Empress Li (李皇后, personal name unknown) (died 409?) 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 ...

whose husband Gao Yun (Emperor Huiyi) is considered, depending on which historical view is involved, to have been either the last emperor of the

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

-led Chinese Later Yan dynasty or the first emperor of Later Yan's successor state Northern Yan dynasty. Very little is known about Empress Li. After Gao Yun became emperor after his adoptive uncle

Murong Xi Murong Xi (; 385–407; r. 401–407), courtesy name Daowen (道文), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Zhaowen of Later Yan (後燕昭文帝), was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Later Yan dynasty of China. He was one of the young ...

(Emperor Zhaowen) was overthrown in 407, he created her empress in 408. It is not known whether his

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 ...

Gao Pengcheng (高彭城) was her son or not. In 409, Gao Yun was assassinated, and general confusion ensued. It appeared that she died in that confusion as well, for when Gao Yun's successor

Feng Ba Feng Ba (; died 430), courtesy name Wenqi (文起), nickname Qizhifa (乞直伐), also known by his posthumous name as the Emperor Wencheng of Northern Yan (北燕文成帝), was either the founding or second Chinese sovereign, ruler of the Norther ...

(Emperor Wencheng) buried Gao Yun with imperial honors in 410, Empress Li was buried with Gao Yun.

References

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