Consort Li, imperial consort rank ''Chenfei'' () (987 – 1032), was an imperial consort of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

of China. She was a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

Emperor Zhenzong Emperor Zhenzong of Song (23 December 968 – 23 March 1022), personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was changed ...

and the mother of Emperor Renzong. She was posthumously honored as ''Empress Dowager Zhangyi'' (章懿皇太后), after Emperor Renzong discovered that she was his real mother.

Biography

Born in

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, wh ...

, the future Consort Li first became an imperial maid for Consort Liu. She caught the eye of

and bore him a boy and a daughter (who died). The boy was claimed by Consort Liu who successfully became the

empress An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( em ...

. Even after the boy became Emperor Renzong, the real mother still kept her silence. In the 11th year of her son's reign (also overseen by Empress Liu), she became ill and was given the consort rank ''Chenfei'' shortly before she died. A year later, after Empress Liu also died, Prince Zhao Yuanyan told the emperor the truth, and also suggested that Consort Li had been murdered. Shocked with grief, Emperor Renzong visited the coffin with tears, ordered the construction of Jingling Palace for her memorial and gave her the posthumous title ''Empress Zhangyi''. However, as Empress Liu had treated Consort Li's corpse with great respect, Emperor Renzong refused to believe that she would murder his biological mother.

Legend

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongols, Mongol-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Division of the M ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

(in the form of ''

zaju ''Zaju'' was a form of Chinese opera which provided entertainment through a synthesis of recitations of prose and poetry, dance, singing, and mime, with a certain emphasis on comedy (or, happy endings). Although with diverse and earlier roots, ''za ...

'') called ''Chen Lin Carrying the Box at Gold Water Bridge'' (金水橋陳琳抱妝盒) told the story of how Consort Li and her baby son were victimized by a jealous Consort Liu. This story, which probably borrowed elements from the play '' The Orphan of Zhao'' that is more historically plausible, became incredibly popular and saw many different versions in later periods, including the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

novel ''

The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants ''The Tale of Loyal Heroes and Righteous Gallants'' (忠烈俠義傳), also known by its 1883 reprint title ''The Three Heroes and Five Gallants'' (三俠五義), is an 1879 Chinese novel based on storyteller Shi Yukun's oral performances. The ...

'', where it is referred to as ''The Wild Cat for Crown Prince''. In this later version, Consort Li was an equal of Consort Liu when she gave birth to Emperor Renzong. Consort Liu plotted with

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2n ...

Guo Huai to secretly swap the infant with a

skinned Skinning is the act of skin removal. The process is done by humans to animals, mainly as a means to prepare the meat beneath for cooking and consumption, or to harvest the skin for making fur clothing or tanning it to make leather. The ...

Chinese wild cat. Outraged by the "monster baby" and believing her

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...

demoted Consort Li to the forbidden palace. Meanwhile, Consort Liu ordered her maid Kou Zhu to murder the infant and dump the body, but Kou Zhu gave the infant to

Chen Lin, who hid him in a box and carried him to emperor's brother Eighth Prince, who took his infant nephew in as one of his sons. Later, Consort Liu persuaded

to have Consort Li killed.

Eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2n ...

Yu Zhong volunteered to die in her place, and with the help of another

Qin Feng, Consort Li finally escaped from the palace. Several years later, as an old blind woman in a poor village, she found the opportunity to tell the story to the good official

Bao Zheng Bao Zheng (; 5 March 999 – 3 July 1062), commonly known as Bao Gong (), was a Chinese politician during the reign of Emperor Renzong in China's Song Dynasty. During his twenty-five years in civil service, Bao consistently demonstrated ext ...

. Finally the hidden secret was unearthed and the

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

, now Emperor Renzong, eventually accepted his birth mother.

References

* Toqto'a et al., '' History of Song'', vol. 242 (Consort Chenfei Li). * Toqto'a et al., '' History of Song'', vol. 242 (Empress Zhangxianmingsu Liu). {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Consort 987 births 1032 deaths People from Hangzhou Song dynasty imperial consorts Song dynasty posthumous empresses The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants characters