Empress Xu (Ming dynasty)

Empress Renxiaowen (仁孝文皇后; 5 March 1362 – 6 August 1407), of the Xu clan, was the empress consort to the Yongle Emperor and the third empress of China's Ming dynasty. She was well educated, compiling bibliographies of virtuous women, an activity connected with court politics.[1]

In this Chinese name, the family name is Xu (徐).
Empress Renxiaowen
仁孝文皇后
Empress consort of the Ming dynasty
Tenure17 July 1402 – 6 August 1407
PredecessorEmpress Xiaominrang
SuccessorEmpress Chengxiaozhao
Princess consort of Yan
Tenure1376–1402
Born5 March 1362
Yuan Zhizheng 22, 9th day of the 2nd month
(元至正二十二年二月初九日)
Yingtian (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu, China)
Died6 August 1407(1407-08-06) (aged 45)
Ming Yongle 5, 4th day of the 7th month
(明永樂五年七月初四日)
Forbidden City, Nanjing
Burial
Changling Mausoleum, Ming tombs
SpouseYongle Emperor
Issue
Posthumous name
Empress Rénxiào Cíyì Chéngmíng Zhuāngxiàn Pèitiān Qíshèng Wēn (仁孝慈懿誠明庄獻配天齊聖文皇后)
ClanXu (徐)
FatherXu Da
MotherLady Xie (謝氏)

Biography

Lady Xu was born in 1362, as the eldest daughter of Xu Da and Lady Xie (謝氏), second daughter of Xie Zaixing (謝再興). She had four brothers—Xu Huizu (徐輝祖), Xu Tianfu (徐添福), Xu Yingxu (徐膺緒), and Xu Zengshou (徐增壽)—and two younger sisters, who were the wives of Zhu Gui, Prince Jian of Dai (thirteenth son of the Hongwu Emperor) and Zhu Ying, Prince Hui of An (twenty-second son of the Hongwu Emperor). On 17 February 1376, she married the Zhu Di, Prince of Yan, the Hongwu Emperor's fourth son. After Zhu Di ascended the throne as the Yongle Emperor on 17 July 1402, Consort Xu, as his primary wife, was created empress in December 1402.

A devout Buddhist, Xu is the first person credited with transcribing a Buddhist sutra from a dream revelation. The work is entitled Da Ming Ren xiao Huang hou meng kan Fo Shuo di yi xi yu da gong de jing (The sutra of great merit of the foremost rarity spoken by the Buddha which the Renxiao empress of the great Ming received in a dream). In her introduction to the sutra, the empress wrote that one night after meditating and burning incense, Guanyin appeared to her as if in a dream, and took her to a holy realm where the sutra was revealed to her in order to save her from disaster. After reading the sutra three times, she was able to memorize it and recall it perfectly upon awakening and writing it down. The sutra conveys conventional Mahayana philosophies, and the mantras for chanting were typical of Tibetan Buddhist practices.[2]

Titles
  • During the reign of the Hongwu Emperor (r. 1368–1398):
    • Lady Xu (徐氏; from 5 March 1362)
    • Princess consort of Yan (燕王妃; from 1376)
  • During the reign of the Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424):
    • Empress (皇后; from 17 July 1402)
    • Empress Renxiao (仁孝文皇后; from 1407)
    • Empress Rénxiào Cíyì Chéngmíng Zhuāngxiàn Pèitiān Qíshèng Wēn (仁孝慈懿誠明庄獻配天齊聖文皇后; from 1424)

Issue
  • As Princess consort of Yan:
    • Zhu Gaochi, the Hongxi Emperor (洪熙帝 朱高熾; 16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), the Yongle Emperor's first son
    • Zhu Gaoxu, Prince of Han (漢王 朱高煦; 30 December 1380 – 6 October 1426), the Yongle Emperor's second son
    • Zhu Gaosui, Prince Jian of Zhao (趙簡王 朱高燧; 19 January 1383 – 5 October 1431), the Yongle Emperor's third son
    • Princess Yong'an (永安公主; 1377–1417), personal name Yuying (玉英), the Yongle Emperor's first daughter
      • Married Yuan Rong (袁容), and had issue (one son, three daughters)
    • Princess Yong'ping (永平公主; 1379 – 22 April 1444), the Yongle Emperor's second daughter
      • Married Li Rang (李讓), and had issue (one son)
    • Princess Ancheng (安成公主; 1384 – 16 September 1443), the Yongle Emperor's third daughter
      • Married Song Hu (宋琥) in 1402, and had issue (one son)
    • Princess Xianning (咸寧公主; 1385 – 27 July 1440), the Yongle Emperor's fourth daughter
      • Married Song Ying (宋瑛; d. 1449) in 1403, and had issue (one son)

Ancestry
Xu Wusi
Xu Siqi
Lady He
Xu Liusi
Lady Zhou
Xu Da (1332–1385)
Lady Cai
Empress Renxiaowen (1362–1407)
Xie Zaixing
Lady Xie

References
  1. Ellen Soullière, "Palace Women in the Ming dynasty: 1368-1644" (Doctoral dissertation, Princeton University, 1987) 19, 22-24.
  2. Yü, Chun-fang. "Ming Buddhism" The Cambridge History of China v.8. pp 913-915
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