Empress Xiaogongren

67
Empress Xiaogongren bigraphy, stories - Qing Dynasty empress

Empress Xiaogongren : biography

1660 – 1723

Empress Xiaogongren (Manchu: Hiyoošungga Gungnecuke Gosin Hūwangheo; 1660–1723) was a consort of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. She was also the mother of Kangxi’s successor, the Yongzheng Emperor.

Succession

Category:1660 births Category:1723 deaths Xiaogongren, Empress Xiaogongren, Empress

Posthumous title

Empress Xiaogongren’s full posthumous title is:

  • Empress Xiaogongxuanhuiwensudingyucichunqinmuzantianchengshengren(孝恭宣惠溫肅定裕慈純欽穆贊天承聖仁皇后)

Notes

Biography

Empress Xiaogongren was born in the Manchu Uya (烏雅) clan. Her personal name is unknown. Her father was Weiwu (威武), a Commander of the Guard (護軍參領) and Duke of the First Class (一等公).

In 1678 Lady Uya gave birth to the Kangxi Emperor’s fourth surviving son Yinzhen. A year later she was granted the rank of Imperial Concubine De (德嬪). In 1681 she gave birth to another son and was promoted to Consort De (德妃) the following year. Over the next five years Lady Uya gave birth to three daughters, and her last son in 1688. When the Kangxi Emperor died in 1722, Lady Uya’s eldest child, Yinzhen, succeeded to the throne as the Yongzheng Emperor. As the mother of the reigning emperor, Lady Uya received the title of Empress Dowager Renshou (仁壽皇太后).

Empress Dowager Renshou died of illness in 1723, a year after the death of the Kangxi Emperor. Some sources claimed that she wished to accompany her husband in death but the Yongzheng Emperor denied her permission. She fell ill shortly afterwards and refused medical treatment,Silas Wu, passage to power: K’ang-hsi and his heir apparent, 1661-1722 (Cambridge: council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1979), 14-15, 195-96, n. 5. eventually dying at the age of 64. She was interred in the Jingling Mausoleum (景陵) in the Eastern Qing Tombs in Zunhua. She was posthumously granted the title of Empress Xiaogongren.

Family

  • Father: Weiwu (威武), a Commander of the Guard (護軍參領), and a First Class Duke (一等公).
  • Spouse: Kangxi Emperor
  • Children:
    • Yinzhen, the Yongzheng Emperor.
    • Yinzhuo (胤祚; 1680–1685)
    • Unnamed daughter (1682), seventh daughter of the Kangxi Emperor, died prematurely.
    • Kurun Princess Wenxian (固倫溫憲公主; 1683–1702)
    • Unnamed daughter (1686–1697), 12th daughter of the Kangxi Emperor.
    • Yinti