Empress Ma
Consort Song was the older daughter of Song Yang (宋楊), a seventh-generation descendant of Song Chang (宋昌), an important official during the reign of Emperor Wen. Song Yang was famed for his filial piety. His aunt was the maternal grandmother of Emperor Ming's wife Empress Ma, and Empress Ma, upon hearing that his two daughters were both intelligent and beautiful, selected them as consorts for her adopted son, Crown Prince Liu Da. After Liu Da became emperor in 75 (as Emperor Zhang), both of them became imperial consorts. The elder Consort Song gave birth to a son, Liu Qing, in 78, and because Empress Dou did not have a son, Liu Qing was created crown prince in 79.