Empress Gi

Empress Gi (or Empress Ki; Korean: 기황후; 1315–1369/70), known as Empress Qi (or Ch'i; 奇皇后) in Chinese and Öljei Khutuk (Өлзий хутуг) in Mongolian, was one of the primary empresses of Toghon Temür of the Yuan dynasty and the mother of Biligtü Khan. She was originally from an aristocratic family of Goryeo, present-day Korea, and came to Yuan as an imperial concubine of Toghon Temür.

Empress Gi was born in Haengju (행주; 幸州, modern Goyang), Goryeo to a lower-ranked aristocratic family of bureaucrats. Her father was Gi Ja-oh (기자오; 奇子敖). In 1333, the teenage Lady Gi was among the concubines sent to Yuan by the Goryeo kings, who had to provide a certain number of beautiful teenage girls to serve as concubines of the Mongol Emperors once every three years. It was considered prestigious to marry Goryeo women. Extremely beautiful and skilled at dancing, conversation, singing, poetry, and calligraphy, Lady Gi quickly became the favorite concubine of Toghon Temür. The Emperor Toghon Temür fell in love with her and it was soon noted that he was spending far more time in her company than he was with the first empress Danashiri.

The primary empress Danashiri was executed on 22 July 1335 in a purge because of the rebellion of her brother Tangqishi. When Toghon Temür tried to promote Lady Gi to secondary wife, which was contrary to the standard practice of only taking secondary wives from the Mongol clans, it created such opposition at court to this unheard of promotion for a Goryeo woman that he was forced to back down. Bayan, who held the real power in Yuan, opposed the promotion of Lady Gi as did the Empress Dowager, who considered Lady Gi to be cunning. In 1339, when Lady Gi gave birth to a son, whom Toghon Temür decided would be his successor, he was finally able to have Lady Gi named as his secondary wife in 1340. As the favorite wife of the emperor, Lady Gi was a very powerful woman in Yuan. When Bayan was purged, Lady Gi became the secondary empress in 1340 (the primary empress was Bayan Khutugh of the Khongirad).

Toghon Temür increasingly lost interest in governing as his reign went on. During this time power was increasingly exercised by a politically and economically talented Lady Gi. This led to one of the most peaceful and prosperous periods for Yuan. Lady Gi's older brother Gi Cheol was appointed the commander of the Mongol Eastern Field Headquarters—making him in effect the real ruler of Goryeo—owing to her influence. and she closely monitored Goryeo affairs. Her son was designated Crown Prince in 1353. Using her eunuch Bak Bulhwa (Korean: 박불화; Hanja: 朴不花) as her agent, she began a campaign to force the emperor to pass the imperial throne to her son. However, her intentions became known to the emperor and he grew apart from her.

Depending on Lady Gi's position in the imperial capital, her elder brother Gi Cheol came to threaten the position of the king of Goryeo, which was a client state of the Mongols. King Gongmin of Goryeo exterminated the Gi family in a coup in 1356 and became independent of the Yuan. Lady Gi responded by selecting Tash Temür as the new king of Goryeo and dispatched troops to Goryeo. However, the Mongol troops were defeated by the army of Goryeo while attempting to cross the Yalu River.

Within the Mongol capital an internal strife was fought between supporters and opponents of the Crown Prince. An opposition leader, Bolud Temür, finally occupied the capital in 1364. Her son fled to Köke Temür who supported him, but Lady Gi was imprisoned by Bolud Temür. Bolud Temür was overthrown by Köke Temür the next year. Once again, she tried to install her son as Khagan, this time with the support of Köke Temür, but in vain. After Bayan Khutugh died, Lady Gi was elevated to the primary empress.

The collapse of the Mongol rule of China in 1368 forced her to flee to Yingchang. In 1370, Toghon Temür died and his son ascended to the throne. Empress Gi became the Grand Empress, but soon after that went missing.

• Portrayed by Kim Hye-ri in 2005 MBC TV series Shin Don.
• Portrayed by Ha Ji-Won and Hyun Seung-min in 2013–2014 MBC TV series Empress Ki.