Grand empress dowager

The title Grand Empress Dowager (simplified and traditional Chinese: 太皇太后, pinyin tai4 huang2 tai4 hou4) was given to the grandmother or a woman from the grandmother generation of the Chinese dynastic ruler. Some grand empress dowagers held regency within the beginning years of reign of an underage or young emperor. Nevertheless the most prominent and infamous dowagers extended long periods of regency even if the emperor was matured enough to govern alone, which was a source of political turmoil according to traditional view of Chinese history.

Famous Grand Empresses Dowager include:

• Grand Empress Dowager Wang, aunt of Wang Mang
• Xiaozhuangren Grand Empress Dowager, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor
• Xiaozhexian Grand Empress Dowager, commonly known as the Empress Dowager Cixi, during the reign of the Guangxu Emperor.