KAO-HOU

died 180 BC, China also called L-hou, or L-shih, personal name (hsing-ming) L O-hs, or L Chih the first woman ruler of China, wife of Kao-tsu, the first emperor of the Han dynasty (206 BCAD 220). After Kao-tsu's death, his and Kao-hou's young son, the emperor Hui-ti (reigned 195188 BC), ascended the throne. Kao-hou, whose ambition had spurred her husband's rise to power, acted as regent and seized real power for herself. A cruel, vindictive woman, she consolidated her position by ignoring members of the ruling family and promoting her relatives to important posts. When the emperor Hui-ti died, Kao-hou arranged for another infant to succeed him. When the new young ruler began to assert his independence, she had him imprisoned and replaced with yet another child. After her death, her efforts on behalf of the L clan were reversed by a coalition of high ministers and disgruntled princes of the imperial family who massacred the clan. Power returned to Kao-tsu's family when Wen-ti, his oldest living son by another wife, ascended the throne.