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 The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

of the

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

-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 Liu Can (died September 318( ��兴元年��月，粲治兵于上林，谋讨石勒。以丞相曜为相国、都督中外诸军事，仍镇长安；靳准为大将军、录尚书事。粲常游宴后宫。军国之事，一决于准。准矫诏� ...

, 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, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

because he had promised to make Liu Ai (劉乂), son of Liu Yuan's second wife Empress Dan, 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 Mothers of Chinese emperors