List of Famous people named Empress

Bumbutai, of the Khorchin Mongol Borjigit clan, was the consort of Hong Taiji. She was 21 years his junior. She was honoured as Empress Dowager Zhaosheng during the reign of her son, Fulin, the Shunzhi Emperor, and as Grand Empress Dowager Zhaosheng during the reign of her grandson, Xuanye, the Kangxi Emperor.

Empress Dugu or Queen Dugu personal name Dugu Banruo, posthumously Empress Mingjing (明敬皇后), was the wife of the Emperor Ming of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Zhou.

Empress Cao was a Chinese Empress consort of the Song Dynasty, married to Emperor Renzong of Song. She served as regent of China during the illness of Emperor Yingzong, from 1063 until 1064.

Empress Jingū was a legendary Japanese empress who ruled as a regent following her husband's death in 200 AD. Both the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki record events that took place during Jingū's alleged lifetime. Legends say that after seeking revenge on the people who murdered her husband, she then turned her attention to a "promised land". Jingū is thus considered to be a controversial monarch by historians in terms of her alleged invasion of the Korean Peninsula. This was in turn possibly used as justification for imperial expansion during the Meiji period. The records state that Jingū gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Homutawake three years after he was conceived by her late husband.

Cao Jie, formally known as Empress Xianmu, was an empress of the Eastern Han dynasty of China. She was the second wife of Emperor Xian, the last Han emperor, and became known as the Duchess of Shanyang after her husband's abdication. She was a half-sister of Cao Pi, who ended the Han dynasty by forcing Emperor Xian to abdicate the throne in his favour and established the state of Cao Wei.

Empress Xiaogongren, of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner Uya clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the consort of Xuanye, the Kangxi Emperor and mother of Yinzhen, the Yongzheng Emperor. She was honoured as Empress Dowager Renshou during the reign of her son and posthumously honoured as empress, although she never held the rank of empress consort during her lifetime.

Empress Wei was an empress of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power. She was in charge of government affairs during her husband's reign. Emperor Zhongzong's death in 710—a death traditionally believed to be a poisoning she carried out together with her daughter Li Guo'er the Princess Anle—gave her the power to become the empress dowager and regent, but in short order was overthrown and killed in a coup led by Emperor Zhongzong's nephew Li Longji and Emperor Zhongzong's sister Princess Taiping.

Empress (Dowager) Feng (馮皇后) (442–490), formally Empress (Dowager) Wenming was an empress of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei. Her husband was Emperor Wencheng. After her husband's death in 465, she overthrew the autocratic regent Yifu Hun in 466 and became regent over her stepson Emperor Xianwen and remained as such until his adulthood in 467. She subsequently had a falling-out with Emperor Xianwen over his execution of her lover Li Yi (李奕), and she assassinated him and reassumed regency over his son Emperor Xiaowen in 476. While Emperor Xiaowen assumed imperial powers upon adulthood, he remained very deferential to her, and she was highly influential until her death in 490.

Empress Wang was an empress of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. She was the first wife and empress of Emperor Gaozong and became empress shortly after he became emperor in 649. She, however, did not bear any sons for him and was not favored. Therefore, in apprehension that one of his concubines, Consort Xiao, who was both favored and had a son, might seek to displace her, she recommended a former concubine of Emperor Gaozong's father Emperor Taizong, Consort Wu, to be Emperor Gaozong's concubine as well, hoping to divert favor from Consort Xiao. Soon, however, Consort Wu became dominant in the palace and overwhelmed both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao, eventually accusing them of using witchcraft against Emperor Gaozong. Emperor Gaozong reduced both Empress Wang and Consort Xiao to commoner rank and put them under arrest in 655, replacing Empress Wang with Consort Wu. Soon, as recorded in the New Book of Tang and Zizhi Tongjian, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao were very cruelly and inhuman executed on the new Empress Wu's orders.

Empress Pan, personal name Pan Shu, was an empress of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. She was the only empress of Wu's founding emperor, Sun Quan, even though he had a succession of wives before her. She was the mother of Sun Liang, Sun Quan's successor and the second emperor of Wu.