Empress Xiao Jing Chen
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| Empress Xiao-Jing 孝靜成皇后 |
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| Spouse | Daoguang Emperor |
| Issue | |
| Yikang (1826-1827) Yiji (1829-1830) Princess Shou En (1830-1859) Yixin (1833-1898) |
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| Posthumous name | |
| 孝靜康慈懿昭端惠庄仁和慎弼天撫聖成皇后 | |
| Born | June 19, 1812 |
| Died | August 21, 1855 (aged 43) |
Empress Xiao Jing Cheng (Chinese: 孝静成皇后博尔吉济特氏) 1812 - 1855 was the daughter of Hualianga of the Mongolian Borjigit clan. Her family were descendents of Genghis Khan who ruled Central Asia in the early thirteenth century. She was born in the seventeenth year of the Qing Emperor Jiaqing's reign.
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[edit] Biography
Lady Borjigit entered the Forbidden City during the beginning of the Daoguang Emperor's reign. She was soon promoted to the rank of Worthy Lady Jing and then to Imperial Consort Jing (Chinese: 静妃). Borjigit gave birth to a daughter and three sons, including the future Prince Gong. After the death of Empress Xiao Quan Cheng in 1840, Borjigit became head of the imperial concubines and took responsibility for the upbringing of Xiao Quan Cheng's son, who would become the Xianfeng Emperor. Her attempts to alter the succession in favor of her own son, Prince Gong, were unsuccessful.
Another source of frustration was the emperor's refusal to grant her the status of official wife and empress rather than concubine. After his death in 1850, she was given the title Kang-Ci (Healthy and Motherly) Imperial Noble Dowager Consort (Chinese: 康慈皇贵太妃), which satisfied neither her nor her son. By law and tradition she had no right to the title Dowager Empress, and her appeals to Xianfeng as his foster mother went unheeded. In 1855, she fell seriously ill and fearing she had little time left, resorted to trickery. She conspired with Prince Gong to issue a false order in Xianfeng's name granting her the coveted title. Xianfeng chose to forgo the public embarrassment of rescinding the order and so allowed it to stand despite his anger. Borjigit died shortly afterward. Two years later, she was interred in the Muling Mausoleum for concubines. She was also given the posthumous title Empress Xiao Jing. Unlike Daoguang's other empresses, she received the title Cheng only later, due to the influence of her son Prince Gong over the underage Tongzhi Emperor.
In 1852, as highest ranking consort of the late emperor, she was in charge of selecting the new emperor's concubines. Among these concubines were the future empress dowagers Ci'an and Cixi.
[edit] Children
- Prince Yi Kang (奕綱)
- Prince Yi Ji (奕繼)
- State Princess Shou En (1830-1859). She was the sixth daughter of Emperor Daoguang. She married the Manchu noble Jing Shou and was thereafter given the title of State Princess Shou En. She died in the ninth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign.
- Prince Yi Xin (奕訢) was the sixth son of Emperor Daoguang. In 1850 his older half-brother ascended the throne as the Xianfeng Emperor. He was honored with the title Prince Gong.
[edit] Appendix
[edit] Succession
| Chinese royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Empress Xiao De |
Empress of China (elevated to this position posthumously) |
Succeeded by Empress Dowager Ci'an |
| Preceded by Niuhuru, Empress He Rui |
Empress Dowager of China 1855 |
Succeeded by Empress Dowager Ci'an |
