Lady Helan 贺兰氏, (7th century – 666 CE) was the Lady of Wei (魏国夫人) during the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

and the niece of

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...

. The Lady of Wei was an honorific for relatives of the Emperor and Empress. She was involved in court politics during her lifetime. She was killed by being poisoned at a dinner party.

Background

Lady Helan was the daughter of

Wu Shun Wu Shun (武顺) (623-665, common era) was the Lady of Han during the Tang dynasty and the older sister of Wu Zetian. The Lady of Han was an honorable title for relatives of the Emperor and Empress. Wu Shun was allegedly the mother of Li Xian, t ...

and Helan Yueshi. Wu Shun was the first daughter of

Wu Shiyue Wǔ Shìyuē (; 559–635 CE) was the father of Wu Zetian, the only woman in the history of China to assume the title of Empress Regnant. Posthumously honored with the title of King Zhongxiao, Wu was the son of Wu Hua and became a timber merchant. ...

and Lady Yang, and the older sister of

Empress Wu The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

. Helan Yueshi was the son of the Duke of Yingshan (应山公) and died early.

Lady of Wei

Lady Helan and her mother, Wu Shun, were favored by Emperor Gaozong who gave her the title Lady of Wei and her mother that of Lady of Han. Emperor Gaozong wanted to keep Lady Helan as a concubine, but Empress Wu found out and had the Lady of Wei killed by poisoning. She then blamed Wu Weiliang and Wu Huaiyun for the murder and they were executed. Lady Helan's brother, Helan Minzhi, suspected Empress Wu of murdering his sister and was exiled.

Modern Depictions

Lady Helan is well known in television series as Helan Minyue (贺兰敏月). She is often portrayed as an antagonist. *Portrayed by He Lin in the Palace of Desire *Portrayed by

Kathy Yuen Kathy Yuen, better known as Tong Yee is an actress from Hong Kong. She is signed under the Emperor Entertainment Group label. She was cast as a helper girl in ''Beautiful Cooking ''Beautiful Cooking'' (Traditional Chinese: 美女廚房, literal ...

Secret History of Empress Wu ''Secret History of Empress Wu'', also known as ''Wu Zetian Mishi'', is a Chinese television series based on the life of Wu Zetian, the only woman in Chinese history to assume the title of Empress Regnant. The series was directed by Cheng Feng and ...

*Portrayed by

Sandra Ma Sandra Ma Sichun (, born 14 March 1988) is a Chinese actress of Hui ethnicity. She is noted for her roles in the films '' The Left Ear'' (2015) and ''Soul Mate'' (2016), for which she won the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress alongside ...

The Empress of China ''The Empress of China'' () is a 2014 Chinese television series based on events in 7th and 8th-century Tang dynasty, starring producer Fan Bingbing as the titular character Wu Zetian—the only female emperor (empress regnant) in Chinese histo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helan, Lady 7th-century Chinese women 7th-century Chinese people Tang dynasty imperial consorts Wu Zetian