向太后出身名门,其曾祖为真宗朝宰相向敏中,治平三年(1066)嫁与尚在潜邸的神宗。神宗即位后,她被尊为皇后。神宗去世后,哲宗尊向皇后为皇太后。哲宗早逝,向太后因立徽宗而得以垂帘。但为时仅半年便主动撤帘,又因多有“谦挹”的言辞,故在历史上留下不贪恋权力的美名。向太后这一形象延续至今不易,几成定论。有学者虽已指出她不仅垂帘时过问政事,甚至在撤帘后仍能影响政治,但仍认为她不贪恋权势。笔者仔细爬梳史料后发现向太后并非不恋权势,相反,她对权力相当热衷,即使“还 To the Empress Dowager originated, his great ancestral Zhazai toward Minzhong, peace for three years (1066) is still married and Shangdi Di Shenzong. Ascended the throne, she was revered as Queen. After the death of the gods, Tetsujyo to the Queen as the Empress Dowager. Tetsuzo premature death, to the Empress Dowager emperor was able to curtain. However, when it took only half a year, it took the initiative to withdraw its curtains, but because of many words of ”modesty,“ it left a reputation in history not for the sake of power. This image of Empress Dowager has not been easy to continue until now. Although some scholars have pointed out that she not only intervened in political affairs when she draped her curtains, but also influenced politics even after withdrawing her curtains, she still thought she was not in love with power. After careful examination of the historical materials, I found that the Empress Dowager did not love the power, on the contrary, she was quite keen on power, even though ”