#a huge thanks to the lovely mydaylight for doing this with me

[shangyangjunzhu]

qing dynasty appreciation week day 5: prominent empress dowagers

~ empress xiaoshengxian of the manchu bordered yellow banner niohuru clan

qianlong’s birth mother was the empress xiaoshengxian of the niohuru clan, consort xi of the yongzheng emperor. she entered into court service as a gege when yongzheng was still a prince. she began to receive special favour after giving birth to prince hongli, who was intelligent and beloved by both his father, yongzheng, and grandfather the kangxi emperor. later, she was bestowed the rank of noble consort only after the passing of yongzheng’s first empress.

source: Sotheby's, Sotheby. “The Emperor's Long Mid-Autumn Holiday.” Sothebys.com, 17 Sept. 2019

after her son hongli succeeded the throne as the qianlong emperor (r. 1736-1795), she was honoured as an empress dowager and conferred the title chongqing. henceforth eight more honorary titles were conferred on her. the qianlong emperor held grand celebrations for her on her sixtieth, seventieth, and eightieth birthdays. in 1777 (the forty-second year of the qianlong period), she passed away in the immortal lodge of eternal spring (changchun xianguan) in the garden of perfect brightness (yuanming yuan, now known as the old summer palace) at the age of eighty-six. she was the most long-lived empress dowager of the qing dynasty.

source: The Palace Museum. “Portrait of Empress Xiaoshengxian at Age Eighty.”