Empress Xiaoke (孝恪皇后; 1510–1554) of the Du clan, was a concubine of Jiajing Emperor of the Ming dynasty and the mother of Zhu Zaiji, the Longqing Emperor.[1]
| Empress Xiaoke 孝恪皇后 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Born | 1510 Daxing, Zhili (present-day Daxing District, Beijing, China) | ||||
| Died | 1554 (aged 43–44) Beijing | ||||
| Burial | |||||
| Spouse | Jiajing Emperor | ||||
| Issue | Longqing Emperor | ||||
| |||||
| Clan | Du (杜) | ||||
| Father | Du Lin (杜林) | ||||
Biography
editIn the 9th year (1530) of the Jiajing Emperor's reign, Lady Du was selected to become a concubine of Jiajing Emperor. In the fifteenth year of Jiajing reign, she was promoted to concubine Kang, and in the sixteenth year (1537), and she gave birth to Zhu Zaiji, the third son of the emperor who was not favoured.
In the first month of the 33rd year of Jiajing (1554), Lady Du died at age 40. She was posthumously named Consort Rongshukang (荣淑康妃). She was buried in Yuquan Mountain. The ceremonial officer asked Zhu Zaiji to serve the three-year mourning but the Jiajing Emperor did not allow it.
After Zhu Zaiji became emperor, he posthumously awarded his mother with the title "Empress Xiaoke"[2] and was reburied Yongling tombs.[3][4]
Titles
edit- During the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505–1521)
- Lady Du (杜氏; from 1510)
- During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–1567)
- Concubine Kang (康嫔; from March 1531)
- Consort Kang (康妃; from 1536)
- Consort Rongshukang (荣淑康妃; from 1554)
- During the reign of the Longqing Emperor (r. 1567–1572)
- Empress Xiaoke Chun Ciyi Gongshun Zantian Kaisheng (孝恪淵純慈懿恭順贊天開聖皇后; from 1567)
Issue
edit- As Consort Kang:
- Zhu Zaiji, the Longqing Emperor (隆慶帝 朱載坖; 4 March 1537 – 5 July 1572), the Jiajing Emperor's third son
References
edit- ^ Keith McMahon. Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song. p. 156.
- ^ Keith McMahon. Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song. p. 121.
- ^ Kenneth M Swope (2019). The Ming World. Routledge. ISBN 9781000134667.
- ^ Xiaoke (née Du), mother of the Longqing emperor, and Xiaojie (née Chen) who was Jiajing's first empress were transferred to the site."
- McMahon, Keith (15 January 2020). Celestial women : imperial wives and concubines in China from Song to Qing. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Incorporated. pp. 252–265. ISBN 978-1-5381-4143-4. OCLC 1129803043.