Youlan (Gūwalgiya)
Chinese princess consort (1884–1921)
Youlan (1884 – 30 September 1921), of the Manchu Plain White Banner Gūwalgiya clan, was a consort of Zaifeng and the mother of Puyi (Xuantong Emperor), the last emperor of China's Qing dynasty.
Life
Family background
Father: Ronglu (1836–1903), served as the Minister of Works from 1878 to 1879, the Minister of War from 1895 to 1898, the Viceroy of Zhili in 1898 and a Grand Secretary in the Wenhua Hall (文華殿) from 1898 to 1902 and the Wenyuan Library from 1902 to 1903, and held the title of a first class baron (一等男)
Paternal grandfather: Changshou (長壽; d. 1852)
Paternal grandmother: Lady Uja
Mother: Lady Aisin Gioro
Maternal grandfather: Linggui (靈桂; 1815–1885), served as a Grand Secretary in the Tiren Library (體仁閣) from 1881 to 1884 and the Wuying Hall (武英殿) from 1884 to 1885, Changning's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson
Maternal grandmother: Lady Sun
One sister: wife of Prince Li (禮) Chenghou
Guangxu era
Lady Gūwalgiya's father was a staunch supporter of Empress Dowager Cixi. In return, the Empress Dowager arranged for Lady Gūwalgiya to marry Zaifeng, a younger half-brother of the Guangxu Emperor. Zaifeng was the son of Yixuan, Prince Chun and Liugiya Cuiyan. The marriage, which took place in October 1902, turned out to be an unhappy one, partly because Zaifeng disliked Ronglu due to his support for the Empress Dowager.
Lady Gūwalgiya gave birth on 7 February 1906 to Zaifeng's first son, Puyi, and on 16 April 1907 to his second son, Pujie.
Xuantong era
Following the Guangxu Emperor's death on 14 November 1908, Lady Gūwalgiya was separated from Puyi after he was "adopted" into the imperial lineage to succeed the Guangxu Emperor. This meant that Puyi was no longer legally her son. She was only allowed to see Puyi on rare occasions, and his upbringing was entrusted to palace eunuchs and maids.
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