Empress Renxiaowen (仁孝文皇后; 5 March 1362 – 6 August 1407), of the Xu clan, was the

empress consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but historically she does not formally ...

to the

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Chengzu of Ming, personal name Zhu Di, was the third List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 142 ...

and the third empress of China's

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 ...

. She was well educated, compiling bibliographies of virtuous women, an activity connected with court politics.

Biography

Lady Xu was born in 1362, as the eldest daughter of Xu Da and Lady Xie (謝氏), second daughter of Xie Zaixing (謝再興). She had four brothers—Xu Huizu (徐輝祖), Xu Tianfu (徐添福), Xu Yingxu (徐膺緒), and Xu Zengshou (徐增壽)—and two younger sisters, who were the wives of Zhu Gui, Prince Jian of Dai (thirteenth son of the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

) and Zhu Ying, Prince Hui of An (twenty-second son of the Hongwu Emperor). On 17 February 1376, she married the Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, the Hongwu Emperor's fourth son. After Zhu Di ascended the throne as the

on 17 July 1402, Consort Xu, as his primary wife, was created empress in December 1402. A devout

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, Xu is the first person credited with transcribing a Buddhist sutra from a dream revelation. The work is entitled ''Da Ming Ren xiao Huang hou meng kan Fo Shuo di yi xi yu da gong de jing (The sutra of great merit of the foremost rarity spoken by the Buddha which the Renxiao empress of the great Ming received in a dream)''. In her introduction to the sutra, the empress wrote that one night after meditating and burning incense,

Guanyin Guanyin () is a common Chinese name of the bodhisattva associated with Karuṇā, compassion known as Avalokiteśvara (). Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, which means " he One WhoPerceives the Sounds of the World". Originally regarded as m ...

appeared to her as if in a dream, and took her to a holy realm where the sutra was revealed to her in order to save her from disaster. After reading the sutra three times, she was able to memorize it and recall it perfectly upon awakening and writing it down. The sutra conveys conventional Mahayana philosophies, and the mantras for chanting were typical of Tibetan Buddhist practices.Yü, Chun-fang. "Ming Buddhism" ''The Cambridge History of China v.8''. pp 913-915

Titles

*During the reign of the

(): **Lady Xu (徐氏; from 5 March 1362) **Princess consort of Yan (燕王妃; from 1376) *During the reign of the

(): **Empress (皇后; from 17 July 1402) **''Empress Renxiao'' (仁孝文皇后; from 1407) **''Empress Rénxiào Cíyì Chéngmíng Zhuāngxiàn Pèitiān Qíshèng Wēn'' (仁孝慈懿誠明庄獻配天齊聖文皇后; from 1424)

Issue

* As Princess consort of Yan: ** Zhu Gaochi, the

Hongxi Emperor The Hongxi Emperor (16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Renzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Gaochi, was the fourth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1424 to 1425. He was the eldest son of the Y ...

(洪熙帝朱高熾; 16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), the Yongle Emperor's first son ** Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Han (漢王朱高煦; 30 December 1380 – 6 October 1426), the Yongle Emperor's second son ** Zhu Gaosui, Prince Jian of Zhao (趙簡王朱高燧; 19 January 1383 – 5 October 1431), the Yongle Emperor's third son ** Princess Yong'an (永安公主; 1377–1417), personal name Yuying (玉英), the Yongle Emperor's first daughter *** Married Yuan Rong (袁容), and had issue (one son, three daughters) ** Princess Yong'ping (永平公主; 1379 – 22 April 1444), the Yongle Emperor's second daughter *** Married Li Rang (李讓), and had issue (one son) ** Princess Ancheng (安成公主; 1384 – 16 September 1443), the Yongle Emperor's third daughter *** Married Song Hu (宋琥) in 1402, and had issue (one son) ** Princess Xianning (咸寧公主; 1385 – 27 July 1440), the Yongle Emperor's fourth daughter *** Married Song Ying (宋瑛; d. 1449) in 1403, and had issue (one son)

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Empress 1362 births 1407 deaths 14th-century Chinese women 15th-century Chinese women 15th-century Chinese women writers 15th-century Chinese writers Women encyclopedists Ming dynasty Buddhists Ming dynasty empresses Consorts of the Yongle Emperor 14th-century Chinese people 15th-century Chinese people People from Fengyang Mothers of Chinese emperors