| Empress Xiaomu 孝穆皇后 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress of the Ming dynasty (posthumously) | |||||||
 Empress Ji byTsukioka Settei | |||||||
| Died | July 1475 (1475-08) | ||||||
| Burial | Mao Mausoleum,Ming tombs | ||||||
| Spouse | Chenghua Emperor | ||||||
| Issue | Hongzhi Emperor | ||||||
| |||||||
| Clan | Ji (紀) | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 孝穆皇后 | ||||||
| |||||||
Empress Xiaomu (died July 1475), of the Ji clan,[a] was an imperial consort of theMing dynasty. She was a concubine of theChenghua Emperor and gave birth to his successor, theHongzhi Emperor. Captured during a military campaign against theYao people inGuangxi, Lady Ji was brought to theimperial palace, where she became an imperial concubine. In 1470, she gave birth to Zhu Youcheng (later the Hongzhi Emperor). With the assistance ofpalace eunuchs, the child's existence were concealed due to the influence of the Emperor's favored consort,Lady Wan. The child remained hidden until 1475, when the Chenghua Emperor formally recognized him as his heir. Lady Ji died later that year and was posthumously honored as empress after her son ascended the throne.
Lady Ji's personal name and birth year are unknown. She was a member of theYao people and came fromHe County,Guangxi.[2]
In 1467, the Ming army launched a punitive expedition against the rebellious Yao tribes in Guangxi, and some of the captives were taken as servants to theForbidden City, including Lady Ji.[3]
In 1469, Lady Ji met theChenghua Emperor and became pregnant. Her pregnancy was discovered byLady Wan, the Emperor's favorite concubine, who feared losing her position if another woman bore the Emperor a son. In order to prevent this, Lady Wan ordered the eunuchs to perform an abortion on Lady Ji, but the eunuchs did not comply and instead hid Lady Ji and her child in the chambers of the Chenghua Emperor's formerEmpress Wu.[3] It was there that Lady Ji gave birth to a boy on 30 July 1470. The secret remained hidden until June 1475,[4] when the Emperor, who was now twenty-eight years old and still without an heir, was informed by a knowledgeable eunuch about the existence of his five-year-old son.[3] Upon receiving this news, the Emperor recognized his son and moved him to safety under the protection of his mother,Empress Dowager Zhou.[5] The boy was given the nameZhu Youcheng.[4]
One month later, Lady Ji died under suspicious circumstances.[4] According to some historians, such asFrederick Mote, she was believed to have been poisoned by an agent of Lady Wan. As a result, the Emperor moved out of the palace occupied by Lady Wan and took measures to protect his heir from her influence. The Empress Dowager even warned Zhu Youcheng not to consume anything when visiting Lady Wan.[5] Zhu Youcheng became the heir to the throne and, upon the Chenghua Emperor's death, ascended to the throne as the Hongzhi Emperor.[1][6]
Lady Ji was posthumously granted the title of Consort Shu with theposthumous name Gongkezhuangxi (恭恪莊僖). After his accession, her son elevated her to empress by granting her the posthumous name "Empress Xiaomu Cihui Gongke Zhuangxi Chongtian Chengsheng Chun" (孝穆慈慧恭恪莊僖崇天承聖純皇后), commonly referred to as Empress Xiaomu (孝穆皇后).[7] In 1536, theJiajing Emperor shortened her posthumous title to "Empress Xiaomu Cihui Gongke Zhuangxi Chongtian Chengsheng" (孝穆慈慧恭恪莊僖崇天承聖皇后), removing the character "Chun", which was the posthumous title of the Chenghua Emperor.[8]