Empress Huyan (呼延皇后, personal name unknown) (died 312), formally Empress Wuyuan (武元皇后, literally "the martial and discerning 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 Han Zhao dynasty of China. She was the first wife of Liu Cong (Emperor Zhaowu).

Life

Her clan, the Huyans, were probably a noble clan of Xiongnu, as a large number of Han Zhao officials were named Huyan. She was created empress in 310 after Liu Cong seized the throne from his brother Liu He (after Liu He had tried to have him and the other brothers killed and successfully killed two). She was the cousin of the first

of Liu Cong's father Liu Yuan. She bore Liu Cong at least one son -- Liu Can, whom Liu Cong created the Prince of He'nei and commissioned as a major general. However, he did not create Liu Can

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

because he had promised to make Liu Ai (劉乂), son of Liu Yuan's second wife

Empress Dan Empress Dan (單皇后, personal name unknown) (died 310) was an empress of the Xiongnu-led Chinese Han Zhao dynasty. She was the second wife of the founding emperor Liu Yuan (Emperor Guangwen). Biography Empress Dan's father Dan Zheng (單� ...

, who had yielded the throne to him after Liu He's death, crown prince. (He also had an affair with Liu Ai's mother Empress Dan, and this affair was part of the reason.) When Empress Dowager Dan died in 310, Empress Huyan began to try to secure the crown prince position for her son, telling him: :"You inherited the throne from your father. What does the Crown Prince have to do with it? After you die, Liu Can and his brothers will not even get to live." Liu Cong did not follow her suggestion at this point, but the seeds were sown, and eventually in 317, long after her death, he would depose Crown Prince Ai and make Liu Can crown prince. Empress Huyan died in 312 and was given a posthumous name, appropriate for an empress.

References

, - style="text-align: center;" , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Huyan, Empress Zhaowu 312 deaths Former Zhao empresses Year of birth unknown 3rd-century births 4th-century Chinese women 4th-century Chinese people