Empress Dowager Longyu
Chinese empress during the end of the Qing dynasty (1868-1913)
Yehe Nara Jingfen (靜芬; 28 January 1868 – 22 February 1913), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Yehe Nara clan, was the wife and empress consort of Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor. She was empress consort of Qing from 1889 until her husband's death in 1908, after which she was honoured as Empress Dowager Longyu. She was posthumously honoured with the title Empress Xiaodingjing.
She became regent during the minority of Puyi, the Xuantong Emperor, from 1908 until 1912. On behalf of the Emperor, she signed the letter of abdication, effectively ending two thousand years of imperial Chinese history.
Life
Family background
Father: Guixiang (桂祥; 1849–1913), served as first rank military official (都統), and held the title of a third class duke (三等公)
Paternal grandfather: Huizheng (惠徵; 1805–1853), held the title of a third class duke (三等公)
Paternal grandmother: Lady Fuca
Paternal aunt: Empress Xiaoqinxian (1835–1908), the mother of the Tongzhi Emperor (1856–1875)
Paternal aunt: Wanzhen (1841–1896), the mother of the Guangxu Emperor (1871–1908)
Mother: Lady Aisin Gioro
Two brothers
One elder sister, Jingrong (Yehenara) (1866–1933), and one younger sister, Yehenara Jingfang
Tongzhi era
Jingfen was born on the fourth day of the first lunar month in the seventh year of the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor, which translates to 28 January 1868 in the Gregorian calendar.
Guangxu era
In 1889, Cixi, who served as regent during the Guangxu Emperor's minority, decided that the emperor had to marry before he could formally take over the reins of power. She chose her niece, Guixiang's daughter, to be the primary wife of the Guangxu Emperor because she wanted to strengthen the influence of the Yehe Nara clan within the imperial family.
Jingfen married the Guangxu Emperor on 26 February 1889, and became his empress directly after the wedding. The wedding ceremony was an extremely extravagant and spectacular occasion.
“Empress Dowager Longyu” enters the record as chinese empress during the end of the Qing dynasty (1868-1913). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Empress, Dowager and Longyu can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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