Empress Xin (辛皇后) or Princess Xin (辛王后, personal name unknown) was the wife of the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

state

Former Liang The Former Liang (; 320–376) was a dynastic state, one of the Sixteen Kingdoms, in Chinese history. It was founded by the Zhang family of the Han ethnicity. Its territories included present-day Gansu and parts of Ningxia, Shaanxi, Qinghai and X ...

's ruler

Zhang Zuo Zhang Zuo (; died 355), courtesy name Taibo (), formally Prince Wei of (Former) Liang () was a ruler of the Chinese state Former Liang. He was the only ruler of Former Liang to formally declare a break from Jin Dynasty (266–420), and histor ...

. Whether her title was

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), ...

or princess is unclear, because historical sources differ on the subject. ''

Jin Shu The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang Xu ...

'', which reported that her husband claimed the title of

emperor 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), ...

when he declared a total break from

Jin Dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had pr ...

in 354, reported that he created her empress. ''

Zizhi Tongjian ''Zizhi Tongjian'' () is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084 AD during the Northern Song dynasty in the form of a chronicle recording Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynast ...

'', which reported that her husband claimed the title of prince, reported that he created her princess. Nothing else is known about her. In 355, when her husband was killed in a coup and replaced by his nephew

Zhang Xuanjing Zhang Xuanjing (張玄靚 or 張玄靖) (350–363), courtesy name Yuan'an (), formally Duke Jingdao of Xiping (西平敬悼公, posthumous name given by Jin Dynasty (266–420)) or Duke Chong of Xiping (西平沖公, posthumous name used interna ...

, his two sons (whether by her or not) were also executed, but nothing was mentioned about her fate.

References

Historical sources appear to imply that the last ruler of the state,

Zhang Tianxi Zhang Tianxi (; 346–406), original courtesy name Gongchungu (), later Chungu (), nickname Duhuo (), formally Duke Dao of Xiping (), was the last ruler of the Chinese state Former Liang. He was the youngest son of Zhang Jun (Duke Zhongcheng), a ...

, had a princess (who might have been the mother of his first

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

Zhang Dahuai (張大懷)), but no name was given for her, nor was her existence conclusively stated. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Xin, Empress Former Liang princesses Sixteen Kingdoms empresses