The Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty was an emperor who attached great importance to his birth, and through research, it was found that the concubines who could be given high positions in the Kangxi harem generally had prominent family lineages, such as the three empresses appointed by Kangxi, who were either relatives of the emperor and the state, or the old clan of Xun Gui. Of course, there are exceptions to everything, and some concubines who are not too good in birth can sometimes get the favor of Kangxi, such as the concubines that I want to talk about today.
According to the "Eight Banners of Manchurian Clan Genealogy", the ancestor of Duan Concubine was named Dong Wenxuan, who lived in Fushun Province, returned to the Shun imperial court in the early Qing Dynasty, and was incorporated into the Yellow Banner of Zhenghuang Banner. It is said that this Dong Wenxuan has two great-grandchildren, one named Dong Deqi and the other named Dong Degui.
This man named Dong Degui made great military achievements at the time of the Entry of the Qing Dynasty, and once defeated Li Zicheng's 200,000 soldiers and horses at Shanhaiguan with Tan Tai, so he was awarded the title of Knight Lieutenant, Dong Degui's son Dong Dianbang, inherited the title of his father's second-class AdaHahafan (Riding Capital Lieutenant), and served as the chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the three dynasties of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, which lasted for more than sixty years, and was known as "the great man of the three dynasties and the great man of a generation".
In general, the prominence of the Dong family in the early years of the Qing Dynasty was all due to the military achievements made by Dong Degui, so the Dong family became the family of the Internal Affairs Department at that time. This Dong Degui who made a military achievement was Duan Concubine's uncle (or uncle), that is, the Dong Deqi mentioned above was Duan Concubine's father.
Around the beginning of the Kangxi Dynasty, Duan Concubine was elected to the harem, the initial identity was a concubine, although Duan Concubine was born in a coat, but the family had made military achievements for the imperial court, and she was also a stunning beauty, Kangxi had no reason to refuse. Therefore, soon after entering the palace, Duan Concubine was favored by Kangxi, and in the tenth year of Kangxi, she gave birth to a daughter for the 16-year-old Kangxi, that is, the second daughter of the emperor, but unfortunately, the second daughter of the emperor died very early.
However, Duan Concubine is still relatively favored, the most prominent performance is that in the sixteen years of Kangxi's concubines, Kangxi sealed seven concubines, Duan Concubine ranked third, in addition to Empress Xiaozhao of the Middle Palace, the noble concubine of Chengqian Palace, as well as An Concubine, Concubine Jing, and then Duan Concubine, Duan Concubine's ranking is very high, that is to say, she was very favored at that time.
However, just after this canonization, Duan Concubine mysteriously fell out of favor, and after that, the Kangxi Dynasty never got the opportunity to be promoted again, and even in the year in which she died, the historical records only record that Duan Concubine was buried in the Jingling Concubine Garden in the fifty-ninth year of Kangxi, and it is speculated that she should have died in the fifty-ninth year of Kangxi.
However, compared with the first two concubines of the seven concubines, Duan Concubine was still lucky, at least buried in the imperial tomb after death. Concubines and concubines not only fell out of favor for no reason, but also did not know where they were buried, in fact, these were typical representatives of the fate of most women in the harem, of course, they were a little luckier than those concubines who had not been favored, at least they had a beautiful journey.
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Qing Shilu, General Genealogy of the Eight Banners of Manchurian Clans