Empress Huyan (呼延皇后, personal name unknown) was an empress 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 Chinese
Han-Zhao
The Han-Zhao ( zh, s=汉赵, t=漢趙, p=Hàn Zhào; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao ( zh, s=前赵, t=前趙, p=Qián Zhào), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Liu ( Luandi) clan of Chuge-Xiongnu ethnicity during the Sixteen Kingdoms per ...
dynasty. She was the founding emperor
Liu Yuan (Emperor Guangwen)'s first wife.
The Huyans were likely a great clan of Xiongnu nobility, as Liu Yuan's mother was also named Huyan, making his wife likely a relative of his mother. There were also many Huyans who were important in Han-Zhao's government. However, little is known about Empress Huyan herself, other than that when Liu Yuan declared himself Prince of Han in 304, he created her princess. Her father's name was Huyan Yi. It was later implied that she was created empress sometime after he declared himself emperor in 307, although the date was not mentioned. They had at least one son,
Liu He, who later became
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 ...
and emperor briefly. It is not known when she died, but she appeared to have been dead at least by 310, when Liu Yuan created his second empress,
Empress Shan.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Huyan, Empress Guangwen
3rd-century births
300s deaths
Former Zhao empresses
4th-century Chinese women
4th-century Chinese people
Mothers of Chinese emperors