Empress Xiaoke (孝恪皇后; 1510–1554) of the Du clan, was a concubine of
Jiajing Emperor of 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 ...
and the mother of Zhu Zaiji, the
Longqing Emperor.
Biography
In the 9th year (1530) of the
Jiajing Emperor's reign, Lady Du was selected to become a concubine of
Jiajing Emperor. In the fifteenth year of Jiajing reign, she was promoted to concubine Kang, and in the sixteenth year (1537), and she gave birth to
Zhu Zaiji, the third son of the emperor who was not favoured.
In the first month of the 33rd year of Jiajing (1554), Lady Du died at age 40. She was posthumously named Consort Rongshukang (荣淑康妃). She was buried in Yuquan Mountain. The ceremonial officer asked
Zhu Zaiji to serve the three-year mourning but the Jiajing Emperor did not allow it.
After Zhu Zaiji became emperor, he posthumously awarded his mother with the title "Empress Xiaoke" and was reburied
Yongling tombs Yongling, Yong Ling or Yong Mausoleum (永陵) may refer to:
* Yongling (Former Shu), the tomb of Wang Jian (847–918) in Chengdu, Sichuan, China
* Yongling (Ming dynasty), the tomb of the Jiajing Emperor (1507–1567) in Beijing
*Yongling (Qing d ...
.
[Xiaoke (née Du), mother of the Longqing emperor, and Xiaojie (née Chen) who was Jiajing's first empress were transferred to the site."]
Titles
*During the reign of the
Zhengde Emperor
The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521.
Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhen ...
(r. 1505–1521)
**Lady Du (杜氏; from 1510)
*During the reign of the
Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–1567)
**Concubine Kang (康嫔; from March 1531)
**Consort Kang (康妃; from 1536)
**''Consort Rongshukang (荣淑康妃; from 1554)
*During the reign of the
Longqing Emperor (r. 1567–1572)
**''Empress Xiaoke Chun Ciyi Gongshun Zantian Kaisheng'' (孝恪淵純慈懿恭順贊天開聖皇后; from 1567)
Issue
*As Consort Kang:
**Zhu Zaiji, the
Longqing Emperor (隆慶帝 朱載坖; 4 March 1537 – 5 July 1572), the Jiajing Emperor's third son
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiaoke, Empress
1510 births
1554 deaths
Ming dynasty empresses
16th-century Chinese women
16th-century Chinese people