After Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, he established an imperial system. According to the Book of Han, "Han Xing, because of the title of Qin, the imperial mother was called the empress dowager, the grandmother was called the empress dowager, the wife was called the empress, and the concubines were called the lady. This means that the Han Dynasty learned from the Qin Dynasty, and the emperor's wife was called empress. Liu Bang's wife Lü Yan was the first empress of the Han Dynasty. Curiously, there is no record in the existing literature of qin shi huang who was crowned empress after he ascended the throne. It is not known who his queen is.
Why did Qin Shi Huang claim the title of empress dowager but not to establish a queen? This may have something to do with his personal experience. His mother, Zhao Ji (赵姬), was originally Lü Buwei's concubine, and was later given to Zi Chu by Lü Buwei. Zi Chu returned to the Qin state and succeeded him as King Zhuang Xiang and Zhao Ji as queen, but Zhao Ji still had an ambiguous relationship with Lü Buwei. His mother's rash behavior made Eun Jeong very angry and made him hate women. Therefore, when he built the Empire State Building, he did not consider the position of women.
The first person to be given the title of empress was Lü Yan, whose personal experience and abilities had a lot to do with her ability to become queen. When Liu Bang was working as a pavilion chief in Surabaya, Lü Yan's father met and felt that Liu Bang must have an appearance in the future, so he married her to Liu Bang, who was considered to be idle. After Lü Yan became a relative, she worked hard to handle the labor service, and there are scenes in the "Records of History" where she took Emperor Hui and Princess Lu Yuan to work in the fields. Lü Yan supported Liu Bang when he attacked the world, and after many hardships, the "Chronicle of History" said that she and Liu Bang "jointly determined the world". Liu Bang proclaimed himself empress dowager, made Lü Lu empress, and affixed the empress seal. Qin Shi Huang stipulated that only the emperor's jade seal could be called a seal, and Liu Bang also called the empress's seal a seal, indicating Lü Yan's honorable status.
However, the establishment of the empress system should be during the reign of Emperor Wu. There are two symbolic events. First, he determined the title and salary of the concubines according to the titles and salaries of the officials, making the management of the harem more institutionalized. The other was to establish the etiquette of canonization of the empress. The ceremony of canonization of the empress was presided over by the lieutenant, visited by all officials, and the emperor himself came. At the ceremony, the jade seal and ribbon symbolizing the status of the empress were awarded.