Consort Rong (Qianlong)
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Rong Fei 容妃 was an Uyghur minority woman who became a favorite consort to the Qianlong Emperor. Neither Manchu nor Han Chinese, her upbringing was different and she also walked a separate path from other consorts in the palace. The real Rong Fei was completely different from the fictional "Fragrant Consort".
Rong Fei 容妃 | |
|---|---|
| He Zhuo 和卓氏 | |
| Born | October 11, 1734 Uyghur Hetian region, China |
| Died | May 24, 1788 Beijing China |
| Cause of death | Illness |
| Resting place | Yuling Consort Mausoleum 裕陵妃园寝 |
| Other names | He Zhuo 霍卓氏、Rong Fei 容妃 |
| Spouse | Qianlong Emperor |
| Children | none |
| Relatives | father 和札赉，brother Turdi 图爾都迪 |
Rong Fei Chronology
- Official rank :
- Qianglong reign
- 25th year 2/4 Gwei Ren 贵人
- 27th year 5/21 Ce Feng 册封 Ceremony ranked Rong Bing 容嫔 [1]
- 30th yr 4th Southern Expedition 南巡
- 33rd yr 10/26 Ce Feng 册封 Ceremony ranked Rong Fei 容妃 [1]
- 53rd year died from illness; buried Yuling Consort Mausoleum 裕陵妃园寝 [2]
Rong Fei the Historic Figure 历史之容妃. [3]
Rong Fei 容妃 was a favored consort of the Qianlong Emperor. The story was embellished over time, transforming her into a fictional character Xiang Fei 香妃 around the early 1920s. Movies and TV series were made about the fictitious Xiang Fei 香妃. The fiction was very different from historic facts. There was no Qianlong consort called Xiang Fei 香妃 (Fragrant Consort).
The actual Rong Fei 容妃 was a cherished consort of Qianglong in his later years. Her progression in the palace was well documented in different official records. She was from an important Uyghur clan family named He Zhuo 和卓 which helped Qianglong in quelling rebellions. They are apparently from the Uyghur Hetian region. Qianlong moved the family to Beijing with all kinds of gifts and honors. Her father 和札赉 was ranked as a Qing Protectorate nobleman Tai Jie 回部台吉. [1] [4] She was beautiful but 26 and previously married when taken into the palace as Gwei Ren 贵人 under the tutelage of the Empress Dowager. Next year she became Gwei Bing 贵嫔. This was the 6th rank imperial consort. She went up steadily. Both the Emperor and Empress Dowager favored and trusted her. Two years later she was inducted as Rong Bing 容嫔 and officially recorded in Ce Feng 册封 ceremony decreed by the Dowager Empress. Her brother Turdi 图爾都迪 was also honored with a higher rank at that time. Ce Feng literally means confer by booklet. This is an elaborate ceremony to confer official rank. Qianglong decreed a Minister 尚书 and an Imperial Scholar 大学士 to compose an essay in her honor. This luxuriously bound booklet was read and presented to her. She next goes to the hall for the Empress Dowager, bows 6 times, kneels 3 times and kowtows 3 times. She then goes to another hall and repeats for the Emperor. Finally she repeats for the Empress. [2]
Qianlong thirty third year 6 month 5th day at 35, she became Rong Fei 容妃 in similar ceremony the next day. She never climbed higher in the consort hiarchy. But her actual position continued to ascend within the palace. She often went on the southern and eastern expeditions. In later years the higher ranking consorts died and Qianlong often did not replace them to the point that there was no Empress from his 31st reign year. Her seating at the formal banquets continued its way to the head. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Rong Fei Indulged 寵妃
She accompanied him on his 4th southern expedition 南巡 with other consorts in his 30th reign year. He decreed imperial gifts for her on 80 occasions during the trip. These included many ruyi scepters 如意 , agate drinking vessels in addition to exotic food and jewelry 。 She went on several expeditions and numerous gifts were recorded each time . [2] [7]
The Emperor entirely redecorated the Bao Yue Lou Pavilion 宝月楼 for her within the Forbidden City. She could live there and take respite from the palace consort compound. And looking down to the South she could see the Moslem community in Beijing. She had a full retinue there including a Moslem kitchen and chefs, tailors for her native dress and other Moslem attendants. There was a large portrait of her in the hall. She was indulged, but likely with purpose. Qianlong developed a keen interest in the Uyghur tribes which cost him 4 distant campaigns to pacify. He acquired a working knowledge of the Uyghur language, inscribing 4 Castiglione battle paintings in Manchu, Chinese, Mongolian and Uyghur. [9] The Emperor ordered the construction of a mosque in the Moslem area within sight of Bao Yue Pavilion. Upon completion in 1764, he wrote the dedication in the same 4 languages above. Rong Fei could help the Emperor with the Uyghur language. [10]
At a Yuanming Yuan 圆明园 宴会 banquet in his 46th year, she headed the first table on the west. At the end of the same year she was 48 and seated second at the East first table for the Qian Qing Gong Great banquet 乾清宫家宴. She died seven years later of illness. Afterwards she was buried in a golden coffin. In the 1970s they measured her physicals, height 1.67m, blood type O, etc. Remains of a Koran was found near her. All of the above are variously recorded in the Qing chronicles 清史 and ministry chronicles such as Ceremonies 礼部, Medicine 御医，etc. [2] [6]
Looks like Qianlong was infatuated by her and probably respected her. No children so she was neutral in succession plots. She was tall, beautiful, intelligent, "good natured and well mannered, careful but rigorous, serves with benevolent intent in the palace and without offense, an exemplary woman to all". (Liberal paraphrase of the Ce feng booklet text: “爾容嬪霍卓氏，端謹持躬，柔嘉表則，秉小心而有恪，久勤服事於慈闈，供內職以無違，夙協箴規於女史，茲奉皇太后慈諭，冊封爾為容妃……。” ). [6] She was politically important and relatively neutral on Han Chinese, Manchu and eunach intrigues. Probably a solace and help to Qianlong in the palace which had no Empress for a long time and the last one died long before her.
Copies of Rong Fei's portraits were used for pictures of The fictional Xiang Fei. It's also said that her body wafted perfume naturally. Hence the fictitious Xiang Fei 香妃 (fragrant consort) name.
1. The jade plaque shown above is inscribed with a verse attributed to Qianglong who is known to have written over 45,000 poems and essays. The seals conform to a known practice of two seals one for each character Qian and Long. He wrote poems in reminiscence after she died.
Two lines of verse from the plaque:
. 秋風衆草影 ........ Shadows of wildflowers swept by autumn wind
. 業榮楊其香 ........ Full and glorious wafts her perfume。
. (The character for "glorious" 荣 is a homophone for her title Rong 容。）
2. The following oft quoted four lines are from a poem composed by the Emperor three years after Rong Fei's death remembering their times in her pavilion.
“液池南岸嫌其遠，構以層樓居路中。州載畫圖朝夕似，新正吟詠昔日同。”
"South shore of the water not far away, A high pavilion centered by the road.
The painting there is real day and night, When reciting verses as in yesteryears."
Note: The Emperor placed a large portrait of Rong Fei in Bao Yue Pavilion 宝月楼, which is on the south side of the lake in Yuanming Yuan 圆明园, now Zhongnan Hai 中南海. It overlooks Changan Road 长安街 which bisects Beijing today. The pavilion itself was converted about 1912 to be the main entrance structure for Zhongnan Hai which now houses the heart of the PRC central government.
References, citations
- ^ a b c d Twenty Five Chronicles - Qing. 二十五史 清史稿. Qing Chronicles Empress Consort section 1. 清史稿 后妃传列传一: Shanghai Guji Press. -. 上海古籍出版社. 1986. ISBN 7-5325-0464-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ a b c d e "容妃 (乾隆帝) - Wikiwand". www.wikiwand.com. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
- ^ Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women - The Qing Period. (in English). Hong Kong University Press. 1999. ISBN 978-962-209-482-6.
- ^ "Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty - Ranks of protectorates and tributary states".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ The Queen's of China 中国皇后全传(第3版). The Contemporary World Press. 2018. ISBN 978-7509014042.
- ^ a b c d "Qianlong's Officially Recorded Consort - 乾隆皇帝正式册封的第一宠妃". China Daily. 2016.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Liu Li. 刘力 (2008). Qianlong. 乾隆传. https://books.google.com/books?: Beijing Book Co. Inc. ISBN 9787999037996.
{{cite book}}: External link in|location= - ^ Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women: The Qing Period 1644-1911. Sydney University Press. 2010. ISBN 978-1920899516.
- ^ Curtis, Emily Byrne (2019). Chinese-Islamic Works of Art, 1644–1912: A Study of Some Qing Dynasty Examples. https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/_/_?ean=9781000752793: Routledge. pp. Chapter: A. Muslim Consort. ISBN 9781000752793.
{{cite book}}: External link in|location= - ^ 钦定日下旧闻考. This is a comprehensive compendium of Beijing places and events 北京地方志 commissioned by Qianlong in 1788: Beijing Guji Publishers. 北京古籍出版社. 2001.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
Rong Fei
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Category:Qianlong Emperor Category:Imperial consorts Category:Qing dynasty Category:Uyghurs