Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan (上官太皇太后) (personal name unknown) (88 BC – 2 October 37 BC), also known as Empress Shangguan (上官皇后), Empress Xiaozhao (孝昭皇后) and Empress Dowager Shangguan (上官太后), was an Empress, Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager during the Han Dynasty and wife of Emperor Zhao. She served as de facto regent during the interim period between the deposition of Marquis of Haihun until the succession of Emperor Xuan of Han in 74 BC. Her father was Shangguan An (上官安), a son of Shangguan Jie (上官桀). Her mother was a daughter of Huo Guang. She was a key figure in a number of political incidents during the middle Han Dynasty, and she spent her entire adult life as a Grand Empress Dowager and a widow without family. Both sides of her family were wiped out in two separate mass executions as punishment for being relatives of individuals accused of seeking to usurp the throne. She remains the youngest person in Chinese history to assume the titles of both Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager. Background and marriage to Emperor Zhao Lady Shangguan's grandfathers, Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie (along with ethnic Xiongnu official Jin Midi), were co-regents for the young Emperor Zhao, who ascended the throne in 87 BC at age seven. Huo was the primary regent. At that time, Lady Shangguan herself was a toddler. It is not known when Lady Shangguan's parents were married, but what is clear was that her grandfathers were colleagues in Emperor Wu's administration and great friends. However, after Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, died in 86 BC, they began to have conflicts, because Shangguan Jie was unhappy with his lesser role in the co-regency. In 84 BC, Shangguan Jie wanted to marry the four-year-old Lady Shangguan to the emperor. Huo initially refused, believing her to be too young. Shangguan Jie turned elsewhere for support of his plan. Lady Shangguan's father Shangguan An was a friend of Emperor Zhao's sister, Princess Eyi's and her lover, Ding Wairen (丁外人). He encouraged Ding to persuade the princess on the soundness of the marriage. He argued that the Shangguans' power would be firmer with the marriage, and that they could then help Ding legitimize his relationship with Princess Eyi. Princess Eyi agreed, and later in 84 BC the young Lady Shangguan was created an imperial consort (with the rank of jieyu). On 24 April