1Empress Lü (Lü Zhi), wife of Han founder Liu Bang and de facto ruler of the early Han dynasty 195–180 BC, one of China's first women to wield supreme power
Wife of the Han founder 刘邦 who held power after his death through her son and two child emperors, the first woman in Chinese history to rule as regent. The 史记 tells how she had his favourite consort mutilated.
Empress Lü is a famous female ruler in Chinese history.
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Her given name 雉 means 'pheasant', so Han writers, avoiding it, called the bird 野鸡, 'wild chicken', still the everyday word. 司马迁 gave her a 本纪, 'basic annals', the chapter type kept for rulers, though she never took the throne.
