dou heard of it, removed her empress garments, and apologized to the emperor, begging for mercy.

For the empress's sake, Emperor Zhang's anger slowly cooled. He only ordered Dou Xian to return the estate to the princess.

After this, Emperor Zhang remembered Diwu Lun's warnings and began placing some limits on imperial relatives.

He appointed Zhou Yu magistrate of Luoyang. Zhou Yu was a harsh official. After arriving, he first asked for information on the noble and powerful families in the capital. His subordinates listed ordinary strongmen. Zhou Yu scolded them, saying he meant imperial relatives such as the Ma and Dou families, not ordinary local powers.

With Zhou Yu enforcing law harshly, the nobles in the capital restrained themselves somewhat. Emperor Zhang also employed upright ministers and reformed official selection, making it harder for the Dou family to place clients.

For the moment, the Dou family quieted down.

But they still held the greatest card: Crown Prince Liu Zhao. Once the prince became emperor, the Dou clan would not need to keep its head down. Next, Dou Xian moves from palace crisis to frontier warfare and wins one of Eastern Han's most dazzling military achievements.