Xu Pingjun

Xu Pingjun (Chinese: 許平君) (89? BC – 1 March 71 BC¹), formally Empress Gong'ai (恭哀皇后; lit. ''the respectful and lamentable empress''), was an empress of the Chinese Western Han dynasty as the first wife of Emperor Xuan. She was murdered by poisoning by Huo Guang's wife Lady Xian (顯氏). She was also the mother of Emperor Yuan.

Family background

Xu Pingjun was born into a family that had some minor privileges but had also suffered under the reign of Emperor Wu. It is not known exactly when she was born, but probably circa 89 BC. Her father Xu Guanghan (許廣漢) was an assistant to the Prince of Changyi when young, and later became an imperial attendant. Later, while accompanying Emperor Wu on a trip, he accidentally took the saddle of another attendant and was charged with theft; his sentence was castration.² After castration, he became a eunuch at court, and served as a minor official.

Marriage to then-commoner Liu Bingyi

Xu Pingjun's future husband Liu Bingyi was the only surviving descendant of Liu Ju, Emperor Wu's crown prince who was forced into a failed rebellion in 91 BC when he was still an infant. He was spared, but was made a commoner and, as an orphan, he had to survive on the largess of others, including his grandfather's old subordinate Zhang He (張賀), who was also castrated by Emperor Wu as punishment for having been Crown Prince Ju's subordinate, and who became a chief eunuch.

Around 76 BC, Zhang wanted to marry his granddaughter to Bingyi, but his brother Zhang Anshi (張安世), then an important official, opposed this, fearing that it would bring trouble. Zhang, instead, invited Xu Guanghan, a subordinate to him, to dinner and persuaded him to marry his daughter, Pingjun. When Xu's wife heard this, she became extremely angry and refused, but because Zhang was Xu's superior, Xu did not dare to renege on the promise, and Bingyi and Pingjun were married, in a ceremony entirely paid by Zhang (because Bingyi could not afford to). Zhang also paid the bride price. After their marriage, Bingyi depended on his wife's family for support. In 75 BC, Pingjun bore him a son, .