Family background Empress Xiaoyichun's personal name was not recorded in history. She was a
Han Chinese Booi Aha of the Bordered Yellow Banner by birth. • Father: Wei Qingtai (), who served as a fifth rank official () in the
Imperial Household Department and held the title of duke of the third class () • Grandfather: Wei Jiuling () • Mother: Lady Yanggiya () • One elder sister
Qianlong era Lady Wei was born on the 9th day of the 9th
lunar month in the 5th year of the reign of the
Yongzheng Emperor, which translates to 23 October 1727 in the
Gregorian calendar. It is not known when Lady Wei entered the
Forbidden City, but the
Draft History of Qing described her as "from the Weigiya family, daughter of Qingtai, a bondservant manager in the Imperial Household Department". Firstly, the surname "Weigiya" is the
Manchu adaptation of the
Han Chinese surname "Wei". Historical sources explain that her family was elevated to the Manchu Banner system and granted the character "giya", transforming their family name into "Weigiya". This indicates that Consort Ling was originally Han Chinese, not Manchu by ethnicity. Next, examining her father's role as a bondservant manager in the Imperial Household Department, it is understoond that this was a managerial position, but limited to bondservants. Consequently, her family belonged to the bondservant class and was not part of the
Eight Banners. Since bondservant families were excluded from the imperial draft system, Consort Ling could not have entered the imperial harem directly as a consort. Instead, her entry into the palace was likely through a selection process for daughters of bondservant households. This process primarily involved selecting palace maids (
gōngnǚ) and female officials (
guānnǚzǐ). In 1745, she was granted the rank of noble lady. On 9 December 1745, she was elevated to concubine, with the honorific title "Ling" (; "excellent", "virtuous"). On 20 May 1749, she was promoted to consort, and although at this point she still had no children with the Qianlong Emperor, he doted on her and described her as "gentle and beautiful". On 10 August 1756, when she was almost 29 years old, she gave birth to his 7th daughter,
Princess Hejing. Consort Ling later gave birth to his 14th son, Yonglu, on 31 August 1757 (though he would die prematurely on 3 May 1760) and to his 9th daughter,
Princess Heke, on 17 August 1758. On 3 February 1760, she was elevated to noble consort. On 13 November 1760, she gave birth to his 15th son,
Yongyan. On 13 January 1763, Consort Ling gave birth to the Qianlong Emperor's 16th son, who died prematurely on 6 May 1765. That same year, while on a tour to
Hangzhou,
Empress Nara fell out of favor and was sent back to the Forbidden City to be confined. The real reason behind her downfall remains the subject of debate. Whatever happened, when the imperial entourage returned to the Forbidden City, Empress Nara was stripped of her power and, on 28 July, Consort Ling was promoted to imperial noble consort. On 17 June 1766, she gave birth to Qianlong's 17th son,
Yonglin. On 19 August 1766, Empress Nara died of illness, but a new empress was not designated. However, Consort Ling, who held the highest rank among all of the consorts, was placed in charge of the palace and served competently. Her duties as the
de facto empress were guiding rites at the ancestral altar, evaluating the personnel, approving budgets, supervising the education of the princes, and planning all imperial marriages. She also regularly met with
eunuchs, female officials, the emperor's other consorts, imperial princesses (including her two daughters), and emperor Qianlong, whom she accompanied on his excursions to
Mount Tai,
Jehol and the areas south of the
Yangtze River. In 1773, Qianlong decided to secretly select the crown prince. Seven of his sons were living at the time, but he decided to choose Yongyan, who was hard-working, though not outstanding, and displayed humility. Despite these favorable circumstances, Consort Ling became increasingly ill over the years. On 9 February 1775, Princess Hejing died; the news worsened Consort Ling's condition.
Death Consort Ling died at the age of 47 on 28 February of 1775, less than a month after her elder daughter's death. On 12 March of that same year, she was granted the
posthumous name "Imperial Noble Consort Lingyi". On 19 November, her coffin was interred in the Yu Mausoleum of the
Eastern Qing tombs after a grand funeral far more regal than that of an imperial noble consort. On 9 February 1796, Qianlong posthumously elevated her to "Empress Xiaoyi", announced Yongyan as the new emperor, and became a
retired emperor. After Qianlong's death on 7 February 1799, Jiaqing honoured his mother with the posthumous title "Empress Xiaoyichun" and had her reburied at the right side of Qianlong's burial place, while his first primary wife,
Empress Xiaoxianchun, was buried on his left side. After the Yu Mausoleum's grave robbery occurred in 1928, it was revealed that Empress Xiaoyichun's remains were well-preserved during inspection. ==Titles==