Empress Lü (呂皇后, personal name unknown) (died c. 180 BCE) 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 ...

during the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

. Lady Lü was the daughter of Lü Lu (呂祿), the son of Lü Shizhi (吕雉)—the elder brother of the powerful Grand Empress Dowager Lü Zhi, who was the true power at the time even though her grandson Emperor Houshao (Liu Hong) was the titular emperor. As Grand Empress Dowager Lü grew sick in 180 BC, she put Lü Lu (along with her other nephew Lü Chan (呂產), son of Lü Ze (吕泽), her elder brother) in charge of Emperor Houshao's regency, and married Lady Lü to Emperor Houshao. When the Lü clan was later destroyed that year, in the Lü Clan Disturbance, Emperor Houshao was deposed and executed. Historians implied that Empress Lü was also executed, although her fate was not explicitly stated.

References

Han dynasty empresses 180 BC deaths 2nd-century BC Chinese women 2nd-century BC Chinese people Year of birth unknown Year of death uncertain {{China-royal-stub