Empress Qian (; 1426 – 15 July 1468) was a Chinese empress consort during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, married to the

Zhengtong Emperor , succession = Emperor of the Ming dynasty , reign-type = First reign , reign = 31 January 1435 – 22 September 1449 , coronation = 7 February 1435 , cor-type = Enthronement , regent = , reg-type = Regents , ...

. She was addressed posthumously as Empress Xiaozhuangrui ()

Early life

There is no record of Empress Qian's birth name, other than that she was a member of the clan ''Qian'' (). She married the

on 8 June 1442, and became his primary consort and empress.

Empress

In 1449, the Zhengtong Emperor was captured after the

Battle of Tumu The Crisis of the Tumu Fortress, also known as the Tumu Crisis, or the Jisi Incident, was a border conflict between the Oirat Mongols and the Ming dynasty. In July 1449, Esen Taishi, leader of the Oirat Mongols, launched a large-scale, three-pron ...

and his captors demanded a ransom, which Empress Qian and her mother-in-law promptly raised. The ransom was rejected in favour of holding on to the Zhengtong Emperor as hostage, which prompted the court to assign him the status of

retired emperor A Retired Emperor may refer to: *Taishang Huang of China *Daijō Tennō of Japan *Taesangwang T'aesangwang () and the related title T'aesanghwang () are titles used at various points in History of Korea, Korean history for retired king or emper ...

and name his half-brother

Zhu Qiyu The Jingtai Emperor (21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Daizong of Ming and by his posthumous name as the Emperor Jing of Ming, personal name Zhu Qiyu, was the seventh emperor of the Ming dynasty, ...

emperor. Empress Qian was moved from the court to a separate palace to allow Empress Wang to take the title of empress consort. When her spouse was returned by the Mongols, arriving in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

on 19 September 1450, Empress Qian joined him under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

in a guarded section of the Imperial City. When her spouse's only son, the future

Chenghua Emperor The Chenghua Emperor (9 December 1447 – 9 September 1487), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Xianzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Jianshen, changed to Zhu Jianru in 1457, was the ninth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1464 ...

, was deposed as

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

in 1452, he was sent to live with Empress Qian in conditions of physical hardship. In 1457, a coup-d'etat put her spouse back on the imperial throne as the Tianshun Emperor, reinstating Empress Qian as the empress consort.

Empress dowager

Empress Qian had no children, and when the Zhengtong Emperor died in 1464, he was succeeded by the Chenghua Emperor. She became involved in a conflict with Empress Xiaosu, the biological mother of the new emperor. As the mother of the emperor, Empress Xiaosu demanded the same title as Qian: that of empress dowager. Xiaosu pointed out that she was the mother of the emperor while Qian was childless, while Qian demanded the title pointing to her loyalty to the late emperor, whose house arrest she had shared. The emperor was unable to solve the conflict to the satisfaction of both parties, but granted the title of empress dowager to both, though Qian's formal title acknowledged her higher rank and precedence in court proceedings.

Titles

*During the reign of the

Xuande Emperor The Xuande Emperor (16 March 1399 31 January 1435), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Zhanji, was the fifth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1425 to 1435. He was the son and successor of ...

(): **Lady Qian (錢氏; from 1426) *During the reign of the

(): **Empress (皇后; from 1442) *During the reign of the

Jingtai Emperor The Jingtai Emperor (21 September 1428 – 14 March 1457), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Daizong of Ming and by his posthumous name as the Emperor Jing of Ming, personal name Zhu Qiyu, was the seventh List of emperors of the Ming ...

(): **Empress Emerita (太上皇后; from 1449) *During the reign of the Tianshun Emperor (): **Empress (皇后; from 1457) *During the reign of the

() **Empress Dowager Ciyi (慈懿皇太后; from 28 February 1464) **''Empress Xiàozhuāng Xiànmù Hónghuì Xiǎnrén Gōngtiān Qīnshèng Ruì'' (孝莊獻穆弘惠顯仁恭天欽聖睿皇后; from 1468)

Death

Empress Dowager Qian died on 26 June 1468, and was interred at Yu ling in the Ming tomb complex near Beijing on 4 September 1468. The Tianshun Emperor specifically stated that she should only be buried next to him, 'after a thousand years of long life.'

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qian, Empress 1426 births 1468 deaths Ming dynasty empresses Ming dynasty empresses dowager 15th-century Chinese women 15th-century Chinese people People from Lianyungang