Empress Gou was an empress of the Chinese

History of China

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is said to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. With thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the world's oldest...

/Di

Di (ethnic group)

The Di were an ethnic group in China from the 8th century BCE to approximately the middle of the 6th century CE. Note that the character Di is used to differentiate this group from the Beidi , a generic term for "northern barbarians". They lived in areas of the present-day provinces of Gansu,...

 state Former Qin

Former Qin

The Former Qin was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Founded by the Fu family of the Di ethnicity, it completed the unification of North China in 376. Its capital had been Xi'an up to the death of the ruler Fu Jiān. Despite its name, the Former Qin was much later and less powerful than...

. Her husband was Fu Jiān

Fu Jian

Fu Jian may refer to:* Fú Jiàn , founding emperor of Former Qin, posthumous name Emperor Jingming* Fú Jiān , ruler of Former Qin, posthumous name Emperor Xuanzhao-See also:...

, who created her empress in 355 after seizing the throne from his violent and cruel cousin Fu Sheng

Fu Sheng

Fu Sheng , originally named Pu Sheng , courtesy name Changsheng , formally Prince Li of Yue , was an emperor of the Chinese/Di state Former Qin...

 even though he claimed only the title of "Heavenly Prince" (Tian Wang

Tian Wang

Tian Wang , translatable as either "heavenly prince" or "heavenly king," was a Chinese regal title that was most frequently used during the Sixteen Kingdoms era, among the kingdoms founded by members of the Wu Hu tribes, often used as an intermediate stage from claiming a prince/king title to an...

).

Very little is known about Empress Gou. She might have been a relative of Fu Jiān's mother Empress Dowager Gou

Empress Dowager Gou

Empress Dowager Gou was an empress dowager of the Chinese/Di state Former Qin. Her husband was Fu Xiong , the Prince of Donghai and brother of the founding emperor Fu Jiàn...

, but there is not enough evidence. She was still alive in 359, when she participated in a ceremonial feeding of silkworms, but there was no further record of her in history, including whether she survived to her husband's death in 385. (The succession table below assumes that she did survive to 385, although that is highly speculative, although when Fu Jiān's crown prince

Crown Prince

A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....

 Fu Hong fled to Jin in 385, he was recorded to have done so with his mother, who was likely to be Empress Gou.)
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