Empress Zhang (Houzhu) 後主張皇后

According to the Biographies of the Consorts and Sons of the Two Rulers (Records of Shu 4), Empress Zhang of the Later Sovereign was the younger sister of his previous empress, Empress Jing'ai. Empress Jing'ai, the eldest daughter of Zhang Fei, General of Chariots and Cavalry, became Consort of the Crown Prince in the 1st year of Zhangwu (221) and was installed as empress in the 1st year of Jianxing (223); she died in the 15th year of Jianxing (237) and was buried at Nanling. The Biography of the Later Sovereign records that in the 6th month of summer of the 15th year the empress of the Zhang clan died. Records, Shu 4 §13 · 15Records, Shu 3 §18

Empress Zhang entered the palace in the 15th year of Jianxing (237) and became an Honored Lady. In the 1st month of spring in the 1st year of Yanxi (238) the Later Sovereign issued a decree of appointment saying that, having inherited the great enterprise and reigning over the realm, he served the suburban altars, the ancestral temples and the altars of soil and grain, and that he now made the Honored Lady empress; he sent Xiang Lang, General of the Left acting as Chancellor, bearing the tally of authority, to confer the imperial seal and ribbon on her. The decree charged her to devote herself to the duties of the inner household and to conduct the sacrifices with reverence and solemnity. Records, Shu 4 §15

The Biography of the Later Sovereign records that in the 1st month of spring in the 1st year of Yanxi he installed Lady Zhang as empress, proclaimed a general amnesty and changed the era name, and made his son Liu Xuan Crown Prince and his son Liu Yao Prince of Anding. The biography of the Crown Prince Liu Xuan records that his mother, Honored Lady Wang, had originally been a maid of Empress Jing'ai of the Zhang clan. Records, Shu 3 §19Records, Shu 4 §24

Shu fell in the winter of the 6th year of Jingyao (263). In the 1st year of Xianxi (264) Empress Zhang moved to Luoyang with the Later Sovereign. The Biography of the Later Sovereign records that the Later Sovereign moved east with his whole household and, on reaching Luoyang, was enfeoffed as Duke of Anle County. Records, Shu 4 §25 · 15Records, Shu 3 §48

Chen Shou's main text does not record Empress Zhang's name, courtesy name or age, nor what happened to her after the move to Luoyang or her death. The assessment of Records of Shu 4 cites the saying of the Book of Changes that there are husband and wife before there are father and son, calls this the beginning of human relations, and states that these lives are therefore recorded in order to examine the structure of a state. Records, Shu 4 §14–15 · 27