Guo Nüwang

Guo Nüwang (184–235), formally known as Empress Wende, was an empress of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. She was married to Cao Pi, the first ruler of Wei.

Family background and marriage to Cao Pi

Her father Guo Yong (郭永) came from a line of minor local officials. When she was young, she was known for her intelligence, and her father, impressed by her talent, gave her the unusual name Nüwang ("queen regnant"). Her parents died when she was five, however, and she became a servant at the household of one Marquess of Tongdi. It is not known how it came about, but she eventually became a concubine of Cao Pi when he was the crown prince of the Principality of Wei, under his father Cao Cao. She quickly became a favorite—so much so that he began to neglect his wife Lady Zhen, who was also known for her beauty. She gave Cao Pi shrewd political advice during the succession controversy that pitted Cao Pi against his brothers. Her biography goes further to state that when Cao Pi was finally designated heir, Guo Nuwang had a hand in planning it. She also further created tension between Cao Pi and Lady Zhen by planting seeds of suspicion in Cao Pi's mind that Lady Zhen's son Cao Rui was not biologically Cao Pi's son, but rather the son of Lady Zhen's former husband Yuan Xi, citing the fact that Cao Rui was apparently born only eight months after Cao Pi married Lady Zhen. Lady Zhen eventually lost Cao Pi's favor altogether by complaining that he favored other women over her, and after he became emperor of Cao Wei in 220 (after forcing Emperor Xian of Han to abdicate to him), he forced Lady Zhen to commit suicide in 221. In 222, he made Lady Guo empress.