Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong – China’s only black Empress

Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong is generally regarded as the only black empress in Chinese history.^[1] Scholars generally believe that she was a black Kunlun enslaved person from Africa or one of its descendants.^[2] Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong was originally an enslaved person in a weaving room in a prince’s mansion.^[3] However, a magician chose her as the future Jianwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty’s imperial concubine.^[4] Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong became the mother and grandmother of the last emperors of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.^[5] Therefore, Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong gradually rose through the ranks to attain the highest position for a royal woman.^[6]

The birthdate of Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong is unknown. She came from humble and mysterious origins. However, many historians are fascinated with her unknown origins because of her “dark”^[7] skin, and she was “tall.”^[8] One scholar believes that Li Lingrong’s ancestry originated from the Pacific Islands.^[9] However, many scholars disagree that she came from the Pacific Islands.^[10] Instead, many scholars generally believe that she was of African descent.^[11] This is because during the Jin Dynasty, there was a large number of enslaved Africans who were imported from Africa.^[12] These enslaved people were often known as Kunlun enslaved people. Because Li Lingrong was often called “Kunlun”^[13] in many historical accounts, many historians generally believe that she was one of the enslaved people who came from Africa or was a descendant of these enslaved people.^[14]

Li Lingrong was an enslaved person who worked in the weaving room in Sima Yu’s (the Prince of Kuaiji and future Emperor Jianwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty) household.^[15] Prince Sima Yu did not have any surviving children.^[16] He used a magician named Hu Qian to help him choose a woman from his household who could conceive an heir.^[17] Prince Sima Yu and Hu Qian walked around his palace until they entered the weaving room.^[18] Hu Qian studied Li Lingrong’s face and said, “This is the one.”^[19] Therefore, Li Lingrong became Prince Sima Yu’s imperial concubine.^[20]

In 362 C.E., Imperial Consort Li Lingrong bore Prince Sima Yu a son named Sima Yao (the future Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty).^[21] In 363 C.E., Imperial Consort Li Lingrong gave birth to another son named Sima Daozi (who would later be the next Prince of Kuaiji).^[22] At an unknown date, she also bore a daughter named Princess Poyang.^[23] On 6 January 372 C.E., Sima Yu ascended the throne as Emperor Jianwen. He made his late wife, Wang Jianji, his posthumous empress.^[24] She became Empress Jianwenshun. Therefore, the Empress position was vacant.^[25] This was because he loved and missed his late wife.^[26] Li Lingrong was made Imperial Consort Shu.^[27] Her son, Sima Yao, was acknowledged as the Crown Prince.^[28]

Emperor Jianwen only reigned for eight months.^[29] On 12 September 372 C.E., Emperor Jianwen died. He was succeeded by his son, Sima Yao. Sima Yao ascended the throne as Emperor Xiaowu. At first, Emperor Xiaowu wanted to honour his father’s late wife, Empress Jianwenshun.^[30] Therefore, he did not make his mother, Imperial Consort Shu, the Empress Dowager.^[31] Instead, he made her Imperial Consort Dowager. He still treated her as the unofficial Empress Dowager.^[32] In September 394 C.E., Prince Sima Daozi (the Prince of Kuaiji) submitted a memorial requesting that Imperial Consort Dowager Shu be made the Empress Dowager.^[33] Emperor Xiaowu agreed.^[34] On 18 August 394 C.E., Li Lingrong was finally made Empress Dowager.^[35] She was formally installed in Chongxun Palace.^[36]

On 6 November 396 C.E., Emperor Xiaowu was murdered by his favourite consort, Imperial Consort Zhang.^[37] Emperor Xiaowu was succeeded by his intellectually disabled son, Sima Dezong. He became Emperor An.^[38] Emperor An decided to honour his grandmother.^[39] On 29 April 397 C.E., Li Lingrong became Grand Empress Dowager.^[40] On 9 August 400 C.E., Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong died.^[41] She was given a ceremony that befitted a grand empress dowager and was buried in Xiuping Mausoleum.^[42]

^{If it were not for a magician, Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong would have languished in Prince Sima Yu’s weaving room and would have been a forgotten figure in history.[43]} However, she was chosen, and her life changed completely.^[44] She was no longer an enslaved Black person.^[45] Instead, she was the mother of an emperor and grandmother of two emperors of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.^[46] Therefore, Grand Empress Dowager Li Lingrong’s story is truly astonishing.^[47] It shows how an unremarkable enslaved person rose through the ranks to attain the highest position a woman could ever attain in ancient China.^[48]

Sources:

iNews. (n.d.). “Black Queen Li Lingrong: Ugly but won the Emperor’s favor”. Retrieved on May 10, 2025 from  https://inf.news/en/history/0a5b4a6f19e108b32061110a0c070b28.html.

McMahon, K. (2013). Women Shall Not Rule: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao. NY: Rowman and Littlefield.

Wilensky, J. (July 2002). “The Magical Kunlun and ‘Devil Slaves’: Chinese Perceptions of Dark-Skinned People and Africa Before 1500”. Sino-Platonic Papers. 122 (July 2002). https://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp122_chinese_africa.pdf.

Zhi, C. (2024). Liangzhu Civilization: A Civilization that Lasted for 20,000 Years. (n.p.): Scientific Research Publishing.