Empress Xiaoyiren


Empress Xiaoyiren, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Tunggiya clan, was a consort of the Kangxi Emperor.

Life

Family background

Empress Xiaoyiren's personal name was not recorded in history. Her family originally belonged to the Han Chinese Plain Blue Banner.
It is not known when Lady Tong entered the Forbidden City and became a mistress of the Kangxi Emperor. She was first mentioned in official histories on 18 September 1677 when the Kangxi Emperor granted ranks and titles to his consorts. She was granted the title "Noble Consort". As she was the only one among the emperor's consorts to hold that rank, she did not receive a title to distinguish her from the other consorts.
On 18 March 1678, the Kangxi Emperor's second empress consort, Empress Xiaozhaoren, died so there was no one to take charge of the emperor's harem. Lady Tong was put in charge and became the de facto Empress. On 13 December 1678, another mistress of the Kangxi Emperor gave birth to a son, Yinzhen. Traditionally, the Empress was tasked with overseeing the upbringing of all the Emperor's children, regardless of whether or not she was their birth mother. Since Lady Tong was the most senior among all the Kangxi Emperor's consorts at the time, she was tasked with raising Yinzhen.
On 28 January 1682, Lady Tong was elevated to "Imperial Noble Consort". On 13 July 1683, she gave birth to the emperor's eighth daughter, who would die prematurely on 6 August 1683.
On 23 August 1689, when Lady Tong was critically ill, the Kangxi Emperor officially instated her as Empress. She died the next day and was interred in the Jing Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs. She was granted the posthumous title "Empress Xiaoyiren".

Titles