Madame Ke (; c. 1588 – December 1627), was the

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

of the

Tianqi Emperor The Tianqi Emperor (23 December 1605 – 30 September 1627), personal name Zhu Youjiao (), was the 16th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1620 to 1627. He was the eldest son of the Taichang Emperor and a elder brother of the Chongzhe ...

(1605–1627), and known for her great influence during his reign as

Emperor of China ''Huangdi'' (), translated into English as Emperor, was the superlative title held by monarchs of China who ruled various imperial regimes in Chinese history. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heav ...

(

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 ...

) from 1620 to 1627.

Life

The background of Madame Ke is rather vague and her original full name is Yinyue (印月), but she was a commoner from Dingxing in Baoding, married to a man named Hou Ba'er (a.k.a. Hou Er; d. c. 1608), and had a son named Hou Guoxing and a brother named Ke Guangxian. She was employed at the imperial court of the

Forbidden city The Forbidden City () is a palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples including the Zhongshan Park, the sacrifi ...

at the age of eighteen, and given the task of nanny or wet nurse to the future Tianqi Emperor after his birth in 1605. He had no contact with his biological mother, Consort Wang (d. 1619), and became completely dependent upon Madame Ke: she was reportedly so close to him that she kept all his baby hair and his nail cuttings in boxes, while he refused to be pacified at mealtime or at bedtime unless she was there. Madame Ke was described as an "alluring" beauty, and had close relationships with the eunuchs Wei Chao and, more famously,

Wei Zhongxian Wei Zhongxian (1568 – December 12, 1627), born Wei Si (魏四), was a Chinese court eunuch who lived in the late Ming dynasty. As a eunuch he used the name Li Jinzhong (李进忠). He is considered by most historians as the most notorious eunuc ...

Reign of the Tianqi Emperor

When her charge succeeded to the throne as the Tianqi Emperor at the age of fifteen in 1620, he gave Madame Ke the title of "Lady Fengsheng" (''Fengsheng furen''), gave her son and brother imperial privileges as battalion commanders of the Imperial Bodyguard, and appointed Wei Zhongxian to the prestigious office of eunuch custodian of the Imperial brushes at the Directorate of the Ceremonial. Together, Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian purged the imperial court of their enemies and took control over state affairs in a

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

rule referred to as "Ke-Wei". As was the custom, Madame Ke moved out of the personal palace of the emperor when he married in 1621, but the emperor had her move back soon afterward, as he could not bear to be apart from her. Madame Ke came to be involved in a conflict with the empress, who attempted to crush the influence of the Ke-Wei regime by accusing Madame Ke of a number of crimes in public and ordered for her to be caned, but before this punishment could be carried out, it was prevented by the emperor. Reportedly, Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian kept the emperor childless by inducing miscarriages upon his concubines and consorts, and were also responsible for murdering some of the concubines and consorts on at least two occasions. Specifically, they were allegedly the actual cause of the 1623 miscarriage of the empress by ordering a palace maid to poison her, and also murdered the concubine Wang and the Consort Li by drowning, after they had uttered complaints about them. In 1624, the official Yang Liang attempted to oust the "Ke-Wei"-government by presenting charges against Wei Zhongxian, but his party failed, and the following year saw him and his followers being forced to resign and in some cases imprisoned, tortured and killed on the instigation of Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian.

Death

When the

Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor (; 6 February 1611 – 25 April 1644), personal name Zhu Youjian (), courtesy name Deyue (),Wang Yuan (王源)，''Ju ye tang wen ji'' (《居業堂文集》), vol. 19. "聞之張景蔚親見烈皇帝神主題御諱字德� ...

succeeded his brother to the throne in 1627, Madame Ke was demoted to the Laundry Department, where she was kept under supervision, and Wei Zhongxian to the post of incense handler at the imperial mausoleum; Wei Zhongxian hanged himself, while Madame Ke was beaten to death during interrogation in the laundry in December 1627.Dardess, John W. (2002), Blood and History in China: The Donglin Faction and its Repression, Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press

References

Ming dynasty people 1580s births 1627 deaths Year of birth uncertain Royal favourites Nannies Chinese torture victims Chinese courtiers Chinese domestic workers 17th-century Chinese people 17th-century Chinese women {{China-hist-stub

Life

Reign of the Tianqi Emperor

Death

See also

References