Liu Cong's later empresses
Encyclopedia
The 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...

 emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...

 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...

, after his third wife Empress Liu E
Empress Liu E
Empress Liu E , courtesy name Lihua , formally Empress Wuxuan was an empress of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Han Zhao...

's death in 314, became involved in the unorthodox practice of creating multiple empresses, against the Chinese tradition of having one empress at one time. Several women therefore carried the empress titles during his late reign, either entirely contemporaneously or in an overlapping manner, and four of them survived to the time of the brief reign of his son 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...

 in 318. Liu Can was said to have engaged in affairs with all of them (which was considered incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...

 under Chinese tradition, even though he had no blood relations with them), all of whom were described as younger than 20 in age. In addition to these empresses with formal titles, Liu Cong was said to have had several other consorts who also carried empress seals, but not official empress titles.

Jin Yueguang

Jin Yueguang (靳月光) 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, and she became a consort of Liu Cong's in 315
315
Year 315 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Licinianus...

, along with her sister Jin Yuehua, and was created "Upper Empress" (上皇后). She was described to be extremely beautiful. Later that year, Liu Cong's official Chen Yuanda (陳元達) revealed that she had an affair, and Liu Cong felt that he had no choice but to depose her. She committed suicide in shame, and Liu Cong, missing her beauty, became resentful of Chen from that point on.

Left Empress Liu

Left Empress Liu (劉左皇后, personal name unknown) was likely a granddaughter of the respected Han Zhao official Liu Yin (劉殷) and niece of Empress Liu E. She was created "Left Empress" in 315, and nothing further is known about her. She was not mentioned when Liu Can became emperor 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...

, and Liu Cong had earlier in 318 created another Left Empress, implying that she was dead by that point.

Jin Yuehua

Jin Yuehua (靳月華) was Jin Zhun's daughter, and she became a consort of Liu Cong's in 315, along with her sister Jin Yueguang, and was created "Right Empress" (右皇后). She was described to be extremely beautiful. She survived to Liu Can's reign in 318, when Liu Can honored her as 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...

. It is not known what her fate was after her father Jin Zhun overthrew Liu Can later in 318 and was subsequently assassinated and successed by his cousin Jin Ming (靳明), who, along with the entire Jin clan, was massacred 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...

.

Upper Empress Fan

Upper Empress Fan (樊上皇后, personal name unknown) was a servant girl of Liu Cong's second wife Empress Zhang Huiguang
Empress Zhang Huiguang
Empress Zhang Huiguang , formally Empress Wuxiao , was an empress of the Chinese/Xiongnu state Han Zhao...

. She was created "Upper Empress" in 316. When Liu Can became emperor in 318, he honored her as "Empress Hongdao" (弘道皇后).

Left Empress Wang

Left Empress Wang (王左皇后, personal name unknown) was an adopted daughter of the eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...

 Wang Chen (王沈), a trusted but corrupt assistant to Liu Cong. Several officials tried to persuade him from creating a eunuch's adopted daughter (whom they saw as no higher, social station-wise, than a servant girl) an empress, and they were executed for their opposition. When Liu Cong died later that year and was succeeded by Liu Can, she was honored as "Empress Hongxiao" (弘孝皇后).

Middle Empress Xuan

Middle Empress Xuan (宣中皇后, personal name unknown) was an adopted daughter of the eunuch Xuan Huai (宣懷), a trusted but corrupt assistant to Liu Cong. She was created "Middle Empress" in 318 after Liu Cong had already executed several officials over his creating Left Empress Wang, and so she appeared to have received no additional opposition. When Liu Cong died later that year and was succeeded by Liu Can, she was honored as "Empress Hongde" (弘德皇后).
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