Donggo, Empress Xian Rui

Empress Xiao Xian ( _zh. 孝献端敬皇后董鄂氏; a.k.a. Consort Donggo 董鄂妃) 1639 - 1660 was the fourth Empress Consort of the Qing Dynasty Shunzhi Emperor of China. She was the daughter of the Minister of Domestic Affair Esho ( _zh. 内大臣鄂硕), and she was from the Donggo clan. Her mother was a Han Chinese.

She entered the imperial court at the age 18, and was extremely appreciated and loved by the Shunzhi Emperor. In August of the 13th year of Shunzhi's reign, Donggo was elevated to "Consort Xian" (贤妃), and in December the same year, was again elevated to the "Imperial Noble Consort" (皇贵妃). The elevation ceremony of Donggo was as magnificent as the elevation ceremony of an empress, and was announced to the public.

She gave birth to a son in 1657 who died before he was a year old. His death had a great impact on both Donggo and Shunzhi, and Donggo soon became ill. She died in 1660, aged 21.

Her death overwhelmed Shunzhi with grief, and he stopped attending court meetings for 5 days in memory of her. It was said that he was so depressed that he wanted to commit suicide, and his subjects had to keep an eye on him everyday lest he killed himself. [李兰琴。《汤若望传》, 东方出版社 1995 年 9 月版。] Donggo was posthumously elevated to empress and given a grand posthumous name, despite the fact that it was against the customs of the Manchu court.

Empress Donggo's full posthumous title is:
*"Empress Xiao Xian Zhuang He Zhi De Xuan Ren Wen Hui Duan Jing" ( _zh. 孝献庄和至德宣仁温惠端敬皇后)

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