Consort Pan

Who was Consort Pan?

Consort Pan was an imperial consort during the Chinese dynasty Liu Song. She was Emperor Wen's concubine.

Despite her one-time prominence, little is known about Consort Pan's background. Her rank of Shufei was the fourth highest possible rank for imperial consorts at the time. She was said to have become Emperor Wen's favorite concubine because of her beauty. She bore him one son, Liu Jun the Prince of Shixing, in 429.

Because of Emperor Wen's favoritism for Consort Pan, his wife, Empress Yuan Qigui, became greatly jealous, and grew ill from the jealousy and died in 440. Because of this, Emperor Yuan's son, Liu Shao the Crown Prince became very resentful of her and her son Liu Jun, particularly because after Empress Yuan's death, Consort Pan became in charge of the imperial palace, effectively replacing Empress Yuan, even though Emperor Wen never created her empress. To ward off the resentment, Liu Jun carefully flattered and ingratiated himself with Liu Shao, and the brothers became exceedingly close. Liu Shao and Liu Jun engaged a witch, Yan Daoyu, to try to curse Emperor Wen to death so that Liu Shao could become emperor.