Speaking of "Concubine Chen", everyone naturally thinks of the Hailan Zhu who was favored to the extreme by Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty. And apart from Hai Lanzhu, we have not heard of it, and there was another concubine in the Qing Dynasty. So in the Qing Dynasty, was there only one concubine, Hai Lanzhu?
The Qing Dynasty's concubine Hai Lanzhu is famous, so I wonder if you have heard of the Ming Dynasty's concubine? I believe that everyone must have rarely heard of it, but this does not mean that there is none. In fact, the Ming Dynasty also had several concubines, and even an emperor's harem, and there were two concubines in succession.
Today, we will talk about how many concubines there were in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and see who was the most favored one and who had the best ending among them. Since everyone is most familiar with the Concubine Chen of the Qing Dynasty, let's start with her.
Qing Taizong Concubine Hai Lan Zhu
Since everyone is very familiar with Hai Lan Zhu, then the author will briefly talk about her life. Hai Lanzhu was 26 years old when she married Huang Taiji, and before that, her aunt Zhezhe and sister Bumubutai had already married Huang Taiji and bore him several daughters.
After Hai Lanzhu married over, he was soon favored by Emperor Taiji, who called him empress dowager and directly crowned Hai Lan Zhu as the Great Fu Jin of the Eastern Palace, second only to Empress Zhezhe of the Middle Palace. In addition, Emperor Taiji named Hai Lanzhu a concubine and named the place where she lived guanju Palace, which was evidence of pampering her.
Later, Hai Lanzhu gave birth to the eighth son of the Emperor Taiji, and the Emperor Taiji was ecstatic, not only pardoning the world, but also intending to cultivate this son as a crown prince. But unfortunately, before the name could be taken, the eighth son of the emperor died prematurely. In the sixth year of Chongde, Emperor Taiji was fighting on the front line, but when he received the news that Concubine Chen was ill, he put aside the war and rode back to the capital overnight.
Unfortunately, although the Emperor Taiji traveled day and night, he still could not arrive before Aifei was angry, and when he rushed into the palace gate, Hai Lanzhu had already died at the age of 33. Emperor Taiji was distraught and ordered: "With the funeral of Min Huigong and Concubine Yuan, avoid pilgrimage, and stop feasting and dancing." After that, the Qing Dynasty never produced a second concubine.
Princess Ming Yingzong Wanchen
There were several concubines of the Ming Dynasty, the first of whom appeared during the reign of Emperor Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen. Wan's father was originally an ordinary soldier, but later because of his daughter's relationship, he was given the title of Jinyi Wei Qianhu. Why can his father get his daughter's light? Because Wan Shi was the concubine who had the most children in the harem of Emperor Mingyingzong.
In the thirteenth year of orthodoxy, Wan gave birth to the next son Zhu Jianqing for Emperor Mingying, who later changed his name to Zhu Jianqing. In the second year of Zhu Jianyu's birth, his father was captured due to the change of Tumu Fort, and after his uncle Zhu Qiyu ascended the throne, he was made the King of Rong. Later, Zhu Qizhen was restored and renamed as king of Germany. Zhu died in the twelfth year of Zhengde, living to be 69 years old.
In the fourteenth year of orthodoxy, Wan gave birth to the third son of Emperor Wan, Zhu Jianxiang, who died at the age of two. In the fifth year of Jingtai, Zhu Yanxiang, the fifth daughter of Emperor Yingzong of the Wan clan, princess of Feng guangde, married Fan Kai, died in the twentieth year of Chenghua at the age of 31.
In the seventh year of Jingtai, Zhu Jianjun, the seventh son of Emperor Yingzong of the Wan clan, was born to the Wan clan during the period when Zhu Qizhen was imprisoned in the Southern Palace. After Emperor Mingying was restored to the throne, he made Zhu Jianjun the Prince of Ji and took the place of Changsha Province. Zhu Jianjun died in Jiajing in the sixth year at the age of 72.
In the second year of Tianshun, at this time Ming Yingzong had been restored. During the Orthodox Dynasty, emperor Ming Yingzong's harem had no titles except for Empress Qian. After he was restored, he began to canonize the harem, and Wan Shi was made a concubine because of his fertility. In this year, she gave birth to the eighth son of Zhu Qizhen, Zhu Jianzhi, who was crowned the Prince of Xin and died in the eighth year of Chenghua, at the age of 15, childless, and the state was removed.
Emperor Mingying had only nine sons in his lifetime, four of whom were born to Concubine Wan Chen, who could be said to have performed great deeds. However, I don't know if it was because of too many births, which led to The death of Princess Wan Chenfei in the third year of Chenghua, at the age of 37, with the nickname "Jingzhuang Anmu".
Concubine Shao Chen of Emperor Mingxian
Saying that Concubine Shao Chen may not know who it is, but saying "Empress Xiaohui Shao", everyone should be familiar with it. They are not sisters, but the same person. Emperor Mingxianzong's concubine Shao Chen was actually Empress Xiaohui Shao.
Shao entered the palace during the Tianshun period, and later when Zhu Jianshen ascended the throne, that is, Emperor Mingxianzong, Shao became his concubine. In the twelfth year of Chenghua, Shao gave birth to a fourth son, Zhu Youpi, for Emperor Mingxianzong. The latter was enfeoffed as the King of Xing, and died in the fourteenth year of Zhengde at the age of 44, and it was because of this son that Shao's mother was made a concubine by virtue of her son.
Two years later, she gave birth to a fifth son, Zhu Youzun (朱祐棆), who was enfeoffed as king of Qi, and died in the fourteenth year of Hongzhi's reign at the age of 23, childless. In the seventeenth year of Chenghua, Shao gave birth to the ninth son of Emperor Mingxianzong, Zhu Youfeng, who was made the Prince of Yong and died in the second year of Zhengde, at the age of 26, childless, and the state was removed.
How did Shaw become empress? Originally, the throne of the Ming Dynasty passed to the generation of Emperor Mingxianzong's grandson Emperor Mingwuzong Zhu Houzhao, and because Zhu Houzhao did not have a son to inherit the throne, his cousin Zhu Houxi eventually picked up a bargain. Zhu Houxi's father was Zhu Youpi, in other words, Shao's own grandson inherited the throne.
After Zhu Houxi ascended the throne, he took his grandmother to his side and raised her, and honored her as Empress Dowager Shou'an. Only at this time, Shao's eyes were blind and he died in November of the first year of Jiajing. After that, Zhu Houxi was appointed to his grandmother, and after several revisions, his final title was "Empress Xiaohui Kangsu Wen Ren Yi Shun Xie Tianyou Sheng".
Concubine Shen Chen of Emperor Ming Dynasty
Shen was born from the Jiangnan clan, and her family had the official status of Nanjing Qin Tianjian, she entered the palace in the tenth year of Jiajing, when Emperor Ming shizong selected nine concubines, and at that time ranked eighth among the nine concubines, and was crowned concubine. In the thirteenth year of Jiajing, Emperor Ming shizong deposed his successor Zhang Shi and established the De Concubine Fang Clan as the empress, and the Shen clan was also promoted this time and given the title of Concubine Chen.
However, Shen's concubine only served for two years, and she was promoted to a noble concubine. After four years as a noble concubine, Shen Shi was promoted to imperial concubine in jiajing for nineteen years, when she was only 24 years old. It can be seen that Shen Shi is one of the more favored among several concubines in the Ming Dynasty.
In the twenty-first year of Jiajing, the famous "Change of the Palace of Nongyin" occurred, Empress Fang took the opportunity to get rid of the favored concubine Cao Duanfei, and then Cao Duanfei's daughter Princess Ning'an was handed over to Emperor Shen to raise, and the Shen clan treated the princess as if she were her own child, and later the princess married, and the number of ceremonies for entering the Shen clan was also the same as that of the birth mother.
In October of the ninth year of the Wanli Calendar, Shen Shi died at the age of 65, and was known as "Zhuang Shun'an Rong Zhenjing Imperial Concubine".
Princess Chen of The Ming Dynasty
Wang's birth year is unknown, and it is not known when he entered the palace. I only know that after Shen Chenfei was promoted to a noble concubine, she took the position of Concubine Chen. Princess Wang Chenfei did not have children, but her cousin Wang Luan was given the position of Jinyi Weizheng Qianhu because of her relationship. After the death of Emperor Ming, Princess Wang Chenfei was still alive, but it is not known exactly how long she will live.
To sum up, the Qing Dynasty did have only one concubine, Hai Lanzhu, but the Ming Dynasty produced four concubines. Just as the so-called things are rare and expensive, there are many concubines in the Ming Dynasty, but they are basically not favored, so we rarely hear about their deeds. Therefore, it goes without saying that among the five concubines of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Qing Dynasty's concubine Hai Lanzhu was the most favored one.
Although Hai Lanzhu was favored by her husband, her son died early and she died early, which can be described as a red face and a short life. Among the Ming Dynasty concubines, the best ending is undoubtedly Shen Chenfei, who is the longest known life expectancy at the age of 65. Not only that, she was also relatively favored before she died, all the way from concubine to imperial concubine. She had no children, but had an adopted daughter, Princess Ning'an.
Therefore, in comparison, Concubine Shen Chen, who was still Emperor Ming, was relatively happy, and the ending was also the best.
(References "History of Ming", "Ming Shilu", "Draft History of Qing", "Records of Emperor Taizong of Qing")