Biography
By birth, Empress Xiaohuizhang was a Khorchin Mongol, a branch of the Mongol Borjigit clan. Her personal name is unknown. Her grandfather was Manzhuxili (滿珠習禮), a jasagh of the Khorchins and a son of Jaisang (宰桑), the father of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Her father was Jorji (綽爾濟), a duke among the Khorchins who was later promoted to the status of a beile (貝勒; lord). She had an older brother Eji'er (鄂緝爾), who inherited their father's beile title. Her younger sister was also a concubine of the Shunzhi Emperor and was known as Consort Shuhui (淑惠妃).
In 1653 the Shunzhi Emperor demoted his first empress (known as Borjigit, Demoted Empress) to the rank of a consort. A year later, the future Empress Xiaohuizhang entered the Forbidden City and became a concubine of Shunzhi. One month later she was officially instated as the Shunzhi Emperor's second Empress Consort. However Shunzhi showed little interest in Empress Xiaohuizhang because he favoured Consort Donggo.
When the Shunzhi Emperor died in 1661 he was succeeded by his third son Xuanye (born to Empress Xiaokangzhang), who became the Kangxi Emperor. Empress Xiaohuizhang was granted the title of Empress Dowager Renxian (仁憲皇太后). She remained as empress dowager for the rest of her life. She died in 1717 in the Forbidden City at the age of 76, and was interred in a separate tomb in the Huiling Mausoleum in Hebei.
Read more about this topic: Xiao Hui Zhang
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