Queen Dowager Xuan

Queen Dowager Xuan (Chinese: 宣太后; 338–265 BC), also called Mi Yue (Chinese: 芈月), was a girl from the royal family of the Kingdom of Chu and one of the imperial concubines (consorts but not the wife) of King Huiwen of Qin. She gave birth to King Zhaoxiang of Qin (r. 306–251 BC) and acted as his regent when he was young.

As queen dowager, she entered illicit relations with the "barbarian" Yiqu king and had two sons with him, but later tricked and killed him. Following that coup, the Qin army marched into Yiqu territory at the queen dowager's orders; the Qin annihilated Yiqu and thus came to possess the Ordos region.[1]

Yiqu's fall rendered Qin a safe northern border. Since there was no more hostile forces in the north of Qin, Yiqu's fall ensured Qin's successful expansion eastward.[2]

Queen Xuan was the de facto ruler of Qin starting from 307 BC until around 270s BC. She eventually lost her power due to Fan Sui's scheme against her. She represented Qin's interests and protected and expanded Qin's realm. However, she refused to fight her homeland Chu when the state of Han, under the attack of Chu, asked Qin for reinforcement.[3]