Empress Xiaoxianchun
| Empress Xiaoxianchun | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress ofQing | |||||
 Portrait byGiuseppe Castiglione | |||||
| Empress consort of the Qing dynasty | |||||
| Tenure | 23 January 1738 – 8 April 1748 | ||||
| Predecessor | Empress Xiaojingxian | ||||
| Successor | Empress Nara | ||||
| Born | 28 March 1712 ( khang hi ngũ thập nhất niên nhị nguyệt nhị thập nhị nhật ) | ||||
| Died | 8 April 1748(aged 36) ( càn long thập tam niên tam nguyệt thập nhất nhật ) Forbidden City,Beijing | ||||
| Burial | Yu Mausoleum,Eastern Qing tombs | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue among others... |
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| House | Fuca( phú sát thị; by birth) Aisin-Gioro(by marriage) | ||||
| Father | Lirongbao | ||||
| Mother | Lady Gioro | ||||
| Religion | Vajrayana Buddhism | ||||
| Empress Xiaoxianchun | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | Hiếu hiền thuần hoàng hậu | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | Hiếu hiền thuần hoàng hậu | ||||||
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| Manchu name | |||||||
| Manchu script | ᡥᡳᠶᠣᠣᡧᡠᠩᡤᠠ ᡝᡵᡩᡝᠮᡠᠩᡤᡝ ᠶᠣᠩᡴᡳᠶᠠᠩᡤᠠ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡥᡝᠣ | ||||||
| Romanization | hiyoošungga erdemungge yongkiyangga hūwangheo | ||||||
Empress Xiaoxianchun(28 March 1712 – 8 April 1748), of theManchuBordered Yellow BannerFuca clan,was the first wife of theQianlong Emperor.She was empress consort from 1738 until her death in 1748.
Life[edit]
Family background[edit]
Empress Xiaoxianchun's personal name was not recorded in history.
- Father: Lirongbao (Lý vinh bảo;1674–1723), served as a third rank military official (Tổng quản) ofChahar,and held the title of a first class duke (Nhất đẳng công)
- Grandfather: Mishan (Mễ tư hàn;1633–1675), served as theminister of revenue
- Uncle:Maci( mã tề; 1652–1739)
- Mother: Lady Gioro (Giác la thị)
- Seven elder brothers and two younger brothers
- Ninth younger brother:Fuheng( phó hằng; 1720–1770)
- One younger sister: wife of Salashan
Kangxi era[edit]
The future Empress Xiaoxianchun was born on the 22nd day of the secondlunarmonth in the 51st year of the reign of theKangxi Emperor,which translates to 28 March 1712 in theGregorian calendar.
Yongzheng era[edit]
On 3 September 1727, Lady Fuca marriedHongli,the fourth son of theYongzheng Emperor,and became his primary consort. She then moved into thePalace of Eternal Springin the western part of the Forbidden City. She gave birth on 3 November 1728 to Hongli's first daughter, who would die prematurely on 14 February 1730, on 9 August 1730 to his second son,Yonglian,who would die due to smallpox on 23 November 1738, and on 31 July 1731 to his third daughter,Princess Hejing of the First Rank.
Qianlong era[edit]
The Yongzheng Emperor died on 8 October 1735 and was succeeded by Hongli, who was enthroned as the Qianlong Emperor. On 23 January 1738, Lady Fuca, as the new emperor's primary consort, was instated as empress.
In theDraft History of Qing,Lady Fuca is described as a respected and virtuous person. She looked after the Qianlong Emperor and the people in the palace, serving her role as empress well. She was praised and favoured by the Emperor.[1]It is also said that Lady Fuca did not like spending money for her own aggrandizement. Instead of expensive jewelry, she would wear artificial flowers in her hair. The Emperor once told her that their Manchu ancestors were too poor to make their own pouches from cloth and had to settle for simple deer hide instead. She immediately made one for him. He was touched by the gift.[2]
Lady Fuca took her duties seriously when it came toConfucianrituals. As head of the inner palace, she supervised the imperial consorts when performing rituals. One of these was a rite concerningsericulturethat was presided over by the empress. This rite, which had been practised since theZhou dynasty,was gradually restored during the reign of Qianlong. For the purpose of the rite, a sericulture altar was completed in 1744,[3]largely at Lady Fuca's urging.[4]That year, she became the first empress of the Qing dynasty to personally lead the women in the palace in these rites, making offerings of mulberry. In 1751, the whole rite was painted on four scrolls in memory of Lady Fuca.[5]
On 27 May 1746, Lady Fuca gave birth to the Emperor's seventh son, Yongcong. The Qianlong Emperor had high hopes for Yongcong and named him the crown prince shortly after his birth. However, Yongcong too would die prematurely on 29 January 1748 due to smallpox, similar to Yonglian.
Death[edit]
In 1748, during one of Qianlong's southern tours, Lady Fuca became seriously ill with a malarial fever and eventually died on 8 April, three months after the death of Yongcong.[6]The Empress's funeral was lavishly done. The Emperor was deeply affected and did not take her death well. When he found out that two of his sons,YonghuangandYongzhang,had not mourned for the Empress as much as was expected, he issued a decree removing both of them from his list of potential successors to the throne. In addition, those court officials who shaved their hair, which was considered disrespectful as it was forbidden to do so throughout the mourning period, were either heavily punished or executed.[6]
The bereaved Emperor wrote the poemExpressing My Griefafter her death:
When entering her bedroom,
I inhale sadness.
I climb behind her phoenix bed-curtains,
Yet they hang to no avail.
The romance of the spring breeze and autumn moon all ends here.
Summer days and winter nights spent with her will never come again.[7]
Titles[edit]
- During the reign of theKangxi Emperor(r. 1661–1722):
- Lady Fuca (Phú sát thị;from 28 March 1712)
- During the reign of theYongzheng Emperor(r. 1722–1735):
- Primary consort (Đích phúc tấn;from 3 September 1727)[8]
- During the reign of theQianlong Emperor(r. 1735–1796):
- During the reign of theJiaqing Emperor(r. 1796–1802):
- Empress Xiaoxianchun(Hiếu hiền thuần hoàng hậu;from 1799)
Issue[edit]
- As primary consort:
- Unnamed daughter(3 November 1728 – 14 February 1730), the Qianlong Emperor's first daughter
- Yonglian(Vĩnh liễn), Crown PrinceDuanhui(Đoan tuệ hoàng thái tử;9 August 1730 – 23 November 1738), the Qianlong Emperor's second son
- PrincessHejingof the First Rank(Cố luân hòa kính công chủ;31 July 1731 – 30 September 1792), the Qianlong Emperor's third daughter
- Married Septeng Baljur (Sắc bố đằng ba nhĩ châu nhĩ;?– 1775) of the MongolKhorchinBorjigin clanin April/May 1747
- As empress:
- Yongcong(Vĩnh tông), PrinceZheof First Rank (Triết thân vương;27 May 1746 – 29 January 1748), the Qianlong Emperor's seventh son
Gallery[edit]
-
Empress Xiaoxianchun fondling silkworms -
The Qianlong Emperor's consorts with children and two court ladies in 1747 by Giuseppe Castiglione -
Another portrait of Empress Xiaoxianchun
In fiction and popular culture[edit]
- Portrayed by Shally Tsang inTake Care, Your Highness!(1985)
- Portrayed by Chan Fuk-sang inThe Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty(1988)
- Portrayed by Chen Yi inJiangshan Weizhong(2002)
- Portrayed byJoyce TanginThe Prince's Shadow(2005)
- Portrayed by Yuan Yi inEmpresses in the Palace(2011)
- Portrayed byQin LaninStory of Yanxi Palace(2018)
- Portrayed byDong JieinRuyi's Royal Love in the Palace(2018)
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^Qing Shi Gaovol. 214.
- ^Ho & Bronson (2004).
- ^Naquin (2000), p. 308.
- ^Qing liechao houfei zhuan gao,F. 86.Qingchao yeshi daguan,1.55.
- ^The painting "Empress supervising the rites of sericulture" hangs in thePalace Museum,Beijing.
- ^abKutcher, Norman (1997)."The Death of the Xiaoxian Empress: Bureaucratic Betrayals and the Crises of Eighteenth-Century Chinese Rule".The Journal of Asian Studies.56(3): 708–25.JSTOR2659606.
- ^Moonan, Wendy (16 April 2019)."New Scholarship Is Revealing the Private Lives of China's Empresses".Smithsonian.Retrieved3 May2024.
- ^Ung chính ngũ niên thất nguyệt thập bát nhật
- ^Càn long nhị niên thập nhị nguyệt tứ nhật
- ^Càn long thập tam niên ngũ nguyệt nhị thập nhất nhật
References[edit]
- Ho, Chuimei; Bronson, Bennet (2004).Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong(Illustrated ed.). Merrell.ISBN1858942039.
- Kutcher, Norman (August 1997). "The Death of the Xiaoxian Empress: Bureaucratic Betrayals and the Crises of Eighteenth-Century Chinese Rule".The Journal of Asian Studies.56(3): 708–725.doi:10.2307/2659606.JSTOR2659606.
- Naquin, Susan (2000).Peking: Temples and City Life, 1400–1900.University of California Press.
- Wan, Yi; Shuqing, Wang; Yanzhen, Lu; Scott, Rosemary E. (1988).Daily Life in the Forbidden City: The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912(Illustrated ed.). Viking.ISBN0670811645.
- Zhao, Erxun(1928).Draft History of Qing(Qing Shi Gao)(in Chinese).