Zhang Huiguang () (died 313), formally Empress Wuxiao (, literally "the martial and filial empress"), 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

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

-led Chinese Han Zhao dynasty. She was Liu Cong (Emperor Zhaowu)'s second wife. Zhang Huiguang was the daughter of Zhang Shi (張寔, not to be confused as the Jin official whose domain later evolved into

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 ...

), the nephew of Liu Cong's mother Empress Dowager Zhang. In 312, at Empress Dowager Zhang's insistence, Liu Cong took Zhang Huiguang and her sister to be 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 ...

s. Later that year, he wanted to create another concubine, Liu Ying (劉英), empress, but Empress Zhang insisted that he create Zhang Huiguang empress. He did so in early 313. Three months later, Empress Dowager Zhang died. Empress Zhang mourned her so greatly and was so depressed that she died as well.

References

313 deaths Former Zhao empresses Year of birth unknown 4th-century Chinese people 4th-century Chinese women {{china-bio-stub