His ancestors were originally Xianbei nobles of Northern Wei with the clan name Gedouling (紇豆陵), and further claimed that they were descended from the Han dynasty official Dou Wu and fled to Xianbei realms after Dou Wu was killed in 168 after a failed struggle with powerful eunuchs.
That night, some prisoners escaped, and his superior, the mayor of Jingzhao Municipality (京兆, i.e., the Chang'an region) read the rotation schedule and saw that Dou's colleague was to be on duty.
As a result, he was sent out of the capital to be the magistrate of Jiangxia County (江夏, in modern Wuhan, Hubei),[3] but received praise for his honesty.
If they can be spared because they lost their father, it is that they receive no due punishment for killing their father.Dou then caned them to death, and this terrified the people of the county.
In particular, at that time, Deng Ting (鄧珽) the prefect of Wu Prefecture (婺州, in modern Jinhua, Zhejiang) was accused of receiving a large amount of bribes, and his assets were set to be seized to satisfy the penalty.
At that time, Ma Yi (馬彝), the secretary to the governor of Hunan Circuit (湖南, headquartered in modern Changsha, Hunan), was falsely accused of crimes, because he had punished a subordinate for receiving bribes and in turn was accused by that subordinate's son.
He then successively served as Jinbu Yuanwailang (金部員外郎), a low-level official at the ministry of census (戶部, Hubu); Xingbu Langzhong (刑部郎中), a supervisorial low-level official at the ministry of justice (刑部, Xingbu); and Shiyushi (侍御史), a higher level censor.
Dou publicly wrote a statement and posted it on the front door of the executive bureau of government (尚書省, Shangshu Sheng):[4] Chen Shaoyou carried the titles of both general and chancellor.
Around this time, the generals Meng Hua (孟華) and Li Jianyu (李建玉) were both falsely accused of crimes and set to be sentenced to death, and they could not show their innocence.
He also gave both Dou and Dong the designation Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi (同中書門下平章事), making them chancellors de facto.
[6] It was said that generals and regional warlords all feared him, and in particular, Li Na the military governor of Pinglu Circuit (平盧, headquartered in modern Tai'an, Shandong), sent him gifts, ostensibly to honor him, but instead intending to discredit him.
He made Wu the governor Shanguo Circuit (陝虢, headquartered in modern Sanmenxia, Henan) to displace Dou's associate Li Yi (李翼).
Dou Shen closely associated with his maternal uncle Li Zezhi (李則之)[9] the Prince of Guo and the imperial scholar Wu Tongxuan (吳通玄), and all of them resented Lu Zhi.
Soon thereafter, Emperor Dezong demoted Dou Shen to be the secretary general of Chen Prefecture (郴州, in modern Chenzhou, Hunan).
The Emperor refused, and had a number of angry words about you.In fear, Jiang offered to resign and asked to become a Taoist monk.
Angry that his words had been leaked, Emperor Dezong demoted Jiang to be the secretary general of Quan Prefecture (泉州, in modern Quanzhou, Fujian), and sent imperial eunuch messengers to Dou, in exile, to rebuke him.
Emperor Dezong therefore demoted Dou to be the military advisor to the prefect of the distant Huan Prefecture (驩州, in modern Nghệ An Province, Vietnam).
Eventually, even as Dou was on the way to Huan Prefecture, Emperor Dezong issued an edict ordering him to commit suicide.