During the Nurhaci period, the system of concubines was undecided, and the ranks of the concubines were only Dafujin, Side Fujin, Xiaofujin, Shufujin, etc., which to a certain extent preserved the tradition of Manchu and Mongolian society. After Emperor Taiji succeeded to the throne, he carried out a drastic reform of the concubine system, and for the first time, an empress appeared in the Qing Palace, that is, Empress Xiaoduanwen, and also crowned four concubines. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, although Shunzhi crowned the empress and the imperial concubine, but the concubine system is also imperfect, both Fu Jin, and the grid, and its complexity, after Kangxi succeeded to the throne, the concubine system gradually improved, the Qing Dynasty for the first time appeared in the rank of noble concubines, today the author wants to talk about the first noble concubine of the Qing Dynasty: Empress Xiaoyiren.
Some people may think that during the Imperial Taiji period, among the five palace concubines, Namu Zhong, who entered the Lintou Palace, was the first noble concubine of the Qing Dynasty, but in fact it was wrong. Namu Zhong's noble concubine was only a title, not a rank, and it was not the same thing at all with the later Yongzheng Dynasty's noble concubine Nian Shi (Dunsu Emperor Guifei) and the Qianlong Dynasty's noble concubine Gao Shi (Huixian Emperor Guifei). However, Namu Zhong's status in the Emperor Taiji Harem was not low, and she and Concubine Hai Lanzhu were roughly equivalent to the rank of noble concubines.
In the Shunzhi Dynasty, the Qing Palace for the first time appeared imperial concubines, that is, the famous Dong Efei, but due to the incomplete system of concubines, the rank of noble concubines did not appear at that time. In the sixteenth year of Kangxi, kangxi's first large-scale concubine after succeeding to the throne, The daughter of Qiu Bilong succeeded Kunning and became the new Empress of the Qing Dynasty, at the same time, Kangxi also crowned his cousin Tong Shi as a noble concubine, as such, the first time that the matter of noble concubines appeared in the Qing Palace.
This Tong clan who was crowned as a noble concubine was the daughter of Tong Guowei, the minister of the imperial guard, Tong Guowei, and his sister Empress Xiaokangzhang was the biological mother of the Kangxi Emperor, so Tong Shi could be said to be the imperial relative of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er, and it was this relationship that made Tong Shi gain Kangxi's attention as soon as he entered the palace and was given the title of noble concubine.
Moreover, only half a year later, just after being ordained as Empress Xiaozhao (Niu Hulu), she died in Kunning Palace due to difficult childbirth, so Tong Shi became the highest-ranking woman in the harem of the Qing Dynasty. However, Kangxi, who had lost his wife twice in a row, developed a serious idea of wife-denial, so Kangxi did not appoint Tong shi as a concubine for a long time, but only made him an imperial concubine in the twentieth year of Kangxi to command the Six Palaces of the East and The West.
However, the Tong clan did not complain, in addition to giving birth to the eighth daughter of the emperor (who died early) for Kangxi, he also raised a number of princes, including the fourth son of the emperor, Yin Chan, the later Yongzheng Emperor. In this regard, the later empress dowager said that she "bowed to the sons of the people and prepared for the extreme grace and diligence".
In early July of the 27th year of Kangxi, Kangxi and the empress dowager suddenly returned to the palace from Changchun Garden, and it turned out that the imperial concubine Tong Shi was seriously ill and was already in a state of dying, and Kangxi immediately made Tong an empress on the orders of the empress dowager, and only one day later, Tong Shi died of illness in Chengqian Palace. The cause of Tong's death is not recorded in official historical records, but according to the French missionary Zhang Cheng, Tong seems to have died of miscarriage, and died of childbirth.
After tong's death, Kangxi was very sad, and for five days he quit the dynasty, he was given the title of Empress Xiaoyi, and held a solemn funeral ceremony, personally wearing filial piety for Tong, which can be described as emotional.
In October of the 28th year of the Kangxi Dynasty, Kangxi personally sent Empress Xiaoyi to the Jingling Underground Palace for burial, accompanied by three princes, namely the emperor's eldest son Yin Zhen, the emperor's third son Yin Zhi, and the emperor's fourth son Yin Chan (雍正).
References: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Records of the Ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, Diary of Zhang Cheng