Empress Xiaoduanwen

Empress Xiaoduanwen
Empress Consort of the Qing dynasty
Reign	1636–1643
Successor	Borjigit, Demoted Empress
Empress Dowager of the Qing dynasty
Reign	1643–1649 alongside Empress Xiaozhuangwen
Successor	Empress Xiaohuizhang
Born	31 May 1600
Died	28 May 1649 (aged 48)
Spouse	Hong Taiji
Full name Borjigit Jerjer (博爾濟吉特‧哲哲) Posthumous name Empress Xiaoduan Zhengjing Renyi Zheshun Cixi Zhuangmin Futian Xiesheng Wen (孝端正敬仁懿哲順慈僖庄敏輔天協聖文皇后)
Father	Manggusi

Empress Xiaoduanwen
Chinese name
Chinese	孝端文皇后
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xiàoduānwén Huánghòu
Borjigit Jerjer
Traditional Chinese	博爾濟吉特‧哲哲
Simplified Chinese	博尔济吉特‧哲哲
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Bó'ěrjìjítè Zhézhé
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡥᡳᠶᠣᠣᡧᡠᠩᡤᠠ ᡩᠣᡵᠣᠩᡤᠣ ᡤᡝᠩᡤᡳᠶᡝᠨ ᡧᡠ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡥᡝᠣ ᠵᡝᡵᠵᡝᡵ
Romanization	hiyoošungga doronggo genggiyen šu hūwangheo Jerjer

Empress Xiaoduanwen (31 May 1600 – 28 May 1649), of the Mongol Borjigit clan, personal name Jerjer or Jere, was the Empress Consort of Hong Taiji, the second ruler of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty.

Life

Jerjer was a Khorchin Mongol by birth and was from the Borjigit clan, the clan of Genghis Khan. Her father, Manggusi (莽古思), was a beile of the Khorchin Mongols. Her mother was Manggusi's primary consort.

Jerjer married Hong Taiji, the ruler of the Later Jin dynasty, on 28 May 1614 and became his primary consort even though she was not his first wife. In 1636, after Hong Taiji renamed the Later Jin dynasty to Qing dynasty, he instated Jerjer as his Empress. Two of Jerjer's nieces, Bumbutai and Harjol, were also Hong Taiji's consorts.

After Hong Taiji's death in 1643, Jerjer was honoured as "Mother Empress, Empress Dowager" (母后皇太后) by the Shunzhi Emperor, Hong Taiji's ninth son and successor. The emperor's birth mother, Bumbutai (Jerjer's niece), was similarly honoured as "Holy Mother, Empress Dowager" (聖母皇太后).

Jerjer died in 1649 and was interred in the Zhaoling Mausoleum in Shenyang. She was posthumously honoured with the title "Empress Xiaoduanwen".

Children

Jerjer bore Hong Taiji three daughters:

• Makata (馬喀塔; 1625–1663), known as Gurun Princess Wenzhuang (固倫溫莊長公主), Hong Taiji's second daughter. She married Eje (額哲), a Chahar Mongol prince, in 1635. After Eje's death, she remarried Abunai (阿布奈), Eje's younger brother, in 1661.
• Gurun Princess Jingduan (固倫靖端長公主; 1628–1686), personal name unknown, Hong Taiji's third daughter. She married Jitate (奇塔特) of the Khorchin Mongols in 1639.
• Gurun Princess Yong'an (固倫永安長公主; 1634–1692), personal name unknown, Hong Taiji's eighth daughter. She married Bayasihulang (巴雅斯護朗) of the Khorchin Mongols.

See also

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

References

• Hummel, Arthur W. (1943). Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912). United States Government Printing Office.
• 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). Volume 214.