Empress Nara

The Empress of the Nara clan (11 March 1718 – 19 August 1766 ) of the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner, was the second wife of the Qianlong Emperor. She was the empress consort of the Qing dynasty from 1750 until her death in 1766. Informally known as the Step-Empress, she is one of the most controversial female figures in Chinese history.

Originally a noble consort, she was elevated to empress rank after Empress Xiaoxianchun's death. In her role as empress consort, she accompanied the Qianlong Emperor on many leisure and hunting trips, as well as ancestral worship ceremonies.

Historical records give little information about her life or even her physical appearance. Because of this lack of documentation, there has been intense speculation among Chinese academicians regarding her historicity and character. It is widely suspected that the Qianlong Emperor destroyed all her imperial records and portraits.

Although never officially deposed, she lost her authority as chief of the imperial harem in 1765, reputedly because she cut her hair, an act that was considered a grave offense according to ancient Manchurian custom. Consequently, the Qianlong Emperor ordered that her four titular imperial edicts, accompanying gifts, and imperial seal be confiscated. After her death, she was not given an imperial funeral or a posthumous name, nor was she buried with the Qianlong Emperor.

Debate over historical maiden name
In the Draft History of Qing, the future Step-Empress is noted as being a member of the Ula clan. However, the Draft History of Qing is noted to be riddled with errors, due to a hasty publication that precluded an editing process.

Her father was listed as Narbu, found in the Genealogy of the Manchu clans as being a descendant of Wangginu, a leader of the Hoifa clan, and the family's ancestors are listed under the section "People with the surname Nara in the Hoifa area"  as having lived in the Hoifa area for generations. Therefore, some modern publications have stated the Step-Empress is a member of the Hoifa-Nara clan. But due to the fact that the Ula-Nara clan is the most ancient Nara clan, the Step-Empress's ancestors might have changed their last name to Ula-Nara to make their name more noble.

However, at least one author has noted that with members of the Nara clan, the name that comes before Nara merely denotes the geographical area in which the family resided in, and that all members of the clan share the same last name, regardless of their area of residence. In the Factual Record of Qing, when the Step-Empress, at the time the secondary consort of Qianlong, was elevated to Consort Xian, she was referred to as being of the Nara clan, rather than as a member of the Ula-Nara or Hoifa-Nara.

The debate over the Step-Empress's maiden name has manifested itself in two 2018 media portrayals of the Step-Empress's life.


 * In the Story of Yanxi Palace, the character based on the Step-Empress is named Hoifa-Nara Shushen.
 * In Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, the character based on the Step-Empress is named Ula-Nara Qingying/Ruyi.

Early life
The date of the Step-Empress's birth is a matter of debate, with the book Four Genealogies of the Qing Royal House stating that she was born some time in the second lunar month of an unknown year, and at least one modern book stating that she was born on the 10th day of the 2nd month of the 57th year of Kangxi Emperor's reign. She was born to Narbu, a niru ejen, or assistant captain.

Before Hongli's enthronement in 1735, his father, the Yongzheng Emperor, appointed Lady Nara as his secondary consort. Lady Nara was noted to have gained Hongli's favour during this time. After the death of Yongzheng, Hongli succeeded him as the Qianlong Emperor, and Lady Nara was granted the title "Consort Xian" on 23 January 1738. Her pleasant character also won the favour of Qianlong's mother, Empress Dowager Chongqing, and on 9 December 1745, she was promoted to "Noble Consort Xian".

As empress
Qianlong's first wife, Empress Xiaoxianchun, died on the 8th day of the 3rd month of the 13th year of Qianlong at the age of 36, but it was not well documented by historical sources. Some say that she died on a boat in Dezhou, but most believe that she made it back to the Forbidden City in Beijing.

The Emperor later promoted Lady Nara to the position of "Imperial Noble Consort" via an edict issued on the 5th day of the 4th month of the 13th year of his reign, giving her administrative powers over the harem as acting empress.

Two years later, an edict to appoint the Imperial Noble Consort as the new empress was issued on the 12th day of the 7th month of the 15th year of Qianlong. The decision was made following the end of the mourning period for Empress Xiaoxianchun. From then on, Empress Nara accompanied Qianlong on many trips, ancestral worship ceremonies, and hunts. Between the 17th year of Qianlong to the 20th year, the Step-Empress gave birth to three children: the 12th prince, Yongji (永璂), an unnamed daughter and the 13th prince, Yongjing (永璟), respectively.

Downfall
According to the Draft History of Qing, in 1765, during the 30th year of Qianlong's reign, the Step-Empress accompanied the Emperor on a tour to Southern China. As the group arrived in Hangzhou, under circumstances that remain the subject of debate, the Step-Empress cut her hair. Contemporary Qing customs held that Manchu people could cut their hair only as a sign of deep mourning. The Step Empress's action was considered a grave offense, as it was taken as a gesture meant to curse the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. She was commanded to return to the capital; Fulong'an (福隆安), the husband of the Emperor's fourth daughter, escorted her via the waterways.

Chinese author Li Shu, in her 2019 book on Qing imperial cuisine, claimed to pinpoint the exact moment the incident happened, using Qing dynasty records of the portions of food the Emperor gave to his imperial consorts. She argued that the granting of a food portion represents an act of honor and love by the Emperor to his imperial consort, whereas withholding such a grant indicates displeasure. She postulated that the incident happened at some point following breakfast on the 18th day of the leap 2nd month of the 30th year of Qianlong, when the Step-Empress received a portion of assorted meats, and before dinner that same day, when the Step-Empress was not mentioned as having received any portion of food from the Emperor. In addition, starting from that dinner and thereafter, the Step-Empress's name was covered up with yellow paper on records of food portion grants.

After the incident and following the Step-Empress's return to the capital, she was still granted the same amount of daily food and charcoal rations as would be accorded to an empress, and she was given five eunuchs and two cooks. But on the 14th day of the 5th month of the 30th year of Qianlong, following the Qianlong Emperor's return to Beijing, he ordered that the Step-Empress's four written edicts that bestowed her ranks and titles, as well as the accompanying gifts, be confiscated. In addition, the Step-Empress's tenfold maid workforce was reduced to two, the same amount of maids that a second class attendant (答應; lowest imperial consort) was allowed to have. Furthermore, the Qianlong Emperor conferred the title of imperial noble consort on Noble Consort Ling half a month after his return to the capital. Under Qing dynasty’s ranking of consorts, an imperial noble consort was only a step below the empress, meaning that while Noble Consort Ling was not explicitly granted administrative powers over the harem, the Step-Empress had definitely fallen out of favour with the Emperor.

Death
The Step-Empress died in the 7th month of the 31st year of Qianlong. However, the exact date of her death is a matter of debate. The Draft History of Qing, which has accuracy and reliability concerns, states that she died on the Jiawu, while modern works typically list her death as having happened on the 14th day of the 7th month.

The Step-Empress was already seriously ill by the 6th month of that same year, but despite her illness, Qianlong did not delay his trip to the summer residence in Chengde.

At the time of the Step-Empress's death, the Qianlong Emperor was on his annual hunting excursion at the Mulan Hunting Grounds (木蘭圍場, in present-day Weichang Manchu and Mongol Autonomous County). Instead of ending his excursion immediately to head back to the Forbidden City, he ordered his 12th son, Yongji (the Step-Empress's biological son), to return to the palace to handle the funerary affairs.

By the Qianlong Emperor's order, the Step-Empress's funeral was treated as that of an Imperial Noble Consort, but in reality, the ceremony was a much more scaled-down affair. For example, the usual cancellation of imperial cabinet meetings for five days was not carried out, and the requirement for princesses, nobles, and high-ranking court officials to attend the mourning sessions was waived. In addition, the coffin used for the Step-Empress was of a much lower quality. For her burial, the Step-Empress was laid to rest in the Yu Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs, next to Imperial Noble Consort Chunhui, instead of being entombed beside the Emperor's future resting place.

Titles

 * During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722):
 * Lady Nara (那拉氏)
 * During the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722–1735):
 * Secondary consort (側福晉; from 2 December 1734)
 * During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1796):
 * Consort Xian (嫻妃; from 23 January 1738), fourth rank consort
 * Noble Consort Xian (嫻貴妃; from 9 December 1745), third rank consort
 * Imperial Noble Consort (皇貴妃; from 20 May 1749), second rank consort
 * Empress (皇后; from 2 September 1750)

Issue

 * As empress:
 * Yongji (永璂), Prince of the Third Rank (貝勒; 7 June 1752 – 17 March 1776), the Qianlong Emperor's 12th son
 * Unnamed daughter (23 July 1753 – 1 June 1755), the Qianlong Emperor's fifth daughter
 * Yongjing (永璟; 22 January 1756 – 7 September 1757), the Qianlong Emperor's 13th son

In popular culture

 * Portrayed as Consort Lan by Tsui Si-fei in The Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty (1988)
 * Portrayed as the Empress by Dai Chunrong in My Fair Princess (1998)
 * Portrayed by Li Yun in Qianlong Dynasty (2003)
 * Portrayed by Jiang Lili in My Fair Princess III (2003)
 * Portrayed by Xu Xiaodan in The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan (2004)
 * Portrayed by Sheren Tang in New My Fair Princess (2011)
 * Portrayed as Ula-Nara Qingying by Zhang Yan in Empresses in the Palace (2011)
 * Portrayed as Empress Ula-Nara by Fan Bingbing in The Lady in the Portrait (2017)
 * Portrayed as Hoifa-Nara Shushen by Charmaine Sheh in Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)
 * Portrayed as Ula-Nara Qingying/Ruyi by Zhou Xun in Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018)

Notes on Chinese years
Many historical materials on the Step Empress utilize the ancient Chinese lunisolar calendar, coupled with the Chinese era name system. The following Gregorian calendar dates were derived, using a date converter developed by the Academia Sinica in Taiwan.