Who is Empress Dowager Dou 窦太后?

窦太后 Empress Dowager Dou (? ~ 135 BCE) was the empress of Emperor Wen of Han. She was from Guanjin, Qinghe County, Zhao State (now northeast of Zaoqiang County, Hebei Province), and the mother of Emperor Jing of Han. She served as empress for 23 years, empress dowager for 16 years, and grand empress dowager for 6 years. Throughout her life, she firmly believed in and promoted Huang-Lao philosophy: "Empress Dowager Dou favored the teachings of Huangdi and Laozi. Emperor Jing, the Crown Prince (later Emperor Wu), and other members of the Dou clan were compelled to study the *Huangdi* and *Laozi* texts and respect their doctrines" (*Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Imperial Relatives*).  

She took severe measures against those who opposed or belittled Huang-Lao philosophy. During Emperor Jing's reign, she summoned a Confucian scholar named Yuan Gusheng and asked for his opinion on the *Laozi* classic. Yuan Gusheng, a tutor to the Prince of Qinghe and a Grand Scholar specializing in the *Book of Songs*, revered Confucianism and despised Taoism. In response, he said, "This is merely the talk of ordinary people" (*Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Confucian Scholars*), implying that Huang-Lao ideas were nothing but trite platitudes. Enraged, the empress dowager retorted, "How dare you compare it to the books of convicts?" ("Si Kong Cheng Dan Shu" referred to legal texts for criminals).

She then punished Yuan Gusheng by forcing him to fight a wild boar in a pigsty. Emperor Jing, knowing Yuan was innocent, secretly gave him a sword. Yuan jumped into the sty and stabbed the boar, killing it instantly. The empress dowager had no further grounds to condemn him (*Ibid.*). This incident illustrates Empress Dowager Dou’s resolute defense of Huang-Lao philosophy and the intense rivalry between Huang-Lao and Confucianism in early Western Han. Her deeds and words are recorded in Volumes 49 and 121 of *Records of the Grand Historian*.