Empress Hu (; 20 May 1402 – 5 December 1443), personal name Hu Shanxiang, was a Chinese empress consort 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 ...

, married to the

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 ...

. She was posthumously honoured with the title Empress Gongrangzhang.

Early life

Empress Hu was born in 1400 in Jining in present day

Shandong Province Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...

. Her given name was Hu Shanxiang. She came from

Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jining ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

. Her father, Hu Rong, was a company commander (''baihu''). In 1417, she became the primary consort of Zhu Zhanji, the grandson-heir. Three years later in 1420, they had a daughter, the Princess Shunde. When Zhu Zhanji's father,

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 ...

ascended the throne in 1424, she was appointed Crown Princess ().

Empress

Upon the succession of Xuande to the throne in 1425, she became his empress (). Empress Hu was described as weak and sickly. The emperor did not like her for not having a son, and when she at one occasion advised him not to indulge in his love of travel, he resented her for meddling in affairs that did not concern her. Xuande preferred the beautiful and intelligent Noble Consort Sun, and when she gave birth to a son in 1427, he named this son Crown prince, and eagerly worked to promote her status further. Five Grand Secretaries were ordered to prepare a legal method to depose her. Grand Secretary Yang Shiqi, after failing to convince the emperor of the danger in deposing the empress without good reason, argued that it would offend his reputation. However, he was unable to avert her dismissal on the ground of having no son, being frequently ill, and of being sterile. He then suggested that she should respectfully resign herself, and that she should be well treated for the rest of her life. And so in the spring of 1428, the emperor had Empress Hu deposed from her position in favour of the mother of the crown prince, sent to Chang'an Palace and given a title of Immortal Teacher of Quietude and Maternal Compassion (), previously given to deposed empresses who were forced to become nuns, although this religious element was not demanded of Hu.

Later life and death

Hu was regarded with sympathy and her mother-in-law, the empress dowager, demonstrated her sympathy and friendship by often inviting her to stay with her in the Qingning Palace, and giving her the place of an empress at banquets in the inner palace, even when her successor, Empress Sun was present. When the empress dowager died in 1442, Hu lost an important ally at court. She was ranked a consort (), and thus no longer enjoyed an equal status with Empress Sun. She died of illness in 1443. She was buried in Jinshan according to rites prescribed for a concubine. When Empress Dowager Sun died in 1462,

Empress Qian Empress Qian (; 1426 – 15 July 1468) was a Chinese empress consort during the Ming dynasty, married to the Zhengtong Emperor. She was addressed posthumously as Empress Xiaozhuangrui () Early life There is no record of Empress Qian's birth name ...

, consort of Emperor Yingzong, urged him to restore Hu's status as empress. Accordingly, in the summer of 1463, her title as empress was restored, a mausoleum was constructed for her according to the rites prescribed for an empress, and she was given the posthumous title ''Empress Gongrang Chengshun Kangmu Jingci Zhang'' (恭讓誠順康穆静慈章皇后).

Titles

*During the reign of the

Jianwen Emperor The Jianwen Emperor (5 December 1377 – ?), personal name Zhu Yunwen (), was the second Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1398 to 1402. The era name of his reign, Jianwen, means "establishing civility" and represented a sharp chan ...

(r. 1398–1402): ** Lady Hu (胡氏; from 20 May 1402) *During the reign of 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 ...

(r. 1402–1424): ** Consort of the Imperial Grandson-heir (皇太孫嬪; from 1417) *During the reign of the

(r. 1424 –1425) ** Crown Princess (皇太子妃; from 1424) *During the reign of the

(r. 1425–1435): **Empress (皇后; from 27 June 1425) **Jingci Xianshi (靜慈仙師; from 1428) *During the reign of the Tianshun Emperor (r. 1457–1464): **''Empress Gongrang Chengshun Kangmu Jingci Zhang'' (恭讓誠順康穆静慈章皇后; from the summer of 1463)

Issue

*As consort of the Imperial Grandson-heir: **Princess Shunde (順德公主; 1420–1443), the Xuande Emperor's first daughter **Princess Yongqing (永清公主; d. 1433), the Xuande Emperor's second daughter

In popular culture

*Portrayed by

Deng Jiajia Deng Jiajia (; born 17 May 1983) is a Chinese actress. Deng is noted for playing Tang Youyou in the sitcom television series ''IPartment'', which enjoyed the highest ratings in China when it was broadcast. Early life Deng was born in a militar ...

in the 2019 Chinese television series ''

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 ...

''. *Portrayed by Zhang Nan in Royal Feast "尚食" 2022.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hu Shanxiang, Empress 1443 deaths Ming dynasty posthumous empresses 15th-century Chinese women 15th-century Chinese people 1402 births