Empress Xiaoxianchun


Empress Xiaoxianchun, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Fuca clan, was a consort of the Qianlong Emperor. She was one year his junior.

Life

Family background

Empress Xiaoxianchun's personal name was not recorded in history.
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 small pox 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 emperor's primary consort, was instated as Empress.
That same year the Death of Crown Prince Yonglian struck, the Empress was left heartbroken but since she was the role model of the inner court, she remained strong continued her duties as Empress of the Great Qing and Fuca Clan but deep inside she was filled with sorrow as her son's death still lingered in her mind for many years. She still did her duties as Empress and remained composed and virtuous but deep inside she was filled with sorrow as her son's death still lingered in her mind for many years. She managed to hide the fact that she was upset from everyone but one, her mother-in-law, Empress Dowager Chongqing, who mentioned once that the Empress' eyes often looked sad.
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, and served 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 good. Instead of wearing jewellery, she would wear artificial flowers in her hair. The Qianlong Emperor once told her a story that Manchus 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 also made other pouches for him.
Lady Fuca took her duties seriously when it came to Confucian rituals. As head of the women's quarters in the palace, she supervised the emperor's consorts when performing a ritual. 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 the Qianlong Emperor. For the purpose of this rite, a sericulture altar was constructed in 1742. In 1744, a new Altar to Sericulture was completed, largely at Lady Fuca's urging. That year, Lady Fuca became the first empress in the Qing dynasty to personally lead the women in the palace in these rites. They made offerings of mulberry and presented them to silkworm cocoons, all of them working industriously. The whole rite was painted on four scrolls in 1751 in memory of Lady Fuca.
On 27 May 1746, Lady Fuca gave birth to the emperor's seventh son, Yongcong, Emperor Qianlong had high hopes for Yongcong and crowned him Crown Prince shortly after his birth. However, Yongcong too would die prematurely on 29 January 1748 due to small pox, similar to Yonglian. The death of Yongcong caused the Empress to be heartbroken once more, all hope for Empress Fuca collapsed, the death of her second son left her depressed and also deteriorated her health.
The Empress' Health deteriorates
After the loss of Yongcong, the Emperor decided to cheer her up by bringing her onto a Southern Tour which was accompanied by the Empress Dowager, along with the consorts and concubines of the inner palace. The Empress seemed very happy which made the Emperor delighted, however while feeding fish the Empress made a literary quote from a famous philosopher.
"You're not a fish, how do you know what a fish enjoys?"
The Empress is trying to say that she may look happy on the outside to others, but deep inside only she knows whether she is truly happy or not. The Emperor realized the Empress was masking her sadness as she did not want to disappoint him or the Empress Dowager. In actuality, she had never recovered from both her sons' death. As the Empress suddenly started feeling sick while on the trip, the Emperor wanted to stop the trip and return to the Forbidden City so the Empress can rest. But the Empress insisted on continuing the trip as she didn't want to ruin the trip for others. That's when her condition got worse and she was now extremely weak.
Death
In 1748, during one of the Qianlong Emperor's southern tours, she became seriously ill and eventually died on 8 April, 3 months after the death of Yongcong. The Empress' funeral was lavishly done. The Emperor was deeply affected and did not take it well. When he found out that two of his sons did not mourn for the Empress, he came out with a decreed that the both of them would not be allowed to ascend the throne. Court Officials who shaved their hair, which was considered disrespectful as you are not allowed to shave your hair throughout the mourning period were either heavily punished or executed.
Furthermore, the Emperor ordered that no other concubine was allowed to stay in the Palace of Empress XiaoXianChun and the possessions would be left untouched, this highlights how much she meant to him. The Emperor also did not get another Empress for a long time, not at least until Empress Dowager Chongqing urged him to get another Empress.
One of the quotes that the Emperor wrote in memory of Empress Fuca:
"If I knew the death of our son would make you die of sorrow, I would never you bear him."
It means that he would rather chose her over their son, shows how much the Emperor loved the Empress as sons were greatly regarded then even more regarded than women.
On 2 December 1752, she was interred in the Yu Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs. It is said that the Qianlong Emperor often visited her grave with wistful longing, and remained heartbroken to the end of his days.
"Every autumn, I can't help but cry when I pay homage to you. I am aging, I don't wish to live until a hundred years old. It's comforting to know that we will be reunited in less than 20 years."
-Qianlong Emperor's quotes in his old age to Empress Fuca.

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