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Empress Dowager Cheng

Empress Dowager Cheng (程太后, personal name unknown) (died 334) was an empress dowager of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao. She was a concubine of Later Zhao's founding emperor Shi Le and gave birth to his crown prince and successor, Shi Hong. Her brother Cheng Xia (程遐) was one of Shi Le's key advisors, particularly after Zhang Bin's death.

After Shi Le died in 333, his powerful nephew Shi Hu quickly seized power in a coup d'état and killed Cheng Xia and another key advisor of Shi Le, Xu Guang (徐光). Shi Le's wife Empress Dowager Liu tried to start rebellions to overthrow Shi Hu, but could not and was herself killed. After her death, Consort Cheng was made empress dowager, but neither she nor her son had any real power. In 334, Shi Hu seized the throne and imprisoned her, Shi Hong, and Shi Hong's brothers Shi Hong (石宏, note different character) the Prince of Qin and Shi Hui (石恢) the Prince of Nanyang, but soon had all of them executed.

Last update 05-04-2012

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