In August of the eleventh year of the Mandate of Heaven (1626), Nurhaci died of illness at The Ryok fort near Shenyang, and in the ensuing battle for the Khan's throne, Emperor Taiji finally won and became the new Great Khan. In the same year, Huang Taiji had another woman around him, and she was the sixth concubine, Concubine Yan Za.
Brother and sister from YeHe
YanZa is a relatively old Manchu surname, derived from the Jin Dynasty "Yan Zhan", the Jin Dynasty has a general named Jin Wu Wei General, named Yan Zhan Mendu. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Yanzha clan lived in Yehe, Hada, Changbaishan and other places, and the Concubine Yanza clan of the Emperor Taiji was a branch from the Yehebu.
Regarding the Yehe tribe, we all know that it is the mother of Empress Xiaocigao, the birth mother of Emperor Taiji, but the relationship with the Jianzhou women is not friendly, and the two sides often fight back and forth. In that year, at the Battle of Gule Mountain, Nurhaci killed Yehebelebu Village, and the body was divided into two, and the two parts formed a feud, which became one of the reasons for the early death of Empress Xiaocigao.
In 1619, Nurhaci defeated the Ming army at Salhu and subsequently destroyed Yehe, after which the people of the Yehe tribe successively submitted to Houjin. Among the Yehe people of The Jin dynasty, there was a pair of brothers and sisters, the older brother was named Andari, and the younger sister was the Concubine Yan Za of the Emperor Taiji. Huang Taiji saw that the fatherless and motherless brothers and sisters were pitiful, so he raised them by his side, and then Andari became the personal bodyguard of Huang Taiji, and Yan Zashi was also included in the harem by Huang Taiji in the eleventh year of the Mandate of Heaven (1626) and became a member of the Imperial Taiji's Fujin.
Xiao Fujin of the Emperor Taiji Harem
At that time, there were not many Fujin in the Imperial Taiji Harem, the Great Fujin was Zhezhe, and there were two lateral Fujin, one was yehenara (the birth mother of the fifth son of the emperor, Shuosai), and the other was Bumubutai (Xiaozhuang, that is, Zhezhe's niece). Due to the humble origin of Yan Za's family and the lack of background in her mother's family, she could only be a small Fujin, ranking last in the Imperial Taiji harem.
Even so, Huang Taiji still favored the Yan Zha clan in the first year, and the Yan Zha clan gave birth to the fifth son of Huang Taiji in the first year of Tiancong (1627), named Ye Bushu. However, with the increase of The Later Jin power, more and more tribes chose to be annexed, especially after the conquest of the Chahar Department, Emperor Taiji successively incorporated the two Fujins of Lin Dan Khan into the harem, and the Yanza clan had no sense of existence in the harem.
It is said that Emperor Taiji had a total of 11 sons, the highest status was the ninth son of the Emperor Fu Lin and the eleventh son of the Emperor Bo Mu Bo Guo'er, followed by the eldest son Hauge, the second son Luo Ge, the third son Luo Bo and the fifth son Shuo Sai, the rest such as Ye Busu, Gao Sai, Chang Shu, and Tao Sai, all of whom were born to Concubine Shu, and their status was the lowest, and Ye Bushu, who lived to the Kangxi Dynasty, was only a fuguo duke, and the only bright spot of Ye Bushu was that he had served as the right envoy of the Kangxi Crown Prince Yin.
A general who voluntarily died for the Emperor Taiji
As we mentioned above, Yan Za's elder brother Andali, who followed Huang Taiji from an early age, was later promoted by Huang Taiji and entrusted with heavy responsibilities to become a general who galloped on the battlefield. Because of this, Andari, who established the meritorious service, successfully got rid of the identity of the wrapper (正黄旗包), was made a third-class light car lieutenant, and became a member of the middle aristocratic class.
In August 1643, Emperor Taiji died in the Qingning Palace in Shengjing, at this time, Andari, who had been favored by Emperor Taiji, proposed to be buried for his son. This practice of Andali was appreciated by the princes of the Qing Dynasty, and he was given a third-class baron, and the title was hereditary. At that time, Andari once said, "When I went to the Nine Springs and saw Emperor Taizong, what should I say?" The princes replied, "Please rest assured Emperor Taizong that we will certainly assist the young lord (The Shunzhi Emperor) to make the Great Qing prosperous!" ”
Zichen said:
Among the concubines of the Emperor Taiji, Concubine Yanza was an inconspicuous one, and we don't even know in what year she died, but even so, she was also the emperor's woman, and she also gave birth to the fourth son of the emperor, and Yanza's brother Andari was martyred voluntarily, which was not the courage of ordinary people.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of Manchuria, Eight Banners