Noble Consort Ying

Noble Consort Ying
Consort to	The Qianlong Emperor
Father	Banner Lieutenant General Nahchin Barin

The Noble Consort Ying (Chinese: 颖贵妃) (1731 - 1800) was a concubine of the Qianlong Emperor, who ruled China from 1735 till 1796.

Biography

Noble Consort Ying née Barin (巴林氏) was Mongolian from origin. She was the daughter of banner Lieutenant General Nachin (Chinese: 都统纳亲). She was born in the ninth year of Emperor Yongzheng's reign on the twenty-ninth day of the first month. Her family belonged to the Mongol Bordered Red Banner.

When Lady Barin first entered the Imperial Court, she was given the title Worthy Lady Ying (Chinese: 颖贵人), which is the third-lowest rank among the wives of an emperor. In 1751, during the sixteenth year of Emperor Qianlong's reing, Lady Barin was elevated to the rank of Imperial Concubine (Chinese: 嫔). In 1757, during the twenty-second year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, Lady Barin was promoted to consort.

In 1796 Qianlong abdicated in favor of his son who ascended the throne as the Jiaqing Emperor. As retired emperor Qianlong still made decisions and in 1798 promoted the almost seventy years old Consort Ying to Noble Consort. Soon afterwards Emperor Jiaqing gave her the title of Noble Dowager Consort (贵太妃). At the time she lived in the Palace of Longevity and Health (寿康宫)^[1].

In 1800 Prince Yonglian visited his foster mother, Noble Dowager Consort Ying, at her residence to celebrate her seventieth birthday and presented her with gifts. However Emperor Jiaqing later harshly scolded his younger brother for doing so, because it broke royal traditions. As a result, the seventieth birthday celebration of Noble Dowager Consort Ying became meaningless, and she died during the fifth year of the Jiaqing Emperor's reign, aged 70. The following year she was interred in the Yuling mausoleum for imperial concubines in Hebei.

References

1. ^ Draft history of the Qing dynasty. 《清史稿》卷二百十四．列傳一．后妃傳．高宗颖贵太妃.

See also

• Category:Qing Dynasty emperors
• Category:Qing Dynasty empresses
• Category:Qing Dynasty imperial consorts