Grand empress dowager in the context of "Empress"

An emperor (from Latin: imperator, via Old French: empereor) is the (male) ruler of an empire. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules in her own right and name (empress regnant or suo jure). Emperors are generally recognized to be of the highest monarchic honour and rank, surpassing king. In Europe, the title of Emperor has been used since the Middle Ages, considered in those times equal or almost equal in dignity to that of Pope due to the latter's position as visible head of the Church and spiritual leader of the Catholic part of Western Europe. The emperor of Japan is the only currently reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as "Emperor", although he no longer reigns over an empire.

Both emperors and kings are monarchs or sovereigns, both emperor and empress are considered monarchical titles. In as much as there is a strict definition of emperor, it is that an emperor has no relations implying the superiority of any other ruler and typically rules over more than one nation. Therefore, a king might be obliged to pay tribute to another ruler, or be restrained in his actions in some unequal fashion, but an emperor should in theory be completely free of such restraints. However, monarchs heading empires have not always used the title in all contexts—the British sovereign did not assume the title Empress of the British Empire even during the incorporation of India, though she was declared Empress of India.

Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; Chinese and Japanese: 皇太后; pinyin: huángtàihòu; rōmaji: Kōtaigō; Korean: 황태후 (皇太后); romaja: Hwang Tae Hu; Vietnamese: Hoàng Thái Hậu (皇太后)) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chinese cultural sphere. The term however, is applied well beyond just East Asia.

The title was also given occasionally to another woman of the same generation, while a woman from the previous generation was sometimes given the title of grand empress dowager (Chinese and Japanese: 太皇太后; pinyin: tàihúangtàihòu; rōmaji: Taikōtaigō; Korean: 태황태후 (太皇太后); romaja: Tae Hwang Tae Hu; Vietnamese: Thái Hoàng Thái Hậu (太皇太后)). An empress dowager wielded power over the harem and imperial family. Numerous empress dowagers held regency during the reign of underage emperors. Many of the most prominent empress dowagers also extended their control for long periods after the emperor was old enough to govern. This was a source of political turmoil according to the traditional view of Chinese history.

Lady Bian (29 January 161 – 9 July 230), also known as Empress Dowager Bian or Grand Empress Dowager Bian, formally known as Empress Wuxuan, was an empress dowager and later grand empress dowager of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. She was the wife of Cao Cao, a warlord who rose to power in the late Eastern Han dynasty and laid the foundation of Wei. She bore Cao Cao's successor, Cao Pi, who ended the Han dynasty and founded Wei in 220 after his father's death.