Empress Xiaokangzhang

Empress Xiaokangzhang (1638 – 20 March 1663), was the consort of the Shunzhi Emperor and mother of the Kangxi Emperor during the Qing dynasty. She was part of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Tunggiya clan. Xiaokangzhang was a posthumous name bestowed on her; she was honoured as Empress Dowager Cihe during the reign of her son and was posthumously honoured as empress, although she never held the rank of empress consort during her lifetime.

Empress Xiaokangzhang
Empress Dowager Cihe
Empress dowager of the Qing dynasty
Tenure5 February 1661 – 20 March 1663
PredecessorEmpress Dowager Zhaosheng
SuccessorEmpress Xiaohuizhang as sole empress dowager
Born1638 (1638)
(崇德五年)
Died20 March 1663(1663-03-20) (aged 24–25)
(康熙二年 二月 十一日)
Forbidden City
Burial
Xiao Mausoleum, Eastern Qing tombs
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1653; died 1661)​
IssueKangxi Emperor
Posthumous name
Empress Xiaokang Cihe Zhuangyi Gonghui Wenmu Duanjing Chongtian Yusheng Zhang (孝康慈和莊懿恭惠溫穆端靖崇天育聖章皇后)
HouseTong, later Tunggiya (佟佳)
FatherTulai (图赖)
MotherLady Aisin Gioro
Empress Xiaokangzhang
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese孝康章皇后
Simplified Chinese孝康章皇后
Manchu name
Manchu scriptᡥᡳᠶᠣᠣᡧᡠᠩᡤᠠ
ᠨᡝᠰᡠᡴᡝᠨ
ᡝᠯᡩᡝᠮᠪᡠᡥᡝ
ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡥᡝᠣ
Romanizationhiyoošngga nemgiyen eldembuhe hūwangheo

Life

Family background

Empress Xiaokangzhang's personal name was not recorded in history. Her family originally belonged to the Han Chinese Plain Blue Banner. Although her family was of Jurchen descent, they had lived among Han Chinese for many generations and had been assimilated into Han Chinese society in Fushun, Liaoning, during the Ming dynasty, hence they were regarded as nikan (Han Chinese) by the Manchus and placed under a Han banner instead of a Manchu banner.

  • Father: Tulai (圖賴; 1606–1658), served as a first rank military official (都統), and held the title of a first class duke (一等公)
    • Paternal grandfather: Yangzhen (養真/养真; d. 1621)
  • Mother: Lady Gioro
  • Three brothers
    • First younger brother: Guoji (国纪)
    • Second younger brother: Guogang (国纲; d. 1690), served as a first rank military official (都统, pinyin: dutong) and held a title of first class duke (一等公)
    • Third younger brother: Guowei (國維; d. 1719), served as a leader of imperial guards (領侍衛內大臣), and held the title of a first class duke (一等公), the father of Empress Xiaoyiren (d. 1689) and Imperial Noble Consort Quehui (1668–1743)

The Han Chinese Banner Tong (佟) clan of Fushun in Liaoning falsely claimed to be related to the Jurchen Manchu Tunggiya (佟佳) clan of Jilin, using this false claim to get themselves transferred to a Manchu banner in the reign of the Kangxi emperor.[1]

Shunzhi era

In 1653, Lady Tong entered the Forbidden City and became a concubine of the Shunzhi Emperor. She never received any title or rank during his reign. On 4 May 1654, she gave birth to the emperor's third son, Xuanye.

Kangxi era

When the Shunzhi Emperor died on 5 February 1661, Xuanye was chosen to be the new emperor and was enthroned as the Kangxi Emperor. As the birth mother of the reigning emperor, Lady Tong was honoured as "Holy Mother, Empress Dowager Cihe".

Lady Tong died on 20 March 1663. Her death was reportedly due to an unknown illness but the circumstances surrounding her death were suspicious.[2] Although she had never been Empress during the reign of the Shunzhi Emperor, she was granted the posthumous title "Empress Xiaokangzhang" by the Kangxi Emperor. She was interred in the Xiao Mausoleum alongside the Shunzhi Emperor and Consort Donggo.

Titles

During the reign of Hong Taiji (r. 1626–1643), Empress Xiaokangzhang held the title of Lady Tong (from 1638). During the reign of the Shunzhi Emperor (r. 1643-1661), she held the title of concubine. During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722), she was Empress Dowager Cihe (慈和皇太后; from 5 February 1661[3]), Empress Xiaokang (孝康皇后; from June/July 1663[4]), and Empress Xiaokangzhang (孝康章皇后; from June/July 1670[5]).

Issue
  • As a concubine:
    • Xuanye (玄燁; 4 May 1654 – 20 December 1722), the Shunzhi Emperor's third son, enthroned on 5 February 1661 as the Kangxi Emperor

See also

Notes
  1. Crossley, Pamela (June 1983). "restricted access The Tong in Two Worlds: Cultural Identities in Liaodong and Nurgan during the 13th-17th centuries". Ch'ing-shih Wen-t'i. Johns Hopkins University Press. 4 (9): 21–46.
  2. Wu (1979), pp. 14–15, 195–96.
  3. 順治十八年 正月 七日
  4. 康熙二年 五月
  5. 康熙九年 五月

References
  • Ho, Chuimei; Bronson, Bennet (2004). Splendors of China's Forbidden City: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong (Illustrated ed.). Merrell. ISBN 1858942039.
  • Rawski, Evelyn S. (1998). The Last Emperors: A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions (Reprint ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 052092679X.
  • Ropp, Paul Stanley; Zamperini, Paola; Zurndorfer, Harriet Thelma (2001). Passionate Women: Female Suicide in Late Imperial China (Reprint ed.). BRILL. ISBN 9004120181.
  • Wan, Yi; Shuqing, Wang; Yanzhen, Lu; Scott, Rosemary E. (1988). Daily Life in the Forbidden City: The Qing Dynasty, 1644–1912 (Illustrated ed.). Viking. ISBN 0670811645.
  • Wu, Silas H. L. (1979). Passage to power: K'ang-hsi and his heir apparent, 1661–1722 (Illustrated ed.). Harvard University Press. ISBN 0674656253.
  • Zhao, Erxun (1928). Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao) (in Chinese).
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