Consort Chen Farong

Who is Consort Chen Farong?

Consort Chen Farong was an imperial consort during the Chinese dynasty Liu Song. She was a concubine of Emperor Ming, and during his reign, she carried the rank of Zhaohua, the sixth highest rank for Liu Song imperial consorts.

Consort Chen was from the Liu Song capital Jiankang, and she was regarded as the mother of Emperor Ming's son Liu Zhun, born in 467, but whether she was his biological mother is a matter of historical dispute. Historical accounts, written during the succeeding Southern Qi Dynasty, indicate that Emperor Ming was impotent, and that although he had 12 sons, those were the results of his having seized his brothers' pregnant concubines and kept the children if they bore males, or his having had his concubines have sexual relations with others. Those same accounts indicate that Liu Zhun was actually the biological son of Emperor Ming's brother Liu Xiufan the Prince of Guiyang and one of Liu Xiufan's concubines, and that Emperor Ming had her raise Liu Zhun.