Consort Donggo Explained

Consort Donggo
Empress Xiaoxian
Birth Date:
(崇德四年)
Death Date:
(順治十七年 八月 十九日)
Death Place:Chengqian Palace, Forbidden City, Beijing
Burial Place:Xiao Mausoleum, Eastern Qing tombs
Consort:yes
Issue:Prince Rong of the First Rank
Posthumous Name:Empress Xiaoxian Zhuanghe Zhide Xuanren Wenhui Duanjing (孝獻莊和至德宣仁溫惠端敬皇后)
House:Donggo (董鄂; by birth)
Aisin-Gioro (by marriage)
Father:Eshuo
Mother:Lady Aisin-Gioro

Consort Donggo (1639 – 23 September 1660), of the Manchu Plain White Banner Donggo clan, was a consort of the Shunzhi Emperor. She was one year his junior.

Life

Family background

Lady Donggo's personal name was not recorded in history. Her ancestral home was in Liaoning.

Shunzhi era

In the summer of 1656, Lady Donggo entered the Forbidden City and was deeply loved and favoured by the Shunzhi Emperor. On 12 October 1656, she was granted the title "Consort Xian". On 19 January 1657, she was elevated to "Imperial Noble Consort".[1] The Shunzhi Emperor held a grand ceremony for the promotion of Lady Donggo and proclaimed amnesty. When Lady Donggo became the Imperial Noble Consort, she shared the power of managing the inner court with Empress Xiaohuizhang, whom Emperor Shunzhi wanted to depose (however, the officials opposed to deposition of a second empress).[1]

On 12 November 1657, Lady Donggo gave birth to the Emperor's fourth son. The premature death of their son on 25 February 1658 had a great impact on Lady Donggo and the Shunzhi Emperor. Lady Donggo fell ill and died on 23 September 1660. The Shunzhi Emperor was so overwhelmed with grief that he stopped attending daily court meetings for five days to mourn Lady Donggo. It was also said that the Shunzhi Emperor was so depressed that he wanted to commit suicide, and had to be watched every day.[2] Two days after her death, Lady Donggo was posthumously granted the title of empress, an uncommon gesture.[3] She was interred in the Xiao Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs.

Titles

Issue

In popular culture

See also

References

Notes and References

  1. Draft History of Qing, ch. 5 ("Basic Annals 5" [本紀]), p. 147. The date is indicated as the jimao 己卯 day of the 12th month of the 13th year of Shunzhi.
  2. Li Lanqin 李兰琴, Tang Ruowang zhuan 汤若望传 [''Biography of Tang Ruowang'' ([[Adam Schall]])], Dongfang chubanshe 东方出版社, 1995.
  3. Draft History of Qing, ch. 5 ("Basic Annals 5" [本紀]), p. 160; date indicated as SZ17.8.甲辰 (21st day of that month).
  4. 順治十三年 八月 二十五日
  5. 順治十三年 十二月 六日
  6. 順治十七年 八月 二十一日