View source for Empress Dowager Longyu

{{Short description|Empress of China from 1908 to 1912}}
{{redirect|Longyu|the county in Zhejiang|Longyou County|not to be confused with|Alice Longyu Gao|and|Longyu station|and|Yu Long|and|Yulong (disambiguation){{!}}Yulong}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{more footnotes|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Empress Xiaodingjing
| title = Empress Dowager Longyu
| image        = Empress XiaoDing.PNG
| succession   = [[List of consorts of rulers of China#Qing dynasty|Empress consort of the Qing dynasty]]
| reign        = 26 February 1889 – 14 November 1908
| reign-type   = Tenure
| predecessor  = [[Empress Xiaozheyi]]
| successor    = ''Monarchy abolished'' ([[Empress Xiaokemin]] as titular empress)
| succession1  = [[List of consorts of rulers of China#Qing dynasty 2|Empress dowager of the Qing dynasty]]
| reign1       = 14 November 1908 – 12 February 1912
| reign-type1  = Tenure
| predecessor1 = [[Empress Xiaoqinxian]]
| successor1   = ''Monarchy abolished''
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1868|1|28|df=y}}<br />(同治七年 正月 四日)
| birth_place  = Beijing, [[Qing dynasty|China]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1913|2|22|1868|1|28|df=y}}
| death_place  = Taiji Hall, [[Forbidden City]], [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|China]]
| burial_place = Chong Mausoleum, [[Western Qing tombs]]
| spouse       = {{Marriage|[[Guangxu Emperor]]|1889|1908|end=d}}
| consort      = 
| issue        = [[Puyi|Xuantong Emperor]] (adopted)
| issue-link   = 
| issue-pipe   = 
| issue-type   = 
| full name    = Yehe Nara Jingfen (葉赫那拉 靜芬)
| era name     = 
| era dates    = 
| regnal name  = 
| posthumous name = '''Empress Xiaoding''' Longyu Kuanhui Shenzhe Xietian Baosheng '''Jing'''<br>{{zh|t='''孝定'''隆裕寬惠慎哲協天保聖'''景皇后'''}}<br>{{lang-mnc|ᡥᡳᠶᠣᠣᡧᡠᠩᡤᠠ ᡨ᠋ᠣᡴ᠋ᡨ᠋ᠣᠩᡤᠣ ᠠᠮᠪᠠᠯᡳᠩᡤᡡ ᡥᡡᠸᠠᠩᡥᡝᠣ}}
| temple name  = 
| house        = [[Clan Nara#Notable figures of the Yehe Nara|Yehe Nara]] (葉赫那拉)
| house-type   = 
| father       = Guixiang
| mother       = Lady Aisin Gioro
| religion     = 
| occupation   = 
| signature_type = 
| signature    = 
| module       = 
}}
{{Chinese
| c = 隆裕太后
| p = Lóngyù tàihòu
}}
'''Yehe Nara Jingfen''' ({{lang|zh|靜芬}}; 28 January 1868 – 22 February 1913), of the [[Manchu people|Manchu]] [[Eight Banners|Bordered Yellow Banner]] [[Yehe Nara clan]], was the wife and empress consort of [[Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor]]. She was empress consort of [[Qing dynasty|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 ({{lang|zh|桂祥}}; 1849–1913), served as first rank military official ({{lang|zh|都統}}), and held the title of a third class duke ({{lang|zh|三等公}})
** Paternal grandfather: Huizheng ({{lang|zh|惠徵}}; 1805–1853), held the title of a third class duke ({{lang|zh|三等公}})
** Paternal grandmother: Lady [[Fuca (clan)|Fuca]]
** Paternal aunt: [[Empress Dowager Cixi|Empress Xiaoqinxian]] (1835–1908), the mother of the [[Tongzhi Emperor]] (1856–1875)
** Paternal aunt: [[Yehenara Wanzhen|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 calendar|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===
[[File:《光绪皇帝大婚图》之一.JPG|thumb|350px|left|Wedding of the Guangxu Emperor and Jingfen]]
[[File:《光绪皇帝大婚图》之二.jpg|thumb|350px|left|Wedding of the Guangxu Emperor and Jingfen]]

In 1889, [[Empress Dowager Cixi|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. On 16 January 1889, the Forbidden City had caught fire, and the [[Gate of Supreme Harmony]] burnt down. According to imperial traditions, the route of the Emperor's wedding procession had to pass through the Gate of Supreme Harmony, which was completely destroyed. As a result, many people believed that this incident was a bad omen.

Because the reconstruction of the gate would be extremely time-consuming, and the wedding date of the Emperor could not be postponed once decided, Cixi ordered the construction of a tent resembling the gate. The artisans used paper and wood to build it, and after it was done, the tent had exactly the same height and width as the original gate, with ornamentation extremely similar to the original. At first, even people who regularly walked through the inner palace could not tell the difference between the original gate and the temporary tent.

After their marriage, the Empress was detested and ignored by the Guangxu Emperor, who favoured [[Pearl Concubine|Consort Zhen]] of the Tatara clan. At first, Cixi regarded Zhen favourably, but after finding out she had overspent her allowance, and meddled in political appointments, she demoted her. Cixi eventually grew more hostile to Zhen, and placed her in the "cold palace".{{efn|Rumours were circulated that Zhen was put under house arrest because she supported the Guangxu Emperor's political reforms, but documents confirm that Zhen was already demoted by the time the emperor started his reforms in 1898.}}

As she firmly opposed the Guangxu Emperor's 1898 [[Hundred Days' Reform]] programme, Cixi had the emperor placed under house arrest in the [[Summer Palace]]. The Empress frequently spied on the Guangxu Emperor and reported his every action to Cixi. In 1900, during the [[Boxer Rebellion]], the Empress fled with Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor to [[Xi'an]] when [[Beijing]] was occupied by the forces of the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]]. 

Both [[Princess Der Ling|Yu Deling]] and [[Katherine Carl]], who spent time in Cixi's court following the Boxer Rebellion, recalled Empress Jingfen as a gracious and pleasant figure.<ref>Der Ling, Princess [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DerYear.html ''Two Years in the Forbidden City''], Dodd, Mead & Company 1929, pp. 18 & 146; retrieved 2 July 2013.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref><ref>Carl, Katherine A. [https://archive.org/stream/withempressdowag00carliala/withempressdowag00carliala_djvu.txt ''With the Empress Dowager of China''], The Century Co., 1907, pg. 77; accessed 2 July 2013.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref>

===Xuantong era===
The Guangxu Emperor and Cixi died one day apart in 1908, after which Jingfen was promoted to empress dowager, with the honorary name "Longyu", meaning "auspicious and prosperous".

Immediately after the Guangxu Emperor's death, Cixi appointed [[Puyi]], a nephew of the Guangxu Emperor, as the new emperor. As Empress Dowager Longyu did not have any children with the Guangxu Emperor, she adopted the infant Puyi as her child. Although Cixi had decreed before her death that the Qing imperial court would never again allow women to serve as regents, Longyu remained the leading figure in the Qing government and was consulted on all major decisions. But because she was inexperienced in politics, in the first few years of Puyi's reign, the emperor's biological father, [[Zaifeng, Prince Chun|Zaifeng (Prince Chun)]], served as Puyi's regent alongside General [[Yuan Shikai]].

On Yuan Shikai's advice in the fall of 1911, Empress Dowager Longyu agreed to sign an abdication on behalf of five-year-old Puyi. She agreed only if the imperial family were allowed to keep its titles. Other agreements were these:
* The imperial family could keep their possessions.
* They could stay in the Forbidden City temporarily, then would eventually move to the [[Summer Palace]].
* They would receive an annual stipend of four million silver [[tael]]s.
* The imperial mausoleums would be protected and looked after.
* The new government would pay for the Guangxu Emperor's funeral and the construction of his tomb.

===Republican era===
[[File:隆裕太后大丧.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Empress Dowager Longyu's funeral procession at [[Tiananmen]] in 1913.]]

The Qing dynasty came to an end in 1912 and was replaced by the [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|Republic of China]]. Barely a year after the fall of the Qing dynasty, on 22 February 1913, Empress Dowager Longyu died in Beijing after an illness. She was 45 years old, and was the only Chinese empress whose coffin was transported from the Forbidden City to her tomb by train. At her funeral, the Vice President of the Republic of China, [[Li Yuanhong]], praised her for being "most excellent among women". She was buried in the Chong Mausoleum of the [[Western Qing tombs]] with the Guangxu Emperor.

==Titles==
* During the reign of the [[Tongzhi Emperor]] (r. 1861–1875):
** Lady Yehe Nara (from 28 January 1868)
* During the reign of the [[Guangxu Emperor]] (r. 1875–1908):
** Empress ({{lang|zh|皇后}}; from 26 February 1889<ref>光緒十五年 正月 二十七日</ref>)
* During the reign of the [[Puyi|Xuantong Emperor]] (r. 1908–1912):
** Empress Dowager Longyu ({{lang|zh|隆裕皇太后}}; from 14 November 1908<ref>光緒三十四年 十月 二十一日</ref>)
* During the years of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)]]:
** ''Empress Xiaodingjing'' ({{lang|zh|孝定景皇后}}; from 1913)

==Gallery==
<gallery class="center" widths="220">
YeheNaraJingFeng01.jpg|As empress consort
File:The Qing Dynasty Cixi Imperial Dowager Empress of China On Throne 5.JPG|As part of [[Empress Dowager Cixi]]'s entourage (furthest right).
File:Emperor Xuantong and Empress Dowager Longyu02.jpg|Young Puyi, the Xuantong Emperor and Jingfen, Empress Dowager Longyu
File:隆裕皇太后常服旧照.jpg|In seniority.
</gallery>

==In fiction and popular culture==
* Portrayed by Lin Jing in ''[[Sorrows of the Forbidden City]]'' (1948)
* Portrayed by [[Ivy Ling Po]] in ''[[The Empress Dowager]]'' (1975) and ''[[The Last Tempest]]'' (1976)
* Portrayed by Liang Yuejun in ''[[The Last Emperor]]'' (1987)
* Portrayed by Gong Lijun in ''[[Li Lianying: The Imperial Eunuch]]'' (1991)
* Portrayed by Suet Lei in ''[[The Rise and Fall of Qing Dynasty]]'' (1992)
* Portrayed by Jiang Nan in ''[[Towards the Republic]]'' (2003)
* Portrayed by Yan Zi in ''[[Princess Der Ling (TV series)|Princess Der Ling]]'' (2006)
* Portrayed by [[Fan Bingbing]] in ''[[The Founding of a Party]]'' (2011)
* Portrayed by [[Joan Chen]] in ''[[1911 (film)|1911]]'' (2011)
* Portrayed by Li Sheng in ''[[The First President]]'' (2011)
* Portrayed by [[Kara Wai]] in ''Legend of the Last Emperor'' (2014)
* Portrayed by Pauline Chow in ''[[The Last Healer in Forbidden City]]'' (2016)
* Portrayed by [[Zhao Ziqi]] in ''[[The Master of Cheongsam]]'' (2021)

==See also==
{{Portal|China|History|Biography}}
* [[Ranks of imperial consorts in China#Qing]]
* [[Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty]]
* [[Yehe Nara clan]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Notelist}}

==References==
* Sterling Seagrave: ''Dragon Lady'' {{ISBN|0-679-73369-8}}
* Maria Warner: ''The Dragon Empress: Life and Times of Tz'u-Hsi, 1835–1908, Empress of China''. {{ISBN|0-689-70714-2}}
* Anchee Min: ''Empress Orchid'' {{ISBN|978-0-618-06887-6}}
* ''Een Vrouw op de Drakentroon'' (A woman on the dragonthrone), Mayli Wen (foreword Lulu Wang), {{ISBN|90-5429-222-9}}
* ''Daily Life in the Forbidden City'', Wan Yi, Wang Shuqing, Lu Yanzhen {{ISBN|0-670-81164-5}}

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{{s-tul|title=[[List of consorts of rulers of China#Qing dynasty 2|Empress dowager of China]]|years=12 February 1912 – 22 February 1913}}
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{{Qing empresses}}
{{Qing regents}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longyu, Empress Dowager}}
[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty empresses]]
[[Category:Qing dynasty regents]]
[[Category:20th-century women regents]]
[[Category:20th-century regents]]
[[Category:People of the 1911 Revolution]]
[[Category:Manchu people]]
[[Category:Chinese female regents]]
[[Category:19th-century Chinese women]]
[[Category:20th-century Chinese women]]