Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun

Lou Zhaojun, posthumous name Empress Wuming (武明皇后), was an empress dowager and grand empress dowager of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. She was the wife of Gao Huan, the paramount general of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei dynasties, and during Gao Huan's lifetime was already influential on the political scene. After Gao Huan's death, she continued to exert influence through the regency of her son Gao Cheng, and then as empress dowager after another son Gao Yang seized the Eastern Wei throne and established the Northern Qi. She continued to serve as grand empress dowager through the reigns of Gao Yang's son Gao Yin, and then again as empress dowager during the reigns of two more of her own sons, Emperor Xiaozhao and Emperor Wucheng.