Beautiful Lady Yu (Han dynasty)

Beautiful Lady Yu (Chinese: 虞美人; died 179) held the rank of "beautiful lady" (美人) in the harem of emperor Shun of Han. She was the biological mother of Liu Sheng, Grand Princess of Wuyang (舞阳公主) and Liu Bing, Emperor Chong of Han.^[1]

Lady Yu was chosen to be a concubine at the age of 13, on the basis of belonging to a "good family", and her mother's clan members were all honoured and favoured people. Later on she gave birth to her daughter, Liu Sheng. In the year 138 her daughter Liu Sheng was conferred the title Grand Princess of Wuyang.

In 143 Lady Yu gave birth to Emperor Shun's only son: Liu Bing. In 144, following the death of emperor Shun, Liu Bing became emperor. On the first month of the following year, Liu Bing died.

When an Emperor ascended to the throne, the mother of that Emperor would usually receive an honourable title. Yet, this was not the case for Beautiful Lady Yu. According to the Later Han History, due to General Liang Ji's violent seizure of power, Lady Yu's clan feared Liang Yi doing them harm and avoided court positions and honours, and was thus considered simply a "grand family".^[2]

In 175, Emperor Ling of Han honoured Lady Yu as mother of Emperor Chong by bestowing her the higher harem rank "noble lady of Xian hill" (宪园贵人), together with bestowing the title "concubine of king Wang of Bohai" on Lady Chen, mother of Emperor Zhi of Han. Following this, Lady Yu was also known as "Noble Lady Yu of Xianling". In 179, Lady Yu died.

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