Empress Xiaoxianchun

Empress Xiaoxianchun (28 March 1712 – 8 April 1748), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Fuca clan, was the first wife of the Qianlong Emperor. She was empress consort from 1738 until her death in 1748.

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)
 * Grandfather: Mishan (米思翰; 1633–1675), served as the minister of revenue
 * Uncle: Maci (马齐; 1652–1739)
 * Mother: Lady Gioro (覺羅氏)
 * Seven elder brothers and two younger brothers
 * Ninth younger brother: Fuheng (傅恒; 1720–1770)
 * One younger sister: wife of Salashan

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 due to smallpox 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 new 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, serving 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 aggrandizement. Instead of expensive jewelry, she would wear artificial flowers in her hair. The Emperor once told her that their Manchu ancestors 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 took her duties seriously when it came to Confucian rituals. As head of the inner palace, she supervised the imperial consorts when performing rituals. 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 Qianlong. For the purpose of the rite, a sericulture altar was completed in 1744, largely at Lady Fuca's urging. That year, she became the first empress of the Qing dynasty to personally lead the women in the palace in these rites, making offerings of mulberry. In 1751, the whole rite was painted on four scrolls in memory of Lady Fuca.

On 27 May 1746, Lady Fuca gave birth to the Emperor's seventh son, Yongcong. The Qianlong Emperor had high hopes for Yongcong and named him the crown prince shortly after his birth. However, Yongcong too would die prematurely on 29 January 1748 due to smallpox, similar to Yonglian.

Death
In 1748, during one of Qianlong's southern tours, Lady Fuca became seriously ill with a malarial fever and eventually died on 8 April, three months after the death of Yongcong. The Empress's funeral was lavishly done. The Emperor was deeply affected and did not take her death well. When he found out that two of his sons, Yonghuang and Yongzhang, had not mourned for the Empress as much as was expected, he issued a decree removing both of them from his list of potential successors to the throne. In addition, those court officials who shaved their hair, which was considered disrespectful as it was forbidden to do so throughout the mourning period, were either heavily punished or executed.

The bereaved Emperor wrote the poem Expressing My Grief after her death:

"When entering her bedroom,

I inhale sadness.

I climb behind her phoenix bed-curtains,

Yet they hang to no avail.

The romance of the spring breeze and autumn moon all ends here.

Summer days and winter nights spent with her will never come again."

Titles

 * During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722):
 * Lady Fuca (富察氏; 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)

Issue

 * As primary consort:
 * Unnamed daughter (3 November 1728 – 14 February 1730), the Qianlong Emperor's first daughter
 * Yonglian (永璉), Crown Prince Duanhui (端慧皇太子; 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; ? – 1775) of the Mongol Khorchin Borjigin clan in April/May 1747
 * As empress:
 * Yongcong (永琮), Prince Zhe of First Rank (哲親王; 27 May 1746 – 29 January 1748), the Qianlong Emperor's seventh son

In fiction and popular culture

 * 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)