Empress Jin was briefly an empress of the Chinese

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

/Xiongnu

Xiongnu

The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han Dynasty. Most of the information on the Xiongnu comes from Chinese sources...

 state Han Zhao

Han Zhao

The Han Zhao , or Former Zhao, or Northern Han , was a Southern Xiongnu state during Sixteen Kingdoms period coeval with the Chinese Jin Dynasty...

. Her husband was Liu Can

Liu Can

Liu Can , courtesy name Shiguang , Posthumous name Emperor Yin of Han , was an emperor of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Han Zhao, who reigned briefly in 318 before being killed by his trusted father-in-law Jin Zhun.-As Prince of He'nei and then Prince of Jin:Liu Can was Liu Cong's son by his first...

 (Emperor Yin).

She was Jin Zhun

Jin Zhun

Jin Zhun was an official of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Han Zhao, who in 318 staged a coup against the Han Zhao emperor and his son-in-law Liu Can and then massacred the imperial Liu family. His forces were subsequently squeezed in by the succeeding emperor Liu Yao and the general Shi Le, and,...

's daughter. It is not known what year she married Liu Can, but when he served as his father Liu Cong

Liu Cong

Liu Cong may refer to:*Liu Cong , emperor of Han Zhao of the Sixteen Kingdoms*Liu Cong , younger son of the Han Dynasty warlord Liu Biao...

 (Emperor Zhaowu)'s crown prince

Crown Prince

A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

, she was crown princess. In 318

318

Year 318 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Licinianus and Crispus...

, after Liu Cong died, Liu Can became emperor and created her empress. He also created his son Liu Yuangong (劉元公), likely her son, crown prince.

Jin Zhun, however, planned to overthrow Liu Can. He advised Liu Can to kill a number of his brothers and high level officials under suspicion of treason, and when Liu Can initially would not, Empress Jin and her sister Jin Yuehua the empress dowager

Empress Dowager

Empress Dowager was the title given to the mother of a Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Vietnamese emperor.The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of Grand empress dowager. Numerous empress...

 persuaded him that Jin Zhun was telling the truth. After those high level officials were killed, Jin then killed Liu Can and massacred the imperial Liu clan. Later that year, Jin was assassinated and succeeded by his cousin Jin Ming (靳明), who, along with the rest of the Jin clan, were slaughtered by the succeeding emperor Liu Yao

Liu Yao

Liu Yao , courtesy name Yongming , was the final emperor of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Han Zhao. He became emperor in 318 after most other members of the imperial Liu clan were massacred by Jin Zhun in a coup. However, the empire was soon divided in half, as the general Shi Le declared...

. It is not known what Empress Jin's fate was.