Empress Xiao'an | |
Succession1: | Empress consort of the Ming dynasty |
Reign1: | 4 February 1567 – 5 July 1572 |
Reign-Type1: | Tenure |
Predecessor1: | Empress Xiaolie |
Successor1: | Empress Xiaoduanxian |
Succession2: | Princess Consort of Yu |
Reign2: | 1558 - 1567 |
Predecessor2: | Empress Xiaoyizhuang |
Birth Place: | Tongzhou, Zhili (present-day Tongzhou District, Beijing, China) |
Death Date: | 6 August 1596 |
Burial Place: | Zhaoling Mausoleum |
Death Place: | Beijing |
Spouse: | Longqing Emperor |
Issue: | Princess Taihe |
Posthumous Name: | Empress Xiao'an Zhenyi Gongchun Wenhui Zuotian Hongsheng (孝安貞懿恭純溫惠佐天弘聖皇后) |
House: | Chen (陳) |
House-Type: | Clan |
Father: | Chen Jingxing (陳景行) |
Succession: | Empress dowager of the Ming dynasty |
Reign-Type: | Tenure |
Reign: | 5 July 1572 – 6 August 1596 |
Predecessor: | Empress Dowager Zhaosheng |
Successor: | Empress Dowager Xiao'aizhe |
Empress Xiao'an (孝安皇后; died 6 August 1596), of the Chen clan, was a Chinese empress consort of the Ming dynasty. She was the second wife of the Longqing Emperor.
Her father, Chen Jingxing (陳景行), was an imperial guard.
The future emperor Longqing married Lady Chen after the death of his first primary spouse and son. Upon his succession to the throne in 1567, he declared Chen to be his empress. In 1569, however, she lost favor with the emperor and was moved to a separate palace. She became ill after her move, and was not given proper care. When an official pointed this out to the emperor, he stated that empress Chen was prone to illness and did not have any son and therefore had to be removed, and that the official did not understand his domestic affairs.[1] Another reason for her removal was reportedly that she had at one occasion made the emperor angry by criticizing his indulgence in women and music.[2]
Chen, however, were kindly treated by the crown prince, who took to habit of always visiting her on his way to his father and mother. When the crown prince became emperor in 1572, he granted her as well as his mother the title of empress dowager, and reportedly always treated her with the respect a son was due to his mother, as was customary for a son to the main spouse of his father.[3]