Fuca, Empress Xian Chun

Infobox_Monarch | name =Empress Xiao Xian Chun
title =Empress of China

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Empress Xiao Xian Chun ( _zh. 孝贤纯皇后富察氏), also known as Empress Xiao Xian, (March 28 1712 - April 8 1748). Xiao Xian Chun was a daughter of Li Rongbao (李荣保), and the elder sister of Fu Heng (傅恒) of the Manchu Fuca clan. She was the first Empress Consort of the Qian Long Emperor of China (1711 - 1799).

Lady Fuca married Prince Hong Li (the future Qian Long Emperor) in the fifth reign year of the Yong Zheng Emperor in 1727 and was made Empress in 1738 with the title of Empress Xiao Xian. In 1728 she gave birth to the Qian Long Emperor's first daughter. Two years later, Fuca gave birth to the Emperor's second son and one year later another daughter. In 1746, she gave birth to the Emperor's seventh son.

The Empress is known as a very respected and virtous person, she had not only took good care of the Emperor himself but also his other consorts, eunuchs and servant maids. That was why she was very beloved by the Emperor himself and a lot of other people in the palace. It is also said that Fuca didn't like spending money for her own good; instead of wearing jewellery she would put wildflowers in her hair. The Empress often joined the Emperor on his trips. In 1748, during one of these trips, the Empress fell ill on board of a boat and died on it. She was only 36 years old.

After Empress Xiao Xian Chun was interred in the Yuling Mausoleum, the Qian Long Emperor would often visit her grave.

Titles Held from Birth to Death

*1712-1727: Lady Fuca (富察氏)
*1727-1738: Fuca of Aisin Gioro Clan (愛新覺羅門富察氏)
*1738-1748: Fuca, the The Filial, Virtuous, Pure Empress (孝賢純皇后富察氏)

References

* Norman Kutcher. "The Death of the Xiaoxian Empress: Bureaucratic Betrayals and the Crises of Eighteenth-Century Chinese Rule." "The Journal of Asian Studies." Vol. 56, No. 3 (Aug., 1997), pp. 708-725

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