Empress Renxiaowen (仁孝文皇后; 5 March 1362 – 6 August 1407), of the Xu clan, was the empress consort to the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

and the third empress of

China's China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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 ...

. She was well educated, compiling bibliographies of virtuous women, an activity connected with court politics.

Biography

Lady Xu was born in 1362, as the eldest daughter of

Xu Da Xu Da (1332–1385), courtesy name Tiande, was a Chinese military general and politician who lived in the late Yuan dynasty and early Ming dynasty. He was a friend of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder and first ruler of the Ming dynasty, and assist ...

and Lady Xie (謝氏), second daughter of Xie Zaixing (謝再興). She had four brothers—Xu Huizu (徐輝祖), Xu Tianfu (徐添福), Xu Yingxu (徐膺緒), and Xu Zengshou (徐增壽)—and two younger sisters, who were the wives of Zhu Gui, Prince Jian of Dai (thirteenth son of the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

) and Zhu Ying, Prince Hui of An (twenty-second son of the

). On 17 February 1376, she married the Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, the Hongwu Emperor's fourth son. After Zhu Di ascended the throne as the

on 17 July 1402, Consort Xu, as his primary wife, was created empress in December 1402. A devout

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, Xu is the first person credited with transcribing a Buddhist sutra from a dream revelation. The work is entitled ''Da Ming Ren xiao Huang hou meng kan Fo Shuo di yi xi yu da gong de jing (The sutra of great merit of the foremost rarity spoken by the Buddha which the Renxiao empress of the great Ming received in a dream)''. In her introduction to the sutra, the empress wrote that one night after meditating and burning incense,

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

appeared to her as if in a dream, and took her to a holy realm where the sutra was revealed to her in order to save her from disaster. After reading the sutra three times, she was able to memorize it and recall it perfectly upon awakening and writing it down. The sutra conveys conventional Mahayana philosophies, and the mantras for chanting were typical of Tibetan Buddhist practices.Yü, Chun-fang. "Ming Buddhism" ''The Cambridge History of China v.8''. pp 913-915

Titles

*During the reign of the

(r. 1368–1398): **Lady Xu (徐氏; from 5 March 1362) **Princess consort of Yan (燕王妃; from 1376) *During the reign of the

(r. 1402–1424): **Empress (皇后; from 17 July 1402) **''Empress Renxiao'' (仁孝文皇后; from 1407) **''Empress Rénxiào Cíyì Chéngmíng Zhuāngxiàn Pèitiān Qíshèng Wēn'' (仁孝慈懿誠明庄獻配天齊聖文皇后; from 1424)

Issue

* As Princess consort of Yan: ** Zhu Gaochi, the

Hongxi Emperor The Hongxi Emperor (16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), personal name Zhu Gaochi (朱高熾), was the fourth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1424 to 1425. He succeeded his father, the Yongle Emperor, in 1424. His era name "Hongxi" means ...

(洪熙帝朱高熾; 16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), the Yongle Emperor's first son **

Zhu Gaoxu Zhu Gaoxu (; 30 December 1380 – 6 October 1426), the Prince of Gaoyang (高陽王, created 1395), later the Prince of Han (漢王, created 1404), was the second son of the Yongle Emperor and Empress Renxiaowen. Zhu Gaoxu fought with his elder b ...

, Prince of Han (漢王朱高煦; 30 December 1380 – 6 October 1426), the Yongle Emperor's second son ** Zhu Gaosui, Prince Jian of Zhao (趙簡王朱高燧; 19 January 1383 – 5 October 1431), the Yongle Emperor's third son ** Princess Yong'an (永安公主; 1377–1417), personal name Yuying (玉英), the Yongle Emperor's first daughter *** Married Yuan Rong (袁容), and had issue (one son, three daughters) ** Princess Yong'ping (永平公主; 1379 – 22 April 1444), the Yongle Emperor's second daughter *** Married Li Rang (李讓), and had issue (one son) ** Princess Ancheng (安成公主; 1384 – 16 September 1443), the Yongle Emperor's third daughter *** Married Song Hu (宋琥) in 1402, and had issue (one son) ** Princess Xianning (咸寧公主; 1385 – 27 July 1440), the Yongle Emperor's fourth daughter *** Married Song Ying (宋瑛; d. 1449) in 1403, and had issue (one son)

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Empress 1362 births 1407 deaths 14th-century Chinese women 15th-century Chinese women 15th-century Chinese women writers 15th-century Chinese writers Women encyclopedists Ming dynasty Buddhists Ming dynasty empresses Consorts of the Yongle Emperor 14th-century Chinese people 15th-century Chinese people People from Fengyang