國母

國母

1. (archaic) empress dowager
2. (obsolete) empress

   • 且皇后乃元配，天下國母，未聞有失德。昵比妲己，慘刑毒死，大綱已失。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     且皇后乃元配，天下国母，未闻有失德。昵比妲己，惨刑毒死，大纲已失。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Xu Zhonglin, The Investiture of the Gods, circa 16^th century CE

     Qiě huánghòu nǎi yuánpèi, tiānxià guómǔ, wèi wén yǒu shīdé. Nìbǐ Dájǐ, cǎn xíng dúsǐ, dàgāng yǐ shī. [Pinyin]

     The Empress, as Your Majesty's rightful consort and the mother of the whole nation, has never been known to transgress virtue. Yet, you have shown undue favor to Daji, subjecting the Empress to cruel torture and poisoned her to death. In doing so, you've utterly forsaken the paramount principles of governance and moral order.

3. venerable and outstanding woman who has devoted herself to the country (mostly referring to Soong Ch'ing-ling)

   Coordinate term: 國父 / 国父 (guófù)

(empress dowager):

• • 太后 (tàihòu)
  • 皇太后 (huángtàihòu)

(empress):

• • 后 (hòu)
  • 皇后 (huánghòu)

• Fielde, Adele Marion (1883) “母 (bó̤)”, in A Pronouncing and Defining Dictionary of the Swatow Dialect, Arranged According to Syllables and Tones, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 15