Imperial Noble Consort Huixian

Imperial Noble Consort Huixian (1711 – 25 February 1745), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Gaogiya clan, was a consort of the Qianlong Emperor.

Family background
Imperial Noble Consort Huixian's personal name was not recorded in history. She was a Han Chinese by birth. The Gao family were originally Han baoyi of the Imperial Household Department's Bordered Yellow Banner. It was Qing court protocol to put any non-Manchu consort and her close male relatives like brothers and cousins into a Manchu banner if they were a Han bannermen. Imperial Noble Consort Huixian and her brothers and cousins were put into the Manchu Yellow Bordered Banner effectively changing their ethnicity from Han to Manchu in the eyes of the Qing court. Their surname was Manchurized from Gao to Gaojia (高佳).


 * Father: Gao Bin (高斌; 1683–1755), served as the Minister of Personnel from 1745–1747 and a Grand Secretary in the Wenyuan Library from 1747–1748. Gao Bin's first wife Lady Chen (her father Chen Alin was an Imperial Household Department staff captain belonging to Bordered Yellow Banner and a relative of Consort Chunyuqin (純裕勤太妃) hence the Chen family were also put into the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner), second wife Lady Qi, third wife Lady Ma (her father Ma Weifan was an Imperial Household Department army officer).
 * Paternal grandfather: Gao Yanzhong 高衍中, served as an Imperial Household Department staff captain (zuoling) belonging to Bordered Yellow Banner.
 * Paternal grandmother: Lady Li
 * Paternal uncles: Gao Shuming 高述明 (a regional commander in Gansu), Gao Yu 高鈺 (a regional commander in Jiangsu)
 * Mother: Lady Ma (father Ma Weifan, an Imperial Household Department army officer belonging to Plain White Banner).
 * One younger brother: Gao Heng (高恆), served as the Lianghuai Administrator of Salt Business, a Minister of the Imperial Household Department. Gao Heng  married an ethnic Manchu woman from the Nara clan of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner
 * Three younger sisters: Gao-jia-shi (Gaogiya), two of whom married respectively to an Eight Banners army commander E Shi of the Xilinjueluo (Sirin Gioro) family belonging to Bordered Blue Banner and an Imperial Household Department officer Han Jin belonging to Plain Yellow Banner.
 * Cousin Gao Jin (高晉; father Gao Shuming), served as the Liangjiang Governor, Minister of Rites, and a Grand Secretary in the Wenhua Library. Gao Jin married Lady Wang of the Manchu Plain Blue Banner.
 * Two cousin sisters: Gao-jia-shi (Gaogiya; father Gao Shuming), married respectively to Hu Zhao, an imperial senior bodyguard (shiwei) belonging to Plain Blue Banner (probably changed from the Imperial Household Department's Bordered Yellow Banner), and Li Weiping, an Imperial Household Department staff captain (zuoling) belonging to the Imperial Household Department's Plain White Banner.

Yongzheng era
It is not known when Lady Gao become a lady-in-waiting, and then mistress, of Hongli, the fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor. On 4 April 1734, she was elevated to his secondary consort. She was a beautiful and well educated woman with a great personality and many capabilities. Lady Gao also had a wonderful relationship with Lady Fuca, Hongli's Primary Consort, and during the Qianlong era she would directly assist Lady Fuca, now Empress, in managing the palace at large and caring for Empress Dowager Chongqing. She was greatly favored by her husband all her life.

Qianlong era
The Yongzheng Emperor died on 8 October 1735 and was succeeded by Hongli, who was enthroned as the Qianlong Emperor. Around the time, Gao Bin wrote a memorial to the Yongzheng Emperor, thanking him for a bunch of lychees, but it was too late as the emperor had already died when the memorial reached the palace, so the Qianlong Emperor replied in place of his father:

"My father recognised your talent and promoted you to a high position. You should do your utmost to repay his grace. Even though your daughter is waiting on me, you should not be harbouring any ill intentions. This will not be tolerated by national law. If you serve the nation well with sincerity and integrity, I will not refrain from giving rewards to avoid being criticised for showing favouritism."

On 23 January 1738, Lady Gao was granted the title "Noble Consort". As she was the only woman in the imperial harem holding the rank of Noble Consort at the time, she did not receive any special title to distinguish her from the emperor's other consorts.

On 23 February 1745, when Lady Gao became critically ill, she was elevated to "Imperial Noble Consort" by the Qianlong Emperor. However, she never managed to attend the promotion ceremony because she died two days after the emperor announced his decision. In 1752, she was interred in the Yu Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs.

Titles

 * During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722):
 * Lady Gao (高氏; from 1711)
 * During the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722–1735):
 * Mistress (格格; date unknown)
 * Secondary Consort (側福晉; from 4 April 1734)
 * During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735–1796):
 * Noble Consort (貴妃; from 23 January 1738), third rank consort
 * Imperial Noble Consort (皇貴妃; from 23 February 1745), second rank consort
 * Imperial Noble Consort Huixian (慧賢皇貴妃; from 26 February 1745)

In fiction and popular culture

 * Portrayed by Fu Chong in Jiangshan Weizhong (2002)
 * Portrayed by Tan Zhuo in Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)
 * Portrayed by Tong Yao in Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018)