Ỷ Lan (Hán tự: , literally leaning on the orchid, ?–1117) or Empress Mother Linh Nhân (Vietnamese: Linh Nhân thái hậu, Hán tự: ) was the imperial concubine of Lý Thánh Tông, the third emperor and the natural mother of Lý Nhân Tông, the fourth emperor of the Lý Dynasty. Being of commoner origin, Ỷ Lan was favoured by Lý Thánh Tông because she not only gave birth to his first child but also successfully acted the regency for him during the emperor's military campaign in the kingdom of Champa. After the death of Lý Thánh Tông, Ỷ Lan one more time took the position of regent by having the Empress Mother Thượng Dương and her servants killed after an order of Ỷ Lan's son Lý Nhân Tông. For her achievements, Ỷ Lan was considered one of the most important figures during the early Lý Dynasty and one of the few women who held significant political power in the dynastic time of the History of Vietnam.

According to Từ điển Bách khoa toàn thư Việt Nam, the birthyear of Ỷ Lan was unknown, she was born in the Thổ Lỗi (later changed to Siêu Loại) village, now Dương Xá commune, Gia Lam, Hanoi. It was said that the Emperor Lý Thánh Tông was unable to have his own child up to the age of 40, therefore he paid visit to Buddhist pagodas all over the country to pray for a child, naturally the escort of Lý Thánh Tông often attracted attention of people. In 1063, the emperor passed the Thổ Lỗi village where he saw a girl of commoner origin leaning on an orchid tree (Vietnamese: ỷ lan) and paid no curiosity to the escort of the emperor like others, afterwards Lý Thánh Tông decided to choose the girl as his concubine with the title Lady Ỷ Lan (Ỷ Lan phu nhân).

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