Empress Wei (Tang dynasty)

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Empress Wei (Chinese: 韋皇后; pinyin: Wéi Huánghòu; personal name unknown; died 21 July 710) was an empress consort of the Chinese Tang dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong (Li Xian), who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian in accumulating power to eventually take the emperor’s throne. From the beginning of Emperor Zhongzong’s second reign in 705, Empress Wei was de facto in charge of most governmental affairs, though formally not regent. Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710 — traditionally believed to be a poisoning she carried out together with her daughter Princess Anle (Li Guo'er) — made her the empress dowager, and she took formal power as regent de jure during the minority of Emperor Shang of Tang. After reigning for 17 days, she was overthrown and killed in a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's nephew Li Longji (later Emperor Xuanzong) and Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping. When Emperor Zhongzong...

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