Queen Dowager Xuan

Queen Dowager Xuan (Chinese: 宣太后) (338 BC - 265 BC), also called Mi Bazi (羋八子; Wade–Giles: Mi Pa-tzŭ), was a concubine of King Huiwen of Qin and mother of King Zhaoxiang of Qin. When King Huiwen died, the widowed Xuan acted as regent because the succeeding sons were deemed too young to govern. During the reign of King Zhaoxiang (r. 306 – 251 BC), the queen dowager apparently entered illicit relations with the nomadic Yiqu king and gave birth to two of his sons, but later tricked and killed the Yiqu king. Following that coup, the Qin army marched into Yiqu territory at the queen dowager's orders; the Qin annihilated the Yiqu remnants and thus came to possess the Ordos region.^[1]

References

1. di Cosmo, Nicola (2002). Ancient China and Its Enemies: The Rise of Nomadic Power in East Asian History. Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-052-1-77064-4.