Empress Xiaokangzhang

Empress Xiaokangzhang
Empress of the Qing Dynasty
Born	1640
Died	20 March 1663 (aged 23) Beijing, China
Spouse	Shunzhi Emperor
Issue	Kangxi Emperor
Posthumous name Empress Xiaokang Cihe Zhuangyi Gonghui Wenmu Duanjing Chongwen Yusheng Zhang (孝康慈和莊懿恭惠溫穆端靖崇文育聖章皇后)
House	House of Aisin Gioro (by marriage)
Father	Tong Tulai

Empress Xiaokangzhang
Chinese name
Chinese	孝康章皇后
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiàokāngzhāng Huánghòu
Lady Tunggiya
Chinese	佟佳氏
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tóngjiā Shì
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡥᡳᠶᠣᠣᡧᡠᠩᡤᠠ ᠨᡝᠰᡠᡴᡝᠨ ᡝᠯᡩᡝᠮᠪᡠᡥᡝ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡥᡝᠣ
Romanization	hiyoošngga nemgiyen eldembuhe hūwangheo

Empress Xiaokangzhang (Manchu: Hiyoošungga Nesuken Eldembuhe Hūwangheo; 1640 – 20 March 1663) was a consort of the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. She was posthumously granted the title of Empress because her son Xuanye was enthroned as the Kangxi Emperor in 1661.

Biography

Empress Xiaokangzhang's original family name was Tong (佟).^[1] Her personal name is unknown. Although her family was of Jurchen origin, they had lived among the Han Chinese for many generations and had been assimilated into Ming dynasty Han Chinese society in Fushun in Liaoning, and therefore were regarded as Han (Nikan) by the Manchu and placed into a Han Banner instead of a Manchu Banner. Empress Xiaokangzhang's father was Tong Tulai (佟圖賴; 1606–1658), a military commander. Her grandfather was Tong Yangzhen (佟養真; d. 1621). She had two brothers - Tong Guogang (佟國綱; d. 1690) and Tong Guowei (佟國維; d. 1719). Empress Xiaokangzhang's clan was originally under the Han Chinese Plain Blue Banner, and was moved to the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner of the Eight Banners after the Kangxi Emperor was enthroned. As a result, Empress Xiaokangzhang's family name Tong was changed to the Manchu clan name Tunggiya.

Lady Tunggiya entered the Shunzhi Emperor's court as an ordinary consort. She never received any titles during Shunzhi's reign. In 1654 she bore the Shunzhi Emperor a son, Xuanye. When Shunzhi died in 1661, Xuanye was chosen to be the successor and was installed on the throne as the Kangxi Emperor. Lady Tunggiya was then granted the title of "Empress Dowager Cihe" (慈和皇太后).

Lady Tunggiya died on 20 March 1663 in the Forbidden City at the age of 23. 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 posthumously granted the title of "Empress Xiaokangzhang" by her son, the Kangxi Emperor. She was interred in the Fuling Mausoleum together with the Shunzhi Emperor and his favourite concubine Consort Donggo.

Posthumous title

Empress Xiaokangzhang's full posthumous title is:

• Empress Xiaokangcihezhuangyigonghuiwenmuduanjingchongwenyushengzhang
  (孝康慈和莊懿恭惠溫穆端靖崇文育聖章皇后)

See also

• Ranks of Imperial Consorts in China#Qing
• Qing Dynasty nobility

Notes

1. Chiumei Ho: The Glorious Reign of Emperor Qianlong. London 2004, p. 23.
2. 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.

References

• The Last Emperors "A Social History of Qing Imperial Institutions", Evelyn S. Rawski. ISBN 0-520-22837-5
• Daily Life in the Forbidden City, Wan Yi, Wang Shuqing, Lu Yanzhen ISBN 0-670-81164-5
• Draft history of the Qing dynasty《清史稿》卷二百十四．列傳一．后妃傳．世祖孝康章皇后.
• Passionate women: female suicide in late imperial China. Paul S. Ropp,Paola Zamperini,Harriet Thelma Zurndorfer. ISBN 90-04-12018-1, ISBN 978-90-04-12018-1.

Succession