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 clanwas animperial consortof theQing dynasty.She was the first wife of theQianlong Emperor.
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) ofChaharand held the title of a first class duke (Nhất đẳng công)
- Paternal Grandfather: Mishan (Mễ tư hàn;1633–1675), served as theMinister of revenue.
- Paternal Uncle:Maci( mã tề; 1652–1739), a court official who served in theMinistry of Warfrom 1691 to 1694 and in theMinistry of Revenuefrom 1692 to 1701, as well as in theGrand Secretariatduring the reign ofKangxi Emperor.
- Mother: Lady Gioro (Giác la thị)
- Seven elder brothers and two younger brothers:
- Ninth younger brother:Fuheng( phó hằng; 1720–1770), a senior minister who served as theQianlong Emperor's grand councilor.
- One younger sister: The wife of Salashan.
Kangxi era
[edit]Lady Fuca was born on the 22nd day of the 2ndlunarmonth 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 marriedAisin-Gioro Hongli,theYongzheng Emperor's fourth son, as his primary consort and moved into thePalace of Eternal Springin the western part of theForbidden City.She gave birth on 3 November 1728 to her husband's first daughter, who died prematurely on 14 February 1730. On 9 August 1730, she gave to his second son,Aisin-Gioro Yonglian,who died due tosmallpoxon 23 November 1738. On 31 July 1731, she gave birth to Hongli's third daughter,Princess Hejing of the First Rank.Over time, Lady Fuca developed a wonderful relationship withLady Gao,her husband's secondary consort since 4 April 1734.
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. She was assisted by the now Noble Consort Gao in managing the palace at large and caring forEmpress Dowager Chongqing.
In theDraft History of Qing,Empress Fuca is described as a respected and virtuous person who looked after the people in the palace, serving her role well. She was praised and favoured by her husband.[1]It is also said that she did not like spending money for her own aggrandizement and wore artificial flowers in her hair instead of expensive jewelry. The Qianlong 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, so she immediately made one for him. He was touched by the gift.[2]
Empress Fuca took her duties seriously when it came toConfucianrituals. As head of the imperial harem, she supervised the other palace women 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 the Qianlong Emperor. For the purpose of the rite, a sericulture altar was completed in 1744,[3]largely at her urging.[4]That year, she became the first empress consort of Qing to personally lead these rituals, making offerings of mulberry. In 1751, the whole rite was painted on four scrolls in her memory.[5]
On 27 May 1746, Empress Fuca gave birth to the Qianlong Emperor's seventh son, Aisin-Gioro Yongcong. Her husband had high hopes for their son and named him crown prince shortly after his birth. However, Yongcong too died prematurely on 29 January 1748 due to smallpox, similar to Yonglian.
Death
[edit]In 1748, during one of the Qianlong Emperor's southern tours, Empress Fuca became seriously ill with a malarial fever and eventually died on 8 April, three months after Yongcong's death.[6]Her funeral was lavishly done. Her husband was deeply affected and did not take her death well. When he found out that two of his sons,Aisin-Gioro YonghuangandYongzhang,had not mourned for Empress Fuca 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]-
Another portrait of Empress Xiaoxianchun -
The Qianlong Emperor's consorts with children and two court ladies in 1747 by Giuseppe Castiglione -
Empress Xiaoxianchun fondling silkworms
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).