Lady Gan
| Lady Gan | |
|---|---|
A Qing dynasty portrait of Lady Gan
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| Born | (Unknown) |
| Died | c. 210 |
| Names | |
| Traditional Chinese | 甘夫人 |
| Simplified Chinese | 甘夫人 |
| Pinyin | Gān Fūrén |
| Wade–Giles | Kan Fu-jen |
| Posthumous name |
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Lady Gan (died c. 210) was the first wife of Liu Bei, the founding emperor of the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period.
Lady Gan was from Pei (沛; in present-day Pei County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu). When Liu Bei visited Yu Province, he stayed in Xiaopei (小沛; present-day Pei County, Xuzhou, Jiangsu), where he met Lady Gan and took her as his concubine. She followed Liu Bei to Jing Province later, where she gave birth to Liu Shan. During the Battle of Changban, Liu Bei fled and abandoned her and Liu Shan, but she and her son were both saved by Zhao Yun. She was buried in Nan Commandery (南郡; around present-day Jingzhou, Hubei) after her death.
In 221, after Liu Bei established the state of Shu Han and became its first emperor, he posthumously honoured Lady Gan as "Lady Huangsi" (皇思夫人), which literally means "the Lady whom the Emperor misses". Lady Gan's remains were excavated from Nan Commandery for reburial in Shu territory (covering present-day Sichuan and Chongqing), but Liu Bei died before this was completed.
Later, after Liu Shan succeeded his father, Liu Bei, as the emperor of Shu, the chancellor Zhuge Liang wrote a memorial to Liu Shan, suggesting that Lady Gan be honoured and buried together with Liu Bei. Liu Shan obliged and posthumously honoured his mother as "Empress Zhaolie" (昭烈皇后) to match his father's posthumous title, "Emperor Zhaolie".
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