Empress Xiaoxianchun

Empress Xiaoxianchun (28 March 1712 – 8 April 1748), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Fuca clan, was a consort of the Qianlong Emperor. She was one year his junior.

Family background

Empress Xiaoxianchun's personal name was not recorded in history.

• Father: Lirongbao (李榮保; 1674–1723), served as a third rank military official (總管) of Chahar, and held the title of a first class duke (一等公)
  • Paternal grandfather: Mishan (米思翰; 1633–1675), served as the Minister of Revenue from 1669–1675
  • Paternal uncle: Maci (1652–1739)
• Mother: Lady Gioro
• Seven elder brothers and two younger brothers
  • Ninth younger brother: Fuheng (1720–1770)
• One younger sister

Kangxi era

The future Empress Xiaoxianchun was born on the 22nd day of the second lunar month in the 51st year of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, which translates to 28 March 1712 in the Gregorian calendar.

Yongzheng era

On 3 September 1727, Lady Fuca married Hongli, the fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, and became his primary consort. She then moved into the Palace of Eternal Spring in the western part of the Forbidden City. She gave birth on 3 November 1728 to Hongli's first daughter, who would die prematurely on 14 February 1730, on 9 August 1730 to his second son, Yonglian, who would die prematurely on 23 November 1738, and on 31 July 1731 to his third daughter, Princess Hejing of the First Rank.

Qianlong era

The Yongzheng Emperor died on 8 October 1735 and was succeeded by Hongli, who was enthroned as the Qianlong Emperor. On 23 January 1738, Lady Fuca, as the emperor's primary consort, was instated as Empress.

In the Draft History of Qing, Lady Fuca is described as a respected and virtuous person. She looked after the Qianlong Emperor and the people in the palace, and served her role as Empress well. She was praised and favoured by the emperor. It is also said that Lady Fuca did not like spending money for her own good. Instead of wearing jewellery, she would wear artificial flowers in her hair. The Qianlong Emperor once told her a story that Manchus were too poor to make their own pouches from cloth and had to settle for simple deer hide instead. She immediately made one for him. He was touched by the gift. Lady Fuca also made other pouches for him.

Lady Fuca took her duties seriously when it came to Confucian rituals. As head of the women's quarters in the palace, she supervised the emperor's consorts when performing a ritual. One of these was a rite concerning sericulture that was presided over by the Empress. This rite, which had been practised since the Zhou dynasty, was gradually restored during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. For the purpose of this rite, a sericulture altar was constructed in 1742. In 1744, a new Altar to Sericulture was completed, largely at Lady Fuca's urging. That year, Lady Fuca became the first empress in the Qing dynasty to personally lead the women in the palace in these rites. They made offerings of mulberry and presented them to silkworm cocoons, all of them working industriously. The whole rite was painted on four scrolls in 1751 in memory of Lady Fuca.

On 27 May 1746, Lady Fuca gave birth to the emperor's seventh son, Yongcong, who would die prematurely on 29 January 1748. In 1748, during one of the Qianlong Emperor's southern tours, she became seriously ill and eventually died on 8 April. On 2 December 1752, she was interred in the Yu Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs. It is said that the Qianlong Emperor often visited her grave with wistful longing, and remained heartbroken to the end of his days.

• During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722):
  • Lady Fuca (from 28 March 1712)
• During the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722–1735):
  • Primary consort (嫡福晉; from 3 September 1727)
• During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1796):
  • Empress (皇后; from 23 January 1738)
  • Empress Xiaoxian (孝賢皇后; from 16 June 1748)
• During the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor (r. 1796–1802):
  • Empress Xiaoxianchun (孝賢純皇后; from 1799)

• As primary consort:
  • The Qianlong Emperor's first daughter (3 November 1728 – 14 February 1730)
  • Yonglian (永璉; 9 August 1730 – 23 November 1738), the Qianlong Emperor's second son
  • Princess Hejing of the First Rank (固倫和敬公主; 31 July 1731 – 30 September 1792), the Qianlong Emperor's third daughter
    • Married Septeng Baljur (色布騰巴爾珠爾; d. 1775) of the Khorchin Borjigit clan in April/May 1747
• As Empress:
  • Yongcong (永琮; 27 May 1746 – 29 January 1748), the Qianlong Emperor's seventh son

• Portrayed by Shally Tsang in Take Care, Your Highness! (1985)
• Portrayed by Chan Fuk-sang in The Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty (1988)
• Portrayed by Chen Yi in Jiangshan Weizhong (2002)
• Portrayed by Joyce Tang in The Prince's Shadow (2005)
• Portrayed by Yuan Yi in Empresses in the Palace (2011)
• Portrayed by Qin Lan in Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)
• Portrayed by Dong Jie in Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018)