Empress Gou
Chinese empress
Empress Gou (苟皇后, personal name unknown) was an empress of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty of China. Her husband was Fu Jiān, who created her empress in 355 after seizing the throne from his violent and cruel cousin Fu Sheng even though he claimed only the title of "Heavenly King" (Tian Wang).
Very little is known about Empress Gou. She might have been a relative of Fu Jiān's mother Empress Dowager Gou, but there is not enough evidence. She was still alive in 359, when she participated in a ceremonial feeding of silkworms, but there was no further record of her in history, including whether she survived to her husband's death in 385.
When Fu Jiān's crown prince Fu Hong fled to Jin in 385, he was recorded to have done so with his mother, who was likely to be Empress Gou.
The public source identifies “Empress Gou” as chinese empress. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Empress, Chinese and empress.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Empress Gou”, the useful work is to connect “chinese empress” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 26, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q5374525. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Empress Gou”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Empress Gou primary sources, Empress Gou archive and Empress research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Empress Gou”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Empress Gou” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.