Who is she?
- The nanny of Emperor Ling of Eastern Han dynasty, the last second Emperor of the dynasty
Notable Life Events
- The only known fact about her origin is that she was a palace maid but eventually selected to be nanny to Emperor Ling
- In January of AD 168, the death of Emperor Huan meant that the Dowager Empress Dou Miao became regent over her son, the Emperor Ling, and she gave Zhao Rao an official position at Court which allowed her to handle Court paperwork. In fact, it was said that Zhao Rao was one of the people always besides the Dowager Empress (the others being eunuchs) who all sucked up to her
- In August of AD168, the plot of Dou Wu, the father of Dowager Empress Dou Miao, to kill eunuchs was unearthed. Zhao Rao, alongside many enunchs held the Dowager Empress hostage and forced her to give up the Imperial Seal and Royal Writ which allowed the Emperor Ling to rule in his own right, an event that has become known as the Jian Ning Coup
- In AD 169, Zhao Rao received a title from Emperor Ling. It was said that her wealth rivals that of the Imperial Treasury and that her tomb even surpassed that of Emperor tombs in splendour. In addition, both her sons and her brother were made government officials.
Why is She Remarkable?
She is not the only palace maid who has risen to a high position (nor the only nanny for the Emperor for that matter) but I did find it interesting how it was effectively palace servants, of which Zhao Rao is one, that the Dowager Empress trusted in and gave a lot of powers to that eventually turned the tide between the struggle between her and her son.
Moonlake’s Thoughts on her:
I’m not sure how instrumental she was in the coup, of whether she had high political acumen and switched sides astutely or whether she was forced to do it by the other enunchs. But she certainly gained a good outcome from this single action of hers.
Moonlake's Fiction Space 