Biography
Consort Xiang was born of the Manchu Niuhuru clan. Her personal name is unknown. Her father was langzhong (郎中; a type of official post) Jiufu (久福), a descendant of Eidu's tenth son Yirteng (伊爾登; d. 1663). She entered the Forbidden City during the early reign of the Daoguang Emperor and was granted the rank of Noble Lady Xiang (祥貴人). In 1823 Lady Niuhuru was promoted to Imperial Concubine Xiang (祥嬪). Two years later in 1825 she gave birth to the Daoguang Emperor's second daughter and was elevated to the status of Consort Xiang (祥妃) three months later. In 1829 Lady Niuhuru gave birth to the Daoguang Emperor's fifth daughter Heshuo Princess Shouzang (壽臧和碩公主) and two years she gave birth to Daoguang's fifth son Yicong. Although she bore the Daoguang Emperor three children, the emperor did not seem to favour her as she was later demoted to the rank of a Noble Lady for unknown reasons. Lady Niuhuru's father Jiufu was found guilty of corruption just before she was reduced to the rank of Noble Lady, but official records did not state that this was a cause of her demotion.
In 1850 the Daoguang Emperor died and was succeeded by his fourth son Yizhu, who became known as the Xianfeng Emperor. Xianfeng granted Lady Niuhuru the title of Emperor Father's Consort Xiang (皇考祥妃). She died in 1861 in a mountain resort in Chengde, Hebei, and was interred in the Muling Mausoleum in the Western Qing Tombs. The Tongzhi Emperor later posthumously honoured Lady Niuhuru as Emperor Grandfather's Consort Xiang (皇祖祥妃).
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