Empress Xiaomu (Ming dynasty)

Empress Xiaomu 孝穆皇后
Empress of the Ming dynasty (posthumously)
Empress Ji by Tsukioka Settei
Died	July 1475 (1475-08)
Burial	Mao Mausoleum, Ming tombs
Spouse	Chenghua Emperor
Issue	Hongzhi Emperor
Posthumous name Empress Xiaomu Cihui Gongke Zhuangxi Chongtian Chengsheng
Clan	Ji (紀)
Chinese name
Chinese	孝穆皇后
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiàomù Huánghòu

Empress Xiaomu (died July 1475), of the Ji clan, ^[a] was an imperial consort of the Ming dynasty. She was a concubine of the Chenghua Emperor and gave birth to his successor, the Hongzhi Emperor.

Biography

Empress Xiaomu's personal name and birth year are unknown. She was a member of the Yao people and came from He County, Guangxi. ^[2]

In 1467, the Ming army launched a punitive expedition against the rebellious Yao tribes in Guangxi, and some of the captives were taken as servants to the Forbidden City, including Lady Ji. ^[3]

In 1469, Lady Ji met the Chenghua Emperor and became pregnant. Her pregnancy was discovered by Lady Wan, the Emperor's favorite concubine, who feared losing her position if another woman bore the Emperor a son. In order to prevent this, Lady Wan ordered the eunuchs to perform an abortion on Lady Ji, but the eunuchs did not comply and instead hid Lady Ji and her child in the chambers of the Chenghua Emperor's former Empress Wu. ^[3] It was there that Lady Ji gave birth to a boy on 30 July 1470. The secret remained hidden until June 1475, ^[4] when the Emperor, who was now twenty-eight years old and still without an heir, was informed by a knowledgeable eunuch about the existence of his five-year-old son. ^[3] Excited by this news, the Emperor recognized his son and moved him to safety under the protection of his mother, Empress Dowager Zhou. ^[5] The boy was given the name Zhu Youcheng. ^[4]

One month later, Lady Ji died under suspicious circumstances. ^[4] According to some historians, such as Frederick Mote, she was believed to have been poisoned by an agent of Lady Wan. As a result, the Emperor moved out of the palace occupied by Lady Wan and took measures to protect his heir from her influence. The Empress Dowager even warned Zhu Youcheng not to consume anything when visiting Lady Wan. ^[5] Zhu Youcheng became the heir to the throne and, upon the Chenghua Emperor's death, ascended to the throne as the Hongzhi Emperor.

Lady Ji was posthumously granted the title of Consort Shu with the posthumous name Gongkezhuangxi (恭恪莊僖). After his accession, her son elevated her to empress by granting her the posthumous name "Empress Xiaomu Cihui Gongke Zhuangxi Chongtian Chengsheng Chun" (孝穆慈慧恭恪莊僖崇天承聖純皇后), commonly referred to as Empress Xiaomu (孝穆皇后). ^[6] In 1536, the Jiajing Emperor shortened her posthumous title to "Empress Xiaomu Cihui Gongke Zhuangxi Chongtian Chengsheng" (孝穆慈慧恭恪莊僖崇天承聖皇后), removing the character "Chun", which was the posthumous title of the Chenghua Emperor.

Notes

1. Some sources state her surname as Li (李). ^[1]

References

Citations

1. Goodrich & Fang (1976), p. 376.
2. History of Ming, vol. 113, p. 3521.
3. Mote (1998), p. 347.
4. Goodrich & Fang (1976), p. 301.
5. Mote (1998), p. 348.
6. History of Ming, vol. 113, p. 3522.

Works cited

• Goodrich, L. Carington; Fang, Chaoying (1976). Dictionary of Ming Biography, 1368-1644. Vol. 1, A–L. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN   0-231-03801-1.
• Mote, Frederick W. (1998). "The Ch'eng-hua and Hung-chih reigns, 1465—1505". In Mote, Frederick W.; Twitchett, Denis C (eds.). The Cambridge History of China Volume 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644, Part 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 343–402. ISBN   0521243327.
• Zhang, Tingyu (1974) [1739]. Ming Shi明史[History of Ming] (in Literary Chinese). Beijing: Zhonghua Book. ISBN   7101003273.