Empress Ren (; 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
Di-led
Cheng Han dynasty of China. Her husband was the founding emperor
Li Xiong
Li Xiong (李雄) (274–334), courtesy name Zhongjuan (仲雋), formally Emperor Wu of Cheng (Han) (成(漢)武帝), was the first emperor of the Di-led Chinese Cheng Han dynasty and commonly regarded as its founder (although some historians ...
(Emperor Wu).
She was created empress by Li Xiong in 315. She was sonless, and although Li Xiong had sons by
concubines, he chose his nephew
Li Ban (Emperor Ai), whom she raised, to be his
crown prince. After Li Xiong died in 334, Li Ban became emperor and honored her as
empress dowager
Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother) () is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese emperor in the Chinese cultural sphere.
The title was also g ...
. Less than a year later, Li Ban was assassinated by Li Xiong's son Li Yue (李越), who subsequently made another son of Li Xiong,
Li Qi, whom Empress Dowager Ren had also raised, emperor. Li Yue forged an edict from Empress Dowager Ren to legitimize his actions.
During Li Qi's reign, she continued as empress dowager. When Li Qi was overthrown by
Li Shou (Emperor Zhaowen) in 338, Li Shou forged an edict from Empress Dowager Ren as well to legitimize his actions, implying that she was still alive at that point, but there was no more mention of her in history from that point on. It is not known when she died.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ren, Empress
Cheng Han empresses
3rd-century births
4th-century deaths