Empress Xiaozhaoren

Empress Xiaozhaoren (1653 – 18 March 1678), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was the second wife of the Kangxi Emperor.^[1][2] She was empress of China during the Qing dynasty from 1677 until her death in 1678.^[3]

Empress Xiaozhaoren
A portrait of Empress Xiaozhaoren in court dress (left) and daily dress (right)
Empress consort of the Qing dynasty
Tenure	18 September 1677 – 18 March 1678
Predecessor	Empress Xiaochengren
Successor	Empress Xiaoyiren
Born	1653 (1653) (順治十年)
Died	18 March 1678(1678-03-18) (aged 24–25) (康熙十七年 二月 二十六日) Kunning Palace, Forbidden City, Beijing
Burial	Jing Mausoleum, Eastern Qing tombs
Spouse	Kangxi Emperor ​ (m. 1665)​
Posthumous name Empress Xiaozhao Jingshu Minghui Zhenghe Anyu Duanmu Qintian Shunsheng Ren (孝昭靜淑明惠正和安裕端穆欽天順聖仁皇后)
House	Niohuru (鈕祜祿氏; by birth) Aisin-Gioro (by marriage)
Father	Ebilun
Mother	Lady Šušu-Gioro

Empress Xiaozhaoren
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	孝昭仁皇后
Simplified Chinese	孝昭仁皇后
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiàozhāorén Huánghòu
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡥᡳᠶᠣᠣᡧᡠᠩᡤᠠ ᡤᡝᠩᡤᡳᠶᡝᠨ ᡤᠣᠰᡳᠨ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡥᡝᠣ
Romanization	hiyoošungga genggiyen gosin hūwangheo

Her father was the regent Ebilun, and she was originally an imperial concubine until her promotion to empress in 1677.^[4]

Life

Empress Xiaozhaoren's personal name was not recorded in history.

Family background

• Father: Ebilun (遏必隆; ? – 1673), served as one of the Four Regents of the Kangxi Emperor, and held the title of a first class duke (一等公)
  • Paternal grandfather: Eidu (額亦都; 1562–1621)
  • Paternal grandmother: Mukushen (穆庫什; 1595–1659), Nurhaci's fourth daughter
• Mother: Lady Šušu-Gioro (舒舒觉罗氏), a secondary wife
• Seven brothers
  • First elder brother: Sailin (塞林), third class imperial guard (三等侍卫)
  • Second elder brother: unnamed
  • Third younger brother: Faka (法喀; 17 May 1664 – 9 February 1713), first class duke (一等公)
  • Fourth younger brother: Yanzhu (颜珠; 1665 – ?), first class imperial guard (一等侍卫)
  • Fifth younger brother: Fubao (富保; 1678 – ?), second class imperial guard (任二等侍卫)
  • Sixth younger brother: Yinde (尹德), first class duke ( 一等公)
  • Seventh younger brother: Alingga (阿靈阿; 1670–1716)
• Five sisters
  • First elder sister: Princess Consort, wife of Zhashen (扎什) of the Mongol Barin clan (巴林氏)
  • Third younger sister: Noble Consort Wenxi (? – 1694)^[5]
  • Fourth younger sister: Duchess of the Fourth Rank, wife of Yunsheng (云升) of the Aisin-Gioro clan (愛新覺羅氏)
  • Fifth younger sister: First Class Viscountess, wife of Ayushen (阿玉什)

Kangxi era

In 1665, Lady Niohuru entered the Forbidden City and became a mistress (格格) of the Kangxi Emperor. She did not receive any rank or title initially. After the Kangxi Emperor's first wife, Empress Xiaochengren, died on 6 June 1674, the Emperor did not elevate any of his imperial consorts to the position of empress to replace her. On 18 September 1677, Lady Niohuru was first mentioned in official histories when the Kangxi Emperor instated her as the new empress. She died on 18 March 1678 and was interred in the Jing Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs alongside Empress Xiaochengren.

Titles

• During the reign of the Shunzhi Emperor (r. 1643–1661):
  • Lady Niohuru (鈕祜祿氏)
• During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722):
  • Mistress (格格; from 1665)
  • Empress (皇后; from 18 September 1677)^[6]
  • Empress Xiaozhao (孝昭皇后; from 11 May 1678)^[7]
• During the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722–1735):
  • Empress Xiaozhaoren (孝昭仁皇后; from July 1723)^[8]

See also

• Imperial Chinese harem system#Qing
• Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty

Notes

1. McMahon, Keith (21 April 2016). Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-5502-9.
2. Hua, Hsieh Bao (18 June 2014). Concubinage and Servitude in Late Imperial China. Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-4516-6.
3. Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. New World Press. 2007. ISBN 978-7-80228-509-5.
4. Standaert, Nicolas (1 July 2011). The Interweaving of Rituals: Funerals in the Cultural Exchange between China and Europe. University of Washington Press. ISBN 978-0-295-80004-2.
5. Full sister, born by the same mother
6. 康熙十六年 八月 二十二日
7. 康熙十七年 閏三月 二十一日
8. 雍正元年 六月

References

• Niuhulu jiapu 鈕祜祿家譜 [Genealogy of the Niohuru Clan] (in Chinese).
• Qinggong dang'an 清宮檔案 [Archives of the Qing Palace] (in Chinese).
• Qing huangshi sipu 清皇室四譜 [Four Genealogies of the Qing Imperial Clan] (in Chinese).
• Du, Jiaji. "清代《玉牒》中的滿族史資料及其價值 [Materials on Manchu History in the Qing Dynasty's "Imperial Genealogy" and Their Value]". Liu Chaishao de boke 刘柴烧的博客 [Liu Chaishao's Blog] (in Chinese). Chinese Social History Research Centre, School of History, Nankai University. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
• 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.
• Zhao, Erxun (1928). Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao) (in Chinese).

Empress Xiaozhaoren House of Niohuru
Chinese royalty
Preceded by Empress Xiaochengren of the Hešeri clan	Empress consort of China 18 September 1677 – 18 March 1678	Succeeded by Empress Xiaoyiren of the Tunggiya clan