Zhang Yan (empress)

Zhang Yan[1] (traditional Chinese: 張嫣; simplified Chinese: 张嫣; pinyin: Zhāng Yān; died April or May 163 BC[2]), known formally as Empress Xiaohui (孝惠皇后) was an empress during the Han dynasty.

She was a daughter of Princess Yuan of Lu (the only daughter of Emperor Gao (Liu Bang) and his wife Empress Lü) and her husband Zhang Ao (張敖, son of Zhang Er), the Prince of Zhao and later Marquess of Xuanping.

In c.November 192 BC,[3] at the insistence of then-Empress Dowager Lü, Lady Yan married her uncle Emperor Hui, the son of Emperor Gao and Empress Dowager Lü, and she was created empress.

Nevertheless, when Emperor Qianshao found out in 184 BC that he was not actually her child, he made a careless comment that he would take vengeance on her—at which Empress Dowager Lü had him deposed and executed, and replaced him with his brother Liu Hong (as Emperor Houshao), who was also adopted by Empress Zhang.

Her brother, the Prince of Lu, was also deposed and reduced in rank to Marquess of Nangong.