The Niohuru (Manchu: ᠨᡳᠣᡥᡠᡵᡠ ; Chinese :鈕祜祿; pinyin :Niǔhùlù; Wade–Giles :Niu3-hu4-lu4; lit.'wolf' in Manchu) were a prominent Manchu clan during the Qing dynasty. The clan had inhabited the Changbai Mountains since as early as the Liao dynasty. The clan was well known during the Qing dynasty for producing a variety of consorts of all ranks for emperors, several of whom went on to become mothers to reigning emperors. Prominent people who belonged or trace heritage to the Niohuru clan including famed Manchu warrior Eidu, his son the high official Ebilun, the Empress Dowager Ci'an, the infamous corrupt official Heshen, the contemporary concert pianist Lang Lang and Lang Tsuyun (Ann Lang), Taiwanese TV, movie and stage actress, singer and producer.
Written records of the Niohuru clan dates back to the Liao dynasty (907–1125), when it was known as the Dilie clan (敌烈氏) by Chinese transliteration. The current transliteration Niohuru came into being during the Ming dynasty. The Niohuru clan inhabited the Changbai mountains region of present-day Jilin province in northeast China (otherwise known as "Manchuria"), and also on the banks of the Songhua River and Mudan River.
According to members of the clan who attempted to re-trace their genealogy, the common primogenitor of the vast tribe date back to one Sohoji Bayan (honorific Su Gung), who was six generations removed from Eidu, the first eminent Niohuru clan member in recorded Qing history. [1] The Niohuru were widely distributed throughout the territory of the Manchu empire, and each of the Eight Banners had some Niohurus among their ranks.
Towards the end of the Qing dynasty and particularly after the founding the Republic of China in 1912, many Manchus adopted single-character Chinese surnames based on their clan origin. The Niohuru were known to have adopted to two versions, "Niu" (钮), which could be found in the modern province of Jiangxi [2] in addition to Manchuria; and "Lang" (朗). Lang sounded like "wolf" in Chinese (狼), roughly corresponding to the Manchu root word Niohe for Niohuru meaning "wolf". [3]
Niu 钮 is on the Hundred Family Surnames poem.
Date | Prince Consort | Background | Princess |
---|---|---|---|
1608 | Daqi | Nurhaci's fifth daughter (1597–1613) by mistress (Giyamuhut Gioro Zhenge) | |
Eidu | Nurhaci's fourth daughter (Mukushen; 1595–1659) by mistress (Giyamuhut Gioro Zhenge) | ||
1621 | Turgei | ||
1790 | Fengšeninde | Princess Hexiao (1775–1823), the Qianlong Emperor's tenth daughter by Consort Dun (Wang) | |
1863 | Jalafungga (扎拉豐阿; d. 1898) | Princess Shouxi (1842–1866), the Daoguang Emperor's eighth daughter by Noble Consort Tong (Šumuru) |
Imperial Consort
Princess Consort
The Daoguang Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanzong of Qing, personal name Mianning, was the seventh emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign was marked by "external disaster and internal rebellion". These include the First Opium War and the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion which nearly brought down the dynasty. The historian Jonathan Spence characterizes the Daoguang Emperor as a "well meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented a purist view even if they had nothing to say about the domestic and foreign problems surrounding the dynasty".
The Jiaqing Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Renzong of Qing, personal name Yongyan, was the sixth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fifth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He was the 15th son of the Qianlong Emperor. During his reign, he prosecuted Heshen, the corrupt favorite of his father and attempted to restore order within the empire while curbing the smuggling of opium into China. Assessments of his reign are mixed, either seen as the "beginning of the end" of the Qing dynasty, or as a period of moderate reform that presaged the intellectual movements of the 1860s.
Ebilun was a Manchu noble and warrior of the Niohuru clan, most famous for being one of the Four Regents assisting the young Kangxi Emperor from 1661 to 1667, during the early Qing dynasty (1644–1912). A largely passive figure during the regency, Ebilun was disgraced following the ouster of the far more powerful regent Oboi and considered a political supporter of the latter. He was stripped of his positions by the emperor but later regained his noble rank. Many of his descendants became influential figures in the Qing imperial government.
Gūwalgiya was one of the most powerful Manchu clans. It is often listed by historians as the first of the eight prominent Manchu clans of the Qing dynasty. After the demise of the dynasty, some of its descendants sinicized their clan name to the Han Chinese surname Guan (關).
Ajige was a Manchu prince and military general of the early Qing dynasty. He was born in the Aisin Gioro clan as the 12th son of Nurhaci, the khan of the Later Jin dynasty.
Empress Xiaoquancheng, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a posthumous name bestowed on the wife and second empress consort of Mianning, the Daoguang Emperor. She was empress consort of Qing from 1834 until her death in 1840.
Empress Xiaoshengxian, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the consort of Yinzhen, the Yongzheng Emperor and mother of Hongli, the Qianlong Emperor. She was honoured as Empress Dowager Chongqing during the reign of her son and posthumously honoured as empress, although she never held the rank of empress consort during her lifetime.
Imperial Noble Consort Gongshun (恭順皇貴妃) of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan (鈕祜祿氏) was a consort of the Jiaqing Emperor. She was 27 years his junior.
Empress Xiaoherui, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and second empress consort of Yongyan, the Jiaqing Emperor. She was empress consort of Qing from 1801 until her husband's death in 1820, after which she was honoured as Empress Dowager Gongci during the reign of her step-son, Mianning, the Daoguang Emperor. She was the longest-serving empress consort in Qing history.
Empress Xiaozhaoren, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was the second wife of the Kangxi Emperor. She was empress of China during the Qing dynasty from 1677 until her death in 1678.
Empress Xiaomucheng, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a consort of the Daoguang Emperor.
Noble Lady Shun, of the Manchu Niohuru clan, was a consort of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty.
Nara is a clan name shared by a number of royal Manchu clans, sometimes also transliterated as Nalan or Nalland. The four tribes of the Hūlun confederation (扈倫四部) – Hada, Ula, Hoifa and Yehe – were all ruled by clans bearing this name.
Princess Hexiao of the First Rank was a Manchu princess of the Qing dynasty. She was the tenth and youngest daughter of the Qianlong Emperor. Her mother was Consort Dun.
Eidu was a Manchu officer and a member of the Niohuru clan.
Yun'e, born Yin'e, was a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty of China. He was a relatively unremarkable prince who was primarily known to be a crony of his older brother Yunsi.
Fuca was a clan of Manchu nobility. After the demise of the dynasty, some of its descendants sinicized their clan name to the Chinese surnames Fu (富/傅) or Li (李).
Noble Consort Wenxi, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a consort of the Kangxi Emperor.
Concubine Cheng, of the Manchu Plain Red Banner Niohuru clan, was a consort of Qianlong Emperor.
Consort Yuan of the Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was the wife of Hong Taiji. She was one year his junior. Later literatures have regarded her as Hong Taiji's first wife and primary consort.
When they were young, Alechi saved Nurhaci's life by killing a wild hyena.
and when the ancient and politically prominent Manchu lineage of Niohuru adopted the Han-style surname Lang, he ridiculed them for having "forgotten their roots." (The Niohuru, whose name was derived from niohe, Manchu for wolf," had chosen Lang as their surname because it was a homophone for the Chinese word for "wolf.")