Commander-in-Chief Liang Shang had a pretty and talented daughter named Liang Na. Since early childhood she had taken great interest in reading and by the age of nine could recite The Analects of Confucius fluently. The wall of her boudoir was decorated with pictures of well-known heroines in history.

In the third year of the Yongjian reign (128AD) of Emperor Shundi, Liang Na, now a lovely maiden of thirteen, was chosen to serve in the palace. Soon she was raised to the rank of Worthy Lady. The young Emperor Shundi liked Liang Na and often spent the night with her. On such occasions Liang Na would advise the emperor to pay more attention to his other consorts, saying, "It is said that the virtue of a man lies in his impartiality and the virtue of a woman lies in her freedom from jealousy. The Book of Songs also says that when the empress is free of jealousy, the emperor will enjoy plenteous offspring. Besides, if my lord bestows his attention on the other consorts, I will be exempt from slander." Because of this the emperor liked her even better.

In the first year of the Yangjia reign (132AD) seventeen-year-old Liang Na was made empress. She remained in this position for thirteen years, gaining popular respect in court for her lack of jealousy, sprightly wit, and sensible behavior.

In the first year of the Jiankang reign (144AD) emperor Shundi died of illness. As Liang Na had no son, she chose a prince named Liu Bin as emperor and assumed the title of empress dowager for herself. Emperor Chongdi was merely two years old, so Liang Na began to hold audience at court. She promoted Li gu, the former chamberlain of the national treasury, to be imperial secretary in charge of her personal secretarial work as well as defender-in-chief in command of the imperial forces. She advocated Confucian studies, and enrollment at the Imperial Academy rose to 30,000 under her rule.

Map of China during the Han Dynasty