Concubine Tang 唐妃
| Occupation | NConsort | Faction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | N | Biography in | |
| Cause of death | NKilled Unverified | ||
| Existence | Fictional | Mentions |
Profile
Concubine Tang is the consort of Emperor Shao who appears in Chapter 4 of the Romance. After Dong Zhuo deposes Emperor Shao, making him Prince of Hongnong, and sets up the Prince of Chenliu, she is moved to the Yong'an Palace together with Empress He and the Prince of Hongnong and confined there. When Li Ru, on Dong Zhuo's orders, brings wine laced with zhen poison, she offers to drink it in the emperor's place and begs that the lives of mother and son be spared, but Li Ru rebukes the armed men and has them strangle her. Romance, Ch. 4 §9 · 14–15 · 17
Of the 120 chapters of the Romance she appears only in Chapter 4, and no chapter has her name in its title. Concubine Tang appears neither in Chen Shou's main text nor in Pei Songzhi's commentary. The Biographies of Dong Zhuo, the Two Yuans and Liu Biao in Chen Shou's main text state only that Dong Zhuo deposed the emperor, making him Prince of Hongnong, and soon afterwards killed the Prince of Hongnong and Empress He. Romance, Ch. 4 §9Records, Wei 6 §8
In the Romance
In Chapter 4 of the Romance, Dong Zhuo has the Prince of Chenliu ascend the hall, and when the officials have finished offering their congratulations, he has Empress He, the Prince of Hongnong and the emperor's consort, Lady Tang, moved to the Yong'an Palace to live in idleness, then seals the palace gates so that no official may enter at will. The Romance states that Emperor Shao ascended the throne in the 4th month and was deposed in the 9th month. Romance, Ch. 4 §9
Emperor Shao lives confined in the Yong'an Palace together with Empress He and Concubine Tang; their clothing and food grow steadily scarcer, and his tears never dry. One day, seeing a pair of swallows flying in the courtyard, Emperor Shao recites a poem, and Dong Zhuo, who constantly has men spy on them, obtains the poem, declares that writing a resentful poem gives him a pretext to kill him, and sends Li Ru into the palace with ten armed men to murder the emperor. Romance, Ch. 4 §12–14
When the emperor, the Empress Dowager and Concubine Tang are in the tower, Li Ru presents the emperor with wine laced with zhen poison, calling it wine for long life offered by Chancellor of State Dong. When the Empress Dowager says that if it is wine for long life he should drink it first, Li Ru has a dagger and a white silk cord set before them and says that if they will not drink the wine they must accept these two things. Concubine Tang kneels and begs that she may drink the wine in the emperor's place and that the lives of mother and son be spared, but Li Ru rebukes her, asking who she is to die in the prince's place, and holds out the wine to Empress He. Romance, Ch. 4 §14–15
When the emperor asks for time to bid farewell to the Empress Dowager and, weeping bitterly, composes a song, Concubine Tang also composes a song, saying that Heaven is about to fall and the Earth to collapse, that as the emperor's consort her fate is not to follow him, and that with life and death taking separate roads it all ends here; when the songs are finished they embrace one another and weep. When Li Ru rebukes them, saying that the Chancellor of State is standing waiting for his report, and the Empress Dowager loudly curses Dong Zhuo, Li Ru throws the Empress Dowager down from the tower, rebukes the armed men and has them strangle Concubine Tang, and kills Emperor Shao by forcing the poisoned wine down his throat. When Li Ru returns and reports, Dong Zhuo has them buried outside the city. Romance, Ch. 4 §15–18
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
Abilities
There is no record in the main text of Chen Shou’s Records, so only the Romance score is given.
- LEA31
- STR31
- INT38
- POL31
- CHA40
- VIR82
- ADP35
- SCH55
- DIP40
- DIS33
Evidence by ability
NBegged to drink the poisoned wine in the emperor's place and pleaded for the lives of mother and sonCh. 4 §15
NBefore her death she put her grief into a song and sang itCh. 4 §16
NAsked Li Ru to let her die in the emperor's place, but was only rebukedCh. 4 §15
Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
Romance chapters (1)
AppearsNot present Chapter list →
Related events (1)
- The Han Emperor Deposed, the Prince of Chenliu Enthroned 189 · Appears (Romance scene)
Includes automatic matching from Wikipedia infoboxes and source keywords (unverified).