Empress Xiaoduanwen

Empress Xiaoduanwen (13 May 1600 – 17 May 1649) of the Mongol Borjigit clan, personal name Jerjer or Jere, was the first Empress Consort of Hong Taiji of the Qing Dynasty. She was the daughter of Manggusi (莽古斯), a beile of the Khorchin Mongols, and Manggusi's primary consort.

Biography

Jerjer married Hong Taiji, ruler of the Later Jin Dynasty, on 28 May 1614 and became his official spouse even though she was not his first wife. She was promoted to the status of Empress in 1636 when the Later Jin Dynasty was renamed to the Qing Dynasty, which replaced the Ming Dynasty in China. Two of Jerjer's nieces, Bumbutai and Harjol, were also married to Hong Taiji as well.

After the death of Hong Taiji in 1643, Jerjer was granted the title of "Mother Empress, Empress Dowager" (母后皇太后) by the Shunzhi Emperor, Hong Taiji's son and successor. Shunzhi's birth mother, Bumbutai (Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang) was elevated to the status of "Holy Mother, Empress Dowager" (聖母皇太后).

Jerjer died in 1649 at the age of 50, and was interred in the Zhaoling Mausoleum in Shenyang. She was posthumously granted the title of Empress Xiaoduanwen. Her posthumous title was subsequently extended to Empress Xiaoduanzhengjingrenyizheshuncixizhuangminfutianxieshengwen (孝端正敬仁懿哲順慈僖庄敏輔天協聖文皇后) during the reigns of the Yongzheng and Qianlong emperors.

Issue

Jerjer had three daughters:

• Makata, Gurun First Princess Wenzhuang (固倫溫莊長公主馬喀塔; 1625–1663), Hong Taiji's second daughter. She married Ejei Khan, son of Ligdan Khan of the Chahar Mongols. After Ejei Khan's death she married his younger brother Abunai (阿布奈).

• Gurun First Princess Jingduan (固倫靖端長公主; 1628–1686), personal name unknown, Hong Taiji's third daughter. She married Qitate (奇塔特) of the Khorchin Mongols.

• Gurun First Princess Yong'an (固倫永安長公主; 1634–1692), personal name unknown, Hong Taiji's eighth daughter. She married Bayasihulang (巴雅斯護朗) of the Khorchin Mongols.

See also

• Ranks of Imperial Consorts in China#Qing
• Qing Dynasty nobility

References

• Hummel, Arthur William, ed. Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644–1912). 2 vols. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943.
• Daily life in the Forbidden City, Wan Yi, Wang Shuqing, Lu Yanzhen. ISBN 0-670-81164-5.
• Draft history of the Qing dynasty. 《清史稿》卷二百十四．列傳一．后妃傳．太宗孝端文皇后.

Succession