Consort Donggo

Consort Donggo
Born	1639
Died	September 23, 1660(1660-09-23) (aged 21)
Spouse	Shunzhi Emperor
Issue	Prince Rong of the First Rank (5 November 1657 – 25 February 1658)
Posthumous name Empress Xiaoxian Zhuanghe Zhide Xuanren Wenhui Duanjing 孝獻莊和至德宣仁溫惠端敬皇后

Consort Donggo (1639–1660) was a concubine of the Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty. She is sometimes confused with Dong Xiaowan (董小宛), a courtesan who lived in the late Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty.

Life

Consort Donggo was born in the Manchu Donggo (董鄂) clan, which was under the Plain White Banner of the Eight Banners. Her father was Eshuo (鄂碩), who served as an Interior Minister in the Qing imperial court, while her mother was Han Chinese. Her ancestral home was in Liaoning.

Consort Donggo entered the Forbidden City at the age of 18 and was deeply loved and favoured by the Shunzhi Emperor. She was granted the title "Consort Xian" (賢妃) in August 1656. She was further elevated to the status of "Imperial Noble Consort" (皇貴妃) in January 1657.^[1] The Shunzhi Emperor held a grand ceremony for the promotion of Consort Donggo and proclaimed an amnesty.^[1]

Consort Donggo gave birth to a son in 1657 but he died before reaching one year of age. The premature death of their son had a great impact on Consort Donggo and the Shunzhi Emperor. Consort Donggo fell ill and died in 1660 at the age of 21. The Shunzhi Emperor was so overwhelmed with grief that he stopped attending daily court meetings for five days to mourn Consort Donggo. It was also said that the Shunzhi Emperor was so depressed that he wanted to commit suicide, and his subjects had to watch over him every day for fear of his safety.^[2] Consort Donggo was posthumously granted the title of an Empress, even though this was against traditional customs. She was interred in the Eastern Qing tombs.

See also

• Ranks of imperial consorts in China#Qing
• Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty

References

1. 1 2 Draft History of Qing, ch. 5 ("Basic Annals 5" [本紀]), p. 147. The date is indicated as the jimao 己卯 day of the 12th month of the 13th year of Shunzhi.
2. ↑ 李兰琴。《汤若望传》, 东方出版社 1995 年 9 月版。