Empress Hu (胡皇后, personal name unknown) was an

empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

-led

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during the ...

of China. Her husband was Emperor Xiaoming. Little is known about Empress Hu personally—including when she became empress. It is known that she was the daughter of Hu Sheng (胡盛), a cousin of Emperor Xiaoming's mother Empress Dowager Hu. Empress Dowager Hu selected her to be Emperor Xiaoming's empress, because Empress Dowager Hu wanted to strengthen her clan. However, Emperor Xiaoming often spent time drinking, and he favored his

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

Consort Pan. Empress Hu and the other concubines did not have his favor, and she did not bear him any children. (His only child, a daughter, was born of Consort Pan.) It was described that his concubines Consorts Cui, Lu, and Li, among others, would often fight among themselves, but she largely stayed clear of these disputes. After Emperor Xiaoming's death in 528, she became a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

nun at Yaoguang Temple.(武泰初，后既入道，遂居于瑶光寺。) ''Wei Shu'' (by Wei Shou), vol.13 Nothing further is known about her.

References

Northern Wei empresses Hu, Empress Xiaoming Date of death unknown 6th-century deaths Year of birth unknown {{China-royal-stub