Empress Qian

Empress Xiaozhuangrui

Empress Qian (1426–1468) was a Chinese Empress consort of the Ming Dynasty, married to the Zhengtong Emperor.

Qian married the Zhengtong Emperor on 8 June 1442. She became his primary consort and empress. In 1449, her spouse was deposed, and she joined him in house arrest imprisonment from 1450 until he became monarch a second time in 1457. Empress Qian had no children, and when the Zhengtong Emperor died in 1464, he was succeeded by the Chenghua Emperor. She became involved in a conflict with the biological mother of the new emperor who, as the mother of the emperor, demanded the same title as Qian: that of empress dowager.^[1] The mother of the emperor pointed out that she was the mother of the emperor while Qian was childless, while Qian demanded the title pointing to her loyalty to the late emperor, whose house arrest she had shared.^[2] The emperor was unable to solve the conflict to the satisfaction of both parties, but granted the title of empress dowager to both, though with a slightly higher status to Qian.

Notes

1. MOTE, Frederick W .. Den Ch'eng-hua och Hung-chih regerar, 1465-1505. I MOTE, Frederick W. Twitchett, Denis C. The Cambridge History of China Volym 7: Mingdynastin, 1368-1644, del 1 Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 1988. ISBN 0521243327
2. Goodrich L. Carington; Fang Chaoying, et al., Dictionary of Ming biografi, 1368-1644 . New York: Columbia University Press, 1976. xxi + 1751 s. ISBN 0-231-03801-1 (1 vol.) 023103833X (vol. 2).