Empress Qian (; 1426 – 15 July 1468) was a Chinese empress consort during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, married to the

Zhengtong Emperor Emperor Yingzong of Ming (; 29 November 1427 – 23 February 1464), personal name Zhu Qizhen (), was the sixth and eighth Emperor of the Ming dynasty. He ascended the throne as the Zhengtong Emperor () in 1435, but was forced to abdicate in 1 ...

. She was addressed posthumously as Empress Xiaozhuangrui ()

Early life

There is no record of Empress Qian's birth name, other than that she was a member of the clan ''Qian'' (). She married the

on 8 June 1442, and became his primary consort and empress.

Empress

In 1449, the Zhengtong Emperor was captured after the

Battle of Tumu The Crisis of the Tumu Fortress (), also known as the Tumu Crisis (; mn, Тумугийн тулалдаан), or the Jisi Incident (), was a frontier conflict between the Northern Yuan and Ming dynasties. The Oirat ruler of the Northern Yuan, ...

and his captors demanded a ransom, which Empress Qian and her mother-in-law promptly raised. The ransom was rejected in favour of holding on to the Zhengtong Emperor as hostage, which prompted the court to assign him the status of

retired emperor Retired Emperor, Grand Emperor, or Emperor Emeritus is a title occasionally used by the monarchical regimes in the Sinosphere for former emperors who had (at least in name) abdicated voluntarily to another member of the same clan, usually their s ...

and name his half-brother

Zhu Qiyu The Jingtai Emperor (21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457), born Zhu Qiyu, was the seventh Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1449 to 1457. The second son of the Xuande Emperor, he was selected in 1449 to succeed his elder brother Emper ...

emperor. Empress Qian was moved from the court to a separate palace to allow Empress Wang to take the title of empress consort. When her spouse was returned by the Mongols, arriving in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on 19 September 1450, Empress Qian joined him under

house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...

in a guarded section of the Imperial City. When her spouse's only son, the future

Chenghua Emperor The Chenghua Emperor (; 9 December 1447 – 9 September 1487), personal name Zhu Jianshen, was the ninth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, who reigned from 1464 to 1487. His era name " Chenghua" means "accomplished change". Childhood Zhu Jianshen wa ...

, was deposed as

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

in 1452, he was sent to live with Empress Qian in conditions of physical hardship. In 1457, a coup-d'etat put her spouse back on the imperial throne as the Tianshun Emperor, reinstating Empress Qian as the empress consort.

Empress dowager

Empress Qian had no children, and when the Zhengtong Emperor died in 1464, he was succeeded by the Chenghua Emperor. She became involved in a conflict with Empress Xiaosu, the biological mother of the new emperor. As the mother of the emperor, Empress Xiaosu demanded the same title as Qian: that of empress dowager. Xiaosu pointed out that she was the mother of the emperor while Qian was childless, while Qian demanded the title pointing to her loyalty to the late emperor, whose house arrest she had shared. The emperor was unable to solve the conflict to the satisfaction of both parties, but granted the title of empress dowager to both, though Qian's formal title acknowledged her higher rank and precedence in court proceedings.

Titles

*During the reign of

Xuande Emperor The Xuande Emperor (16 March 1399 31 January 1435), personal name Zhu Zhanji (朱瞻基), was the fifth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1425 to 1435. His era name "Xuande" means "proclamation of virtue". Ruling over a relatively ...

(r. 1425–1435): **Lady Qian (錢氏; from 1426) *During the reign of the

(r. 1435–1449): **Empress (皇后; from 1442) *During the reign of the

Jingtai Emperor The Jingtai Emperor (21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457), born Zhu Qiyu, was the seventh Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1449 to 1457. The second son of the Xuande Emperor, he was selected in 1449 to succeed his elder brother Emper ...

(r. 1449–1457): **Empress Emerita (太上皇后; from 1449) *During the reign of the Tianshun Emperor (r. 1457–1464): **Empress (皇后; from 1457) *During the reign of

(r. 1464–1487) **Empress Dowager Ciyi (慈懿皇太后; from 28 February 1464) **''Empress Xiàozhuāng Xiànmù Hónghuì Xiǎnrén Gōngtiān Qīnshèng Ruì'' (孝莊獻穆弘惠顯仁恭天欽聖睿皇后; from 1468)

Death

Empress Dowager Qian died on 26 June 1468, and was interred at Yu ling in the Ming tomb complex near Beijing on 4 September 1468. The Tianshun Emperor specifically stated that she should only be buried next to him, 'after a thousand years of long life.'

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qian, Empress 1426 births 1468 deaths Ming dynasty empresses Ming dynasty empresses dowager 15th-century Chinese women 15th-century Chinese people People from Lianyungang