Empress Lü

Uncommon card · No. 141022

Lü Zhi (241 BC – 18 August 180 BC), courtesy name Exu (娥姁), and commonly known as Empress Lü (traditional Chinese: 呂后; simplified Chinese: 吕后; pinyin: Lǚ Hòu) and formally Empress Gao of Han (漢高后; 汉高后; Hàn Gāo Hòu), was the empress consort of Gaozu, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty. They had two known children, Liu Ying (later Emperor Hui of Han) and Princess Yuan of Lu. Lü was the first woman to assume the title of "empress of China" and paramount power. After Gaozu's death, she was honored as empress dowager and ruled as regent during the short reigns of Emperor Hui and his successors Emperor Qianshao and Emperor Houshao. She played a role in the rise and foundation of her husband, Emperor Gaozu, and his dynasty, and in some of the laws and customs laid down by him. Empress Lü, even in the absence of her husband from the capital, killed two prominent generals who played an important role in Gaozu's rise to power, namely Han Xin and Peng Yue, as a lesson for the aristocracy and...

Read on Wikipedia · Image 鍾 惺, 1574-1624, Public domain