Empress Xiaodexian

Empress Xiaodexian
Empress Consort of the Qing dynasty
Tenure	posthumously honoured as Empress
Predecessor	Empress Xiaoquancheng
Successor	Empress Xiaozhenxian
Born	12 April 1831
Died	24 January 1850 (aged 18)
Burial	Dingling Mausoleum, Eastern Qing tombs, China
Spouse	Xianfeng Emperor
Posthumous name Empress Xiaode Wenhui Chengshun Cizhuang Keshen Huiyi Gongtian Zansheng Xian (孝德溫惠誠順慈莊恪慎徽懿恭天贊聖顯皇后)
Father	Futai

Empress Xiaodexian
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	孝德顯皇后
Simplified Chinese	孝德显皇后
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiàodéxiǎn Huánghòu
Lady Sakda
Traditional Chinese	薩克達氏
Simplified Chinese	萨克达氏
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sàkèdá Shì
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡥᡳᠶᠣᠣᡧᡠᠩᡤᠠ ᡝᡵᡩᡝᠮᡠ ᡳᠯᡝᡨᡠ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡥᡝᠣ
Romanization	hiyoošungga erdemu iletu hūwangheo

Empress Xiaodexian (12 April 1831 – 24 January 1850) was the first consort of the Xianfeng Emperor of the Qing dynasty.

Life

Empress Xiaodexian was born in the Manchu Sakda (薩克達) clan, which was under the Bordered Yellow Banner.^[1] Her father was Futai (富泰), who served as a shaoqing (少卿; vice minister) in the Imperial Ancestral Temple department.

In 1847, Lady Sakda married Yizhu, the fourth son of the Daoguang Emperor, and became Yizhu's primary consort. She died in January 1850. She did not bear Yizhu any children. About a month after her death, the Daoguang Emperor died and was succeeded by Yizhu, who became the Xianfeng Emperor. As the Xianfeng Emperor's primary consort, Lady Sakda was posthumously honoured as Empress, and was interred in the Dingling Mausoleum in the Eastern Qing tombs.

See also

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

Notes

1. Volume 167 of the Qing Shi Gao states that her father was from the Bordered Yellow Banner.

References

• Seagrave, Sterling; Seagrave, Peggy (1992). Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China (Illustrated ed.). Knopf.
• Wan, Yi; Shuqing, Wang; Yanzhen, Lu; Scott, Rosemary E. (1988). Daily Life in the Forbidden City: The Qing Dynasty, 1644-1912 (Illustrated ed.). Viking. ISBN 0670811645.
• Zhao, Erxun (1928). Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao) (in Chinese).

Succession