Volume 114 Biographies 2: Empresses and Consorts 2

孝宗孝康張皇后武宗孝靜夏皇后世宗孝潔陳皇后張廢后孝烈方皇后孝恪杜太后穆宗孝懿李皇后孝安陳皇后孝定李太后神宗孝端王皇后劉昭妃孝靖王太后鄭貴妃光宗孝元郭皇后孝和王太后孝純劉太后李康妃李莊妃趙選侍熹宗懿安張皇后張裕妃莊烈帝愍周皇后田貴妃

Empress Zhang (posthumous name Xiaokang), consort of Emperor Xiaozong; Empress Xia (Xiaojing), consort of Emperor Wuzong; Empress Chen (Xiaojie), consort of Emperor Shizong; the deposed Empress Zhang; Empress Fang (Xiaolie); Empress Dowager Du (Xiaoke); Empress Li (Xiaoyi), consort of Emperor Muzong; Empress Chen (Xiao'an); Empress Dowager Li (Xiaoding); Empress Wang (Xiaoduan), consort of Emperor Shenzong; Consort Liu (Zhaohui); Empress Dowager Wang (Xiaojing); Noble Consort Zheng; Empress Guo (Xiaoyuan), consort of Emperor Guangzong; Empress Dowager Wang (Xiaohe); Empress Dowager Liu (Xiaochun); Imperial Concubine Li Kang; Imperial Concubine Li Zhuang; Selected Attendant Zhao; Empress Zhang (Yi'an), consort of Emperor Xizong; Imperial Concubine Zhang Yu; Empress Zhou (Min), consort of the Chongzhen Emperor; Noble Consort Tian.

孝宗孝康皇后張氏，興濟人。父巒，以鄉貢入太學。母金氏，夢月入懷而生后。成化二十三年選為太子妃。是年，孝宗即位，冊立為皇后。帝頗優禮外家，追封巒昌國公，封后弟鶴齡壽寧侯，延齡建昌伯，為后立家廟於興濟，工作壯麗，數年始畢。鶴齡、延齡並註籍宮禁，縱家人為奸利，中外諸臣多以為言，帝以后故不問。

Empress Zhang, known posthumously as Xiaokang and consort of Emperor Xiaozong, came from Xingji. Her father Luan had entered the Imperial University as a tribute scholar from the provinces. Her mother, née Jin, dreamed that the moon entered her womb, and afterward bore the future empress. In the twenty-third year of the Chenghua reign she was selected to be crown prince's consort. The same year, when Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne, she was formally installed as empress. The emperor lavished favors on her kin: Luan was posthumously made Duke of Chang; her brothers Heling and Yanling became Marquis of Shouning and Baron of Jianchang; a family temple for the empress was raised at Xingji on a grand scale and took years to complete. Heling and Yanling were entered on the palace register and let their households profit by fraud; ministers inside and outside the court spoke out repeatedly, yet the emperor took no action out of regard for the empress.

武宗即位，尊為皇太后。五年十二月，以寘鐇平，上尊號曰慈壽皇太后。世宗入繼，稱聖母，加上尊號曰「昭聖慈壽」。嘉靖三年加上「昭聖康惠慈壽」。已，改稱伯母。十五年復加上「昭聖恭安康惠慈壽」。二十年八月崩，諡曰「孝康靖肅莊慈哲懿翊天贊聖敬皇后」，合葬泰陵，祔廟。

When Emperor Wuzong came to the throne, she was honored as empress dowager. In the twelfth month of his fifth year, after the pacification of Prince of An's rebellion, she received the elevated title Empress Dowager Cishou. When Emperor Shizong inherited the throne, she was styled Holy Mother, with the added honorific "Zhaosheng Cishou." In the third year of Jiajing the title was further extended to "Zhaosheng Kanghui Cishou." Later she was addressed instead as the emperor's aunt. In the fifteenth year the honorific was expanded again to "Zhaosheng Gong'an Kanghui Cishou." She died in the eighth month of the twentieth year and was given the posthumous title Empress Xiaokang Jingsu Zhuangci Zheyi Yitian Zansheng Jing; she was interred with the emperor at Tailing and received temple enshrinement.

初，興國太后以籓妃入，太后猶以故事遇之，帝頗不悅。及帝朝，太后待之又倨。會太后弟延齡為人所告，帝坐延齡謀逆論死，太后窘迫無所出。哀衝太子生，請入賀，帝謝不見。使人請，不許。大學士張孚敬亦為延齡請，帝手敕曰：「天下者，高皇帝之天下，孝宗皇帝守高皇帝法。卿慮傷伯母心，豈不慮傷高、孝二廟心耶？」孚敬復奏曰：「陛下嗣位時，用臣言，稱伯母皇太后，朝臣歸過陛下，至今未已。茲者大小臣工默無一言，誠幸太后不得令終，以重陛下過耳。夫謀逆之罪，獄成當坐族誅，昭聖獨非張氏乎？陛下何以處此！」冬月慮囚，帝又欲殺延齡，復以孚敬言而止。亡何，奸人劉東山者告變，並逮鶴齡下詔獄。太后至衣敝襦席藁為請，亦不聽。久之，鶴齡瘐死。及太后崩，帝竟殺延齡，事詳《外戚傳》。

Early on, when the Empress Dowager of Xingguo arrived at court as a prince's wife, Empress Dowager Zhang still dealt with her by the old rules of precedence, and the emperor took strong offense. When the emperor attended court, the empress dowager treated her with renewed haughtiness. When Yanling, the empress dowager's brother, was accused, the emperor found him guilty of treason and condemned him to death; the empress dowager was trapped and could see no way out. At the birth of the heir apparent Aichong, she requested an audience to offer congratulations, but the emperor refused to receive her. She sent envoys to ask again, but he would not allow it. Grand Secretary Zhang Fuling also interceded for Yanling; the emperor replied in his own hand: "The realm belongs to the Founding Emperor, and Emperor Xiaozong upheld the Founding Emperor's law. You fret over hurting your aunt's feelings—do you not fret over hurting the Founding Emperor and Emperor Xiaozong in their ancestral shrines?" Zhang Fuling memorialized again: "When Your Majesty first took the throne, you followed my counsel and styled her Aunt Empress Dowager; the court blamed Your Majesty then, and has not stopped since. Now ministers high and low say nothing at all—they would almost welcome the empress dowager's dishonorable end, the better to magnify Your Majesty's blame. Treason, once proved, demands the extermination of the whole clan—is Empress Dowager Zhaosheng not herself a Zhang? How can Your Majesty resolve this!" During the winter review of prisoners, the emperor again meant to put Yanling to death, but once more held back on Zhang Fuling's plea. Soon afterward a schemer named Liu Dongshan denounced a conspiracy, and Heling too was arrested and thrown into the imperial prison. The empress dowager humbled herself in worn garments on a straw mat to beg for mercy, yet he would not heed her. In time Heling died of illness in custody. After the empress dowager's death, the emperor finally had Yanling executed; the full account appears in the Biographies of Imperial Affines.

武宗孝靜皇后夏氏，上元人。正德元年冊立為皇后。嘉靖元年上尊稱曰「莊肅皇后」。十四年正月崩，合葬康陵，祔廟。初，禮臣上喪儀，帝曰：「嫂叔無服，且兩宮在上，朕服青，臣民如母后服。」禮部尚書夏言曰：「皇上以嫂叔絕服，則群臣不敢素服見皇上，請暫罷朝參。」許之。已而議諡，大學士張孚敬曰：「大行皇后，上嫂也，與累朝元后異，宜用二字或四字。」李時曰：「宜用八。」左都御史王廷相、吏部侍郎霍韜等曰：「均帝后也，何殊！」言集眾議，因奏曰：「古人尚質，諡法簡，稱其行，後人增加，臣子情也。生今世，宜行今制。大行皇后宜如列聖元后諡，二四及八，於禮無據。」帝不從，命再議。群臣請如孚敬言。帝曰：「用六，合陰數焉。」於是上諡「孝靜莊惠安肅毅皇后」。十五年，帝覺孚敬言非是，敕曰：「孝靜皇后諡不備，不稱配武宗。」乃改諡「孝靜莊惠安肅溫誠順天偕聖毅皇后」。

Empress Xia, posthumous name Xiaojing and consort of Emperor Wuzong, came from Shangyuan. In the first year of the Zhengde reign she was formally made empress. In the first year of Jiajing she received the elevated title Empress Zhuangsu. She died in the first month of the fourteenth year, was interred with the emperor at Kangling, and enshrined in the ancestral temple. When the ritual officials first proposed funeral observances, the emperor said: "A brother-in-law owes no mourning dress to a sister-in-law; with both empress dowagers still living, I shall wear green, while officials and commoners shall observe mourning as for an empress dowager." Minister of Rites Xia Yan replied: "If Your Majesty, invoking the exemption between sister-in-law and brother-in-law, refuses white mourning, the ministers cannot attend court in white; we beg that audiences be suspended for now." The emperor agreed. When the posthumous title was debated, Grand Secretary Zhang Fuling argued: "The late empress was Your Majesty's sister-in-law, not a primary empress of earlier reigns; two or four characters would suffice." Li Shi held that eight characters were appropriate." Censor-in-Chief Wang Tingxiang, Vice Minister Huo Tao, and others protested: "She was still the emperor's consort—why treat her differently!" Xia Yan collected opinions and memorialized: "Antiquity favored simplicity in posthumous titles; later ages lengthened them out of loyal affection—that is all. We live in the present and should follow present practice. The late empress deserves the same style of posthumous title as primary empresses of past reigns; two, four, or eight characters lack ritual warrant." The emperor refused and ordered the matter debated again. The ministers asked to follow Zhang Fuling's recommendation. The emperor said: "Use six characters—it suits the yin number." She was then given the posthumous title Empress Xiaojing Zhuanghui Ansu Yi. In the fifteenth year the emperor decided Zhang Fuling had been mistaken and decreed: "Empress Xiaojing's posthumous title is inadequate and does not honor her as consort of Emperor Wuzong." It was revised to Empress Xiaojing Zhuanghui Ansu Wencheng Shuntian Xiesheng Yi.

孝烈皇后方氏，世宗第三后也，江寧人。帝即位且十年，未有子。大學士張孚敬言：「古者天子立后，並建六宮、三夫人、九嬪、二十七世婦、八十一御妻，所以廣嗣也。陛下春秋鼎盛，宜博求淑女，為子嗣計。」從之。十年三月，后與鄭氏、王氏、閻氏、韋氏、沈氏、盧氏、沈氏、杜氏同冊為九嬪，冠九翟冠，大採鞠衣，圭用次玉，谷文，冊黃金塗，視皇后殺五分之一。至期，帝袞冕告太廟，還服皮弁，御華蓋殿，傳制，遣大臣行冊禮。既冊，從皇后朝奉先殿。禮成，帝服皮弁，受百官賀，蓋創禮也。張后廢，遂立為后，而封沈氏為宸妃，閻氏為麗妃。舊制：立后，謁內廟而已。至是，下禮臣議廟見禮。於是群臣以天子立三宮以承宗廟，《禮經》有廟見之文，乃考據《禮經》，參稽《大明集禮》，擬儀注以上。至期，帝率后謁太廟及世廟。越三日，頒詔天下。明日，受命婦朝。

Empress Fang, posthumous name Xiaolie, was Emperor Shizong's third empress and came from Jiangning. Nearly ten years into his reign the emperor still had no son. Grand Secretary Zhang Fuling urged: "In antiquity the Son of Heaven, on installing an empress, also filled the six palaces with three ladies, nine consorts, twenty-seven attendant ladies, and eighty-one royal wives—to secure the succession. Your Majesty is in his prime; he should seek virtuous ladies widely for the sake of an heir." The emperor agreed. In the third month of the tenth year she was invested together with ladies Zheng, Wang, Yan, Wei, Shen, Lu, Shen, and Du as nine consorts, wearing the nine-pheasant crown and full ceremonial dress, with secondary jade scepters and gold-plated investiture scrolls, their regalia one-fifth below the empress's. On the appointed day the emperor, in full ceremonial dress, reported to the Grand Temple, then changed to the leather cap, presided at Huagai Hall, issued the decree, and sent senior ministers to conduct the investiture. After investiture she accompanied the empress in paying court at the Hall of Imperial Ancestors. When the rites ended, the emperor in the leather cap received congratulations from all officials—a ceremony invented for the occasion. After Empress Zhang was deposed, Fang was made empress; Lady Shen became Chen consort and Lady Yan Li consort. Formerly, installing an empress required homage only at the inner temple. Now he ordered the ritual officials to draft rites for the empress's temple audience. The ministers argued that the Son of Heaven fills the three palaces to sustain the ancestral cult and that the Book of Rites prescribes a temple audience; they studied the classics and the Collected Rites of the Great Ming and submitted a draft protocol. On the appointed day the emperor led the empress to the Grand Temple and the lineage temple. Three days later an edict went out to the whole empire. The following day titled ladies attended court in audience.

二十一年，宮婢楊金英等謀弒逆，帝賴后救得免，乃進后父泰和伯銳爵為侯。初，曹妃有色，帝愛之，冊為端妃。是夕，帝宿端妃宮。金英等伺帝熟寢，以組縊帝項，誤為死結，得不絕。同事張金蓮知事不就，走告后。后馳至，解組，帝蘇。后命內監張佐等捕宮人雜治，言金英等弒逆，王寧嬪首謀。又曰：曹端妃雖不與，亦知謀。時帝病悸不能言，后傳帝命收端妃、寧嬪及金英等悉礫於市。並誅其族屬十餘人。然妃實不知也。久之，帝始知其冤。

In the twenty-first year palace maids led by Yang Jinying plotted to assassinate the emperor; he survived only because the empress rescued him, and her father Rui, Baron of Taihe, was raised to marquis. Consort Cao was beautiful and greatly favored; she was made Duan consort. That night the emperor slept in Consort Duan's quarters. Jinying and her accomplices waited until the emperor was deep asleep, then looped a cord about his neck; they tied a knot that would not tighten, and he did not die. Their accomplice Zhang Jinlian, seeing the plot fail, ran to warn the empress. The empress hurried in, loosened the cord, and the emperor came to. She ordered the eunuch Zhang Zuo and others to seize palace women and torture them at random, alleging that Jinying's party had attempted regicide and that Consort Wang Ning was the ringleader. She also claimed that although Consort Cao Duan had not joined the plot, she had known of it. The emperor was shaken and speechless; the empress issued orders in his name to seize Consort Duan, Consort Ning, Jinying, and the rest, who were all torn apart in the public square. More than ten of their kinsmen were put to death as well. In truth the consort had known nothing of the plot. Only much later did the emperor learn she had been innocent.

二十六年十一月乙未，后崩。詔曰：「皇后比救朕危，奉天濟難，其以元后禮葬。」預名葬地曰「永陵」，諡孝烈，親定諡禮，視昔加隆焉。禮成，頒詔天下。及大祥，禮臣請安主奉先殿東夾室，帝曰：「奉先殿夾室，非正也，可即祔太廟。」於是大學士嚴嵩等請設位於太廟東，皇妣睿皇后之次，后寢藏主則設幄於憲廟皇祖妣之右，以從祔於祖姑之義。帝曰：「祔禮至重，豈可權就。后非帝，乃配帝者，自有一定之序，安有享從此而主藏彼之禮！其祧仁宗，祔以新序，即朕位次，勿得亂禮。」嵩曰：「祔新序，非臣下所敢言，且陰不可當陽位。」乃命姑藏主睿皇后側。

On the yimwei day of the eleventh month of the twenty-sixth year the empress died. An edict declared: "The empress lately saved Us from peril and aided Heaven in our distress; bury her with the rites due a primary empress." Her tomb was named Yongling in advance; she received the posthumous title Xiaolie; the emperor personally set the funeral rites, more lavish than before. When the rites were finished, an edict went out to the whole empire. At the end of the mourning period ritual officials proposed placing her tablet in the eastern side chamber of the Hall of Imperial Ancestors; the emperor said: "A side chamber there is improper—enshrine her at once in the Grand Temple." Grand Secretary Yan Song and others proposed a place in the eastern wing of the Grand Temple after Empress Rui, with a canopy in the Xian Temple to the right of the imperial ancestress, following the rite of enshrinement with a husband's paternal aunt. The emperor replied: "Enshrinement is too weighty a matter to settle by expedient. An empress is not an emperor but one who shares his shrine—there is a fixed order; what rite offers sacrifice in one place while keeping the tablet in another! Remove Emperor Renzong from the temple and enshrine her in the new order—at Our own place in the sequence; do not confuse the rites." Yan Song objected: "Subjects dare not propose a new order of enshrinement; moreover, yin cannot take yang's place." For the present he was told to place the tablet beside Empress Rui.

二十九年十月，帝終欲祔后太廟，命再議。尚書徐階言不可，給事中楊思忠是階議，餘無言者。帝覘知狀。及議疏入，謂：「后正位中宮，禮宜祔享，但遽及廟次，則臣子之情，不唯不敢，實不忍也。宜設位奉先殿。」帝震怒。階、思忠惶恐言：「周建九廟，三昭三穆。國朝廟制，同堂異室，與《周禮》不同。今太廟九室皆滿，若以聖躬論，仁宗當祧，固不待言，但此乃異日聖子神孫之事。臣聞夏人之廟五，商以七，周以九。禮由義起，五可七，七可九，九之外亦可加也。請於太廟及奉先殿各增二室，以祔孝烈，則仁宗可不必祧，孝烈皇后可速正南面之位，陛下亦無預祧以俟之嫌。」帝曰：「臣子之誼，當祧當祔，力請可也。苟禮得其正，何避豫為！」於是階等複會廷臣上言：「唐、虞、夏五廟，其祀皆止四世。周九廟，三昭三穆，然而兄弟相及，亦不能盡足六世。今仁宗為皇上五世祖，以聖躬論，仁宗於禮當祧，孝烈皇后於禮當祔。請祧仁宗，祔孝烈皇后於太廟第九室。」因上祧祔儀注。

In the tenth month of the twenty-ninth year the emperor still meant to enshrine her in the Grand Temple and ordered the matter debated again. Minister Xu Jie argued against it; supervising secretary Yang Sizhong sided with Xu; no one else spoke. The emperor saw how the court stood. When the memorial arrived, it read: "The empress rightly held the central palace and deserves enshrinement, but to alter the temple order so hastily—your subjects not only dare not, they truly cannot bear it. Set her place in the Hall of Imperial Ancestors instead." The emperor flew into a rage. Xu and Yang said in alarm: "The Zhou built nine temples with three zhao and three mu. Our dynasty's temples share one hall with separate chambers, unlike the Rites of Zhou. All nine chambers of the Grand Temple are full; for Your Majesty's sake Renzong ought to be removed—that goes without saying—but that is for sage sons and grandsons on another day. We are told the Xia kept five temples, the Shang seven, and the Zhou nine. Rites follow principle—five may become seven, seven nine, and beyond nine more may be added. Add two chambers each to the Grand Temple and the Hall of Imperial Ancestors to enshrine Xiaolie, and Renzong need not be removed; Empress Xiaolie can at once take her rightful place facing south, and Your Majesty avoids any appearance of removing an ancestor in advance." The emperor said: "As subjects, when removal or enshrinement is called for, you may press your case as hard as you like. If the rites are truly right, why shrink from acting now!" Xu and his colleagues then reconvened the court and memorialized: "The Tang, Yu, and Xia kept five temples, and their sacrifices reached only four generations. The Zhou built nine temples with three zhao and three mu, yet even when brothers succeeded one another, six generations could not all be housed. Renzong is now Your Majesty's five-generation ancestor; on Your Majesty's account Renzong ought by rite to be removed, and Empress Xiaolie ought by rite to be enshrined. Remove Renzong and enshrine Empress Xiaolie in the Grand Temple's ninth chamber." They then submitted the prescribed rites for removal and enshrinement.

已而請忌日祭，帝猶銜前議，報曰：「孝烈繼后，所奉者又入繼之君，忌不祭亦可。」階等請益力，帝曰：「非天子不議禮。后當祔廟，居朕室次，禮官顧謂今日未宜，徒飾說以惑眾聽。」因諭嚴嵩等曰：「禮官從朕言，勉強耳。即不忍祧仁宗，且置后主別廟，將來由臣下議處。忌日令奠一卮酒，不至傷情。」於是禮臣不敢復言，第請如敕行。乃許之。後二年，楊思忠為賀表觸忌，予杖削籍。隆慶初，與孝潔皇后同日上尊諡曰「孝烈端順敏惠恭誠祗天衛聖皇后」，移主弘孝殿。

They soon asked for death-anniversary sacrifices; the emperor, still smarting from the earlier dispute, replied: "Xiaolie was a successor empress, and the ruler she served was an adopted heir—skipping the anniversary sacrifice is acceptable." Xu pressed harder still; the emperor said: "Only the Son of Heaven may debate rites. The empress belongs in the temple beside my chamber, yet the rites officials claim the time is wrong—nothing but polished excuses to mislead the court." He then told Yan Song and the others: "The rites officials go along with me only grudgingly. If you cannot bear to remove Renzong, set up a separate shrine for the late empress for now and leave the final arrangement to your ministers later. On her death anniversary, offer a single cup of wine—that will not wound anyone's feelings." The rites officials dared say no more and asked only to carry out the edict. He granted their request. Two years later Yang Sizhong, in a congratulatory memorial, hit a taboo and was beaten with the stick and struck from the rolls. At the start of Longqing, on the same day as Empress Xiaojie, she received the elevated posthumous title "Empress Xiaolie Duanshun Minhui Gongcheng Zhitian Weisheng," and her tablet was moved to Hongxiao Hall.

孝恪杜太后，穆宗生母也，大興人。嘉靖十年封康嬪。十五年進封妃。三十三年正月薨。是時，穆宗以裕王居邸，禮部尚書歐陽德奏喪儀，請輟朝五日，裕王主喪事，遵高皇帝《孝慈錄》，斬衰三年。帝謂當避君父之尊。大學士嚴嵩言：「高帝命周王橚為孫貴妃服慈母服，斬衰三年。是年，《孝慈錄》成，遂為定制，自後久無是事。及茲當作則垂訓於后。」帝命比賢妃鄭氏故事：輟朝二日。賜諡榮淑，葬金山。穆宗立，上諡曰「孝恪淵純慈懿恭順贊天開聖皇太后」，遷葬永陵，祀主神霄殿。追封后父林為慶都伯，命其子繼宗嗣。

Empress Dowager Du, known posthumously as Xiaoke and birth mother of Emperor Muzong, came from Daxing. In the tenth year of the Jiajing reign she was made Lady Kang. In the fifteenth year she was promoted to consort. She died in the first month of the thirty-third year. Muzong was then Prince of Yu living in his mansion; Minister of Rites Ouyang De laid out the mourning rites, asking for five days' court suspension, with the prince presiding and wearing the severest three-year hemp mourning prescribed in the Founding Emperor's Record of Filial Affection. The emperor said one must respect the superior status of the ruler and father. Grand Secretary Yan Song said: "The Founding Emperor ordered Prince Zhou Xu to wear three years of severest hemp mourning for Grand Consort Sun as for a nurturing mother. That same year the Record of Filial Affection was finished and became standard practice; such cases had been rare ever since. When one arises now, it should set a precedent for generations to come." The emperor ordered the precedent of Noble Lady Zheng followed: two days' suspension of court. She received the posthumous name Rongshu and was buried at Jinshan. When Muzong took the throne she was given the posthumous title "Empress Dowager Xiaoke Yuanchun Ciyi Gongshun Zantian Kaisheng," reburied at Yongling, and her tablet placed in Shenxiao Hall. Her father Lin was posthumously made Marquis of Qingdu, and his son Jizong was appointed to inherit the title.

穆宗孝懿皇后李氏，昌平人。穆宗為裕王，選為妃，生憲懷太子。嘉靖三十七年四月薨。帝以部疏稱薨非制，命改稱故，葬金山。穆宗即位，諡曰「孝懿皇后」，封后父銘德平伯。神宗即位，上尊諡曰「孝懿貞惠順哲恭仁儷天襄聖莊皇后」，合葬昭陵，祔太廟。

Empress Li, known posthumously as Xiaoyi and consort of Emperor Muzong, came from Changping. While Muzong was Prince of Yu she was chosen as his consort and bore Crown Prince Xianhuai. She died in the fourth month of the thirty-seventh year of Jiajing. The emperor ruled that the ministry's use of "died" was improper and ordered it changed to "deceased"; she was buried at Jinshan. When Muzong took the throne he gave her the posthumous title "Empress Xiaoyi" and made her father Ming Marquis of Deping. When Shenzong ascended she received the elevated posthumous title "Empress Xiaoyi Zhenhui Shunzhe Gongren Litian Xiangsheng Zhuang," was buried with him at Zhaoling, and enshrined in the Grand Temple.

孝定李太后，神宗生母也，漷縣人。侍穆宗於裕邸。隆慶元年三月封貴妃。生神宗。即位，上尊號曰慈聖皇太后。舊制：天子立，尊皇后為皇太后，若有生母稱太后者，則加徽號以別之。是時，太監馮保欲媚貴妃，因以並尊風大學士張居正下廷臣議，尊皇后曰「仁聖皇太后」，貴妃曰「慈聖皇太后」，始無別矣。仁聖居慈慶宮，慈聖居慈寧宮。居正請太后視帝起居，乃徙居乾清宮。

Empress Dowager Li, known posthumously as Xiaoding and birth mother of Emperor Shenzong, came from Huoxian. She served Muzong while he was Prince of Yu. In the third month of the first year of Longqing she was made Imperial Noble Consort. She bore Shenzong. When he ascended the throne she was honored as Empress Dowager Cisheng. By old custom, when a new emperor took the throne the empress became Empress Dowager; if the birth mother also held that title, an honorific epithet distinguished the two. Then the eunuch Feng Bao, currying favor with the Noble Consort, pushed through Zhang Juzheng a joint elevation: the empress was styled "Empress Dowager Rensheng" and the Noble Consort "Empress Dowager Cisheng"—from the outset they were equals. Rensheng lived in Ciqing Palace; Cisheng in Cining Palace. Juzheng asked that she oversee the emperor's daily life, and she moved to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.

太后教帝頗嚴。帝或不讀書，即召使長跪。每御講筵入，嘗令效講臣進講於前。遇朝期，五更至帝寢所，呼曰「帝起」，敕左右掖帝坐，取水為盥面，挈之登輦以出。帝事太后惟謹，而諸內臣奉太后旨者，往往挾持太過。帝嘗在西城曲宴被酒，令內侍歌新聲，辭不能，取劍擊之。左右勸解，乃戲割其發。翼日，太后聞，傳語居正具疏切諫，令為帝草罪己御札。又召帝長跪，數其過。帝涕泣請改乃已。六年，帝大婚，太后將返慈寧宮，敕居正曰：「吾不能視皇帝朝夕，先生親受先帝付託，其朝夕納誨，終先帝憑幾之誼。」三月加尊號曰「宣文」。十年加「明肅」。十二年同仁聖太后謁山陵。二十九年加貞壽端獻。三十四年加恭熹。四十二年二月崩，上尊諡曰「孝定貞純欽仁端肅弼天祚聖皇太后」，合葬昭陵，別祀崇先殿。

The Empress Dowager raised the emperor with considerable strictness. If he neglected his books, she had him kneel for long stretches. Before each lecture session she often made him play the lecturer and recite a lesson in front of her. On court days, at the fifth watch she went to his bedchamber, called "Rise, Your Majesty," had attendants help him sit up, brought water to wash his face, and led him to the palanquin. The emperor treated her with scrupulous deference, but inner officials acting on her orders often abused her authority. Once, drunk at a private banquet in the western city, he ordered an attendant to sing a new song; when the man refused, the emperor struck him with a sword. Attendants pulled him off; he then jokingly cut the man's hair. The next day, hearing of it, she sent word to Juzheng to submit a sharp remonstrance and draft a self-reproach edict for the emperor. She also had the emperor kneel and listed his offenses one by one. He wept and promised to mend his ways before she relented. In the sixth year, as the emperor's grand wedding approached and she was to return to Cining Palace, she told Juzheng: "I can no longer watch over the emperor day and night; you personally received the late emperor's trust—guide him daily and honor the charge the late emperor gave you at his deathbed." In the third month "Xuanwen" was added to her titles. In the tenth year "Mingsu" was added. In the twelfth year she joined Empress Dowager Rensheng on a visit to the imperial tombs. In the twenty-ninth year Zhenshou Duandian was added. In the thirty-fourth year Gongxi was added. She died in the second month of the forty-second year and received the elevated posthumous title "Empress Dowager Xiaoding Zhenchun Qinren Duansu Bitian Zuosheng"; she was buried with the emperor at Zhaoling and separately enshrined at Chongxian Hall.

后性嚴明。萬曆初政，委任張居正，綜核名實，幾於富強，后之力居多。光宗之未冊立也，給事中姜應麟等疏請被謫，太后聞之弗善。一日，帝入侍，太后問故。帝曰：「彼都人子也。」太后大怒曰：「爾亦都人子！」帝惶恐，伏地不敢起。蓋內廷呼宮人曰「都人」，太后亦由宮人進，故云。光宗由是得立。群臣請福王之籓，行有日矣，鄭貴妃欲遲之明年，以祝太后誕為解。太后曰：「吾潞王亦可來上壽乎！」貴妃乃不敢留福王。御史曹學程以建言論死。太后憐其母老，言於帝，釋之。后父偉封武清伯。家人嘗有過，命中使出數之，而抵其家人於法。顧好佛，京師內外多置梵剎，動費鉅萬，帝亦助施無算。居正在日，嘗以為言，未能用也。

She was stern and clear-minded by nature. In the early Wanli years she backed Zhang Juzheng; he matched names to realities and nearly restored prosperity and strength—and her role was the largest. Before Guangzong was named heir, supervising secretaries Jiang Yinglin and others petitioned for his appointment and were demoted; the Empress Dowager was displeased when she heard. One day, as the emperor attended her, she asked why. The emperor said: "He is the son of a palace woman." The Empress Dowager flared up: "You are a palace woman's son too!" Terrified, he prostrated himself and did not dare rise. Within the palace, palace women were called "capital people"; the Empress Dowager had risen from that rank herself, which is why she said it. Guangzong was thereby made heir. When officials asked that the Prince of Fu leave for his fief—with a date already set—Noble Consort Zheng wanted to delay until the next year, citing the Empress Dowager's birthday. The Empress Dowager said: "Should my Prince of Lu also come to offer birthday wishes!" The Noble Consort then dared not keep the Prince of Fu any longer. Censor Cao Xuecheng was sentenced to death for speaking out. Pitying his elderly mother, the Empress Dowager appealed to the emperor and he was pardoned. Her father Wei was made Marquis of Wuqing. When members of her household once broke the law, she had eunuchs rebuke them but still handed the offenders over for punishment. Yet she was devoted to Buddhism; temples sprang up across the capital at a cost of tens of thousands each, and the emperor gave without counting. While Juzheng lived he raised the matter once but could not stop it.

神宗孝端皇后王氏，余姚人，生京師。萬曆六年冊立為皇后。性端謹，事孝定太后得其歡心。光宗在東宮，危疑者數矣，調護備至。鄭貴妃顓寵，后不較也。正位中宮者四十二年，以慈孝稱。四十八年四月崩，諡孝端。光宗即位，上尊諡曰「孝端貞恪莊惠仁明媲天毓聖顯皇后」。會帝崩，熹宗立，始上冊寶，合葬定陵，主祔廟。

Empress Wang, known posthumously as Xiaoduan and consort of Emperor Shenzong, came from Yuyao and was born in the capital. In the sixth year of Wanli she was invested as empress. Dignified and careful by nature, she won Empress Dowager Xiaoding's affection. While Guangzong was crown prince, he faced repeated crises; she shielded and cared for him throughout. Noble Consort Zheng held the emperor's exclusive favor; the empress did not compete. She held the central palace for forty-two years and was known for her kindness and filial devotion. She died in the fourth month of the forty-eighth year and received the posthumous name Xiaoduan. When Guangzong took the throne she received the elevated posthumous title "Empress Xiaoduan Zhenke Zhuanghui Renming Pitian Yusheng Xian." The emperor soon died; when Xizong ascended, her empress regalia was at last conferred, she was buried with him at Dingling, and her tablet was enshrined in the temple.

與后同日冊封者有昭妃劉氏。天啟、崇禎時，嘗居慈寧宮，掌太后璽。性謹厚，撫愛諸王。莊烈帝禮事之如大母。嘗以歲朝朝見，帝就便坐，俄假寐。太后戒勿驚，命尚衣謹護之。頃之，帝覺，攝衣冠起謝曰：「神祖時海內少事；今苦多難，兩夜省文書，未嘗交睫，在太妃前，困不自持如此。」太妃為之泣下。崇禎十五年薨，年八十有六。

Invested on the same day as the empress was Consort Liu, styled Zhaohui. Under the Tianqi and Chongzhen emperors she often lived in Cining Palace and held the empress dowager's seal. Careful and warm by nature, she nurtured the princes with affection. The Chongzhen Emperor honored her as a great imperial dowager. Once at the New Year audience she came to court; the emperor sat informally and soon fell asleep. She warned attendants not to wake him abruptly and told the Director of Imperial Wardrobe to guard him carefully. He soon woke, straightened his robes, and apologized: "In the Divine Ancestor's day the realm had few troubles; now hardship is everywhere; for two nights I have gone over documents without sleep—in your presence I was too exhausted to keep myself upright." The Grand Consort wept at his words. She died in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, at the age of eighty-six.

孝靖王太后，光宗生母也。初為慈寧宮宮人。年長矣，帝過慈寧，私幸之，有身。故事：宮中承寵，必有賞賚，文書房內侍記年月及所賜以為驗。時帝諱之，故左右無言者。一日，侍慈聖宴，語及之。帝不應。慈聖命取內起居注示帝，且好語曰：「吾老矣，猶未有孫。果男者，宗社福也。母以子貴，寧分差等耶？」十年四月封恭妃。八月，光宗生，是為皇長子。既而鄭貴妃生皇三子，進封皇貴妃，而恭妃不進封。二十九年冊立皇長子為皇太子，仍不封如故。三十四年，元孫生，加慈聖徽號，始進封皇貴妃。三十九年病革，光宗請旨得往省，宮門猶閉，抉鑰而入。妃目眚，手光宗衣而泣曰：「兒長大如此，我死何恨！」遂薨。大學士葉向高言：「皇太子母妃薨，禮宜從厚。」不報。復請，乃得允。諡溫肅端靖純懿皇貴妃，葬天壽山。

Empress Dowager Wang (Xiaojing), birth mother of Emperor Guangzong. She began as a maid in the Cining Palace. She was no longer young when the emperor passed through Cining, took her secretly to bed, and she conceived. By established custom, when a palace woman received the emperor's favor, gifts were always bestowed, and eunuchs of the Imperial Secretariat recorded the date and what was given as verification. The emperor wished to conceal the affair, so those at his side kept silent. One day at a banquet hosted by Empress Dowager Cisheng, the topic was raised. The emperor gave no answer. Empress Dowager Cisheng had the Inner Daily Records fetched to show the emperor and spoke gently: "I am old, and still have no grandson. If the child is a boy, that will be a blessing to the dynasty and the realm. A mother rises in station through her son—why cling to differences of rank?" In the fourth month of the tenth year she was created Consort Gong. In the eighth month Guangzong was born—the future crown prince and eldest son. Soon afterward Noble Consort Zheng bore the third imperial son and was raised to Imperial Noble Consort, while Consort Gong was passed over. In the twenty-ninth year the eldest son was formally named crown prince, yet she remained without further rank. In the thirty-fourth year, after the birth of a great-grandson and the granting of an honorific to Empress Dowager Cisheng, she was finally promoted to Imperial Noble Consort. In the thirty-ninth year, as she lay dying, Guangzong secured permission to see her, but found the gate still barred and broke the lock to enter. Her sight was failing; she seized Guangzong's sleeve and wept: "My son has grown so tall—what regret can I have in dying!" With that she died. Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao argued: "The crown prince's mother has died—the rites ought to be generous." The emperor did not respond. He memorialized again, and only then was approval granted. She was posthumously titled Imperial Noble Consort Wensu Duanjing Chunyi and interred at Tianshou Mountain.

光宗即位，下詔曰：「朕嗣承基緒，撫臨萬方，溯厥慶源，則我生母溫肅端靖純懿皇貴妃恩莫大焉。朕昔在青宮，莫親溫凊，今居禁闥，徒痛桮棬，欲伸罔極之深悰，惟有肇稱乎殷禮。其準皇祖穆宗皇帝尊生母榮淑康妃故事，禮部詳議以聞。」會崩，熹宗即位，上尊諡曰「孝靖溫懿敬讓貞慈參天胤聖皇太后」，遷葬定陵，祀奉慈殿。后父天瑞，封永寧伯。

At Guangzong's accession he proclaimed: "Having taken up the foundational inheritance and coming to rule all under Heaven, I trace the wellspring of my fortune—and no debt is greater than that owed my birth mother, Imperial Noble Consort Wensu Duanjing Chunyi. In the Eastern Palace I could not care for her comfort; now within the inner palace I can only mourn over daily offerings. To express the depth of filial devotion I owe her, I must begin with the ancient rites of honoring a royal mother. Let the Ministry of Rites follow the precedent set when our imperial ancestor Emperor Muzong honored his birth mother, Consort Rongshu Kang, deliberate fully, and report back." Before this could be enacted Guangzong died; when Xizong ascended the throne, she received the elevated posthumous title Empress Dowager Xiaojing Wenyi Jingrang Zhenci Cantian Yin Sheng, was reinterred at Dingling, and given offerings in the Fengci Hall. Her father Tianrui was created Baron of Yongning.

恭恪貴妃鄭氏，大興人。萬曆初入宮，封貴妃，生皇三子，進皇貴妃。帝寵之。外廷疑妃有立己子謀。群臣爭言立儲事，章奏累數千百，皆指斥宮闈，攻擊執政。帝概置不問。由是門戶之禍大起。萬曆二十九年春，皇長子移迎禧宮，十月立為皇太子，而疑者仍未已。

Noble Consort Zheng (posthumous honorific Gongke), a native of Daxing. Early in the Wanli reign she entered the palace, was created noble consort, bore the third imperial son, and was raised to imperial noble consort. The emperor doted on her. Officials outside the palace suspected she intended to name her own son as heir. Ministers repeatedly debated succession; thousands of memorials piled up, denouncing the inner palace and assailing the men in power. For the most part the emperor ignored them. From this sprang the great calamity of partisan factional warfare. In the spring of Wanli 29 the eldest son moved into the Xiying Palace; in the tenth month he was named crown prince, yet suspicion did not end.

先是，侍郎呂坤為按察使時，嘗集《閨範圖說》。太監陳矩見之，持以進帝。帝賜妃，妃重刻之，坤無與也。二十六年秋，或撰《閨範圖說跋》，名曰《憂危竑議》，匿其名，盛傳京師，謂《坤書》首載漢明德馬后由宮人進位中宮，意以指妃，而妃之刊刻，實藉此為立己子之據。其文托「硃東吉」為問答。「東吉」者，東朝也。其名《憂危》，以坤曾有《憂危》一疏，因藉其名以諷，蓋言妖也。妃兄國泰、侄承恩以給事中戴士衡嘗糾坤，全椒知縣樊玉衡並糾貴妃，疑出自二人手。帝重謫二人，而置妖言不問。逾五年，《續憂危竑議》復出。是時太子已立，大學士硃賡得是書以聞。書托「鄭福成」為問答。「鄭福成」者，謂鄭之福王當成也。大略言：「帝於東宮不得已而立，他日必易。其特用硃賡內閣者，實寓更易之義。」詞尤詭妄，時皆謂之妖書。帝大怒，敕錦衣衛搜捕甚急。久之，乃得皦生光者，坐極刑，語詳郭正域、沈鯉傳。

Earlier, while serving as provincial surveillance commissioner, Vice Minister Lü Kun had compiled Illustrations and Explanations of Women's Virtues in the Inner Quarters. Eunuch Chen Ju obtained a copy and presented it to the emperor. The emperor gave it to the consort, who had it reprinted—Kun had nothing to do with that. In the autumn of the twenty-sixth year someone anonymously composed a postface to Illustrations and Explanations of Women's Virtues in the Inner Quarters, titled Discussion of Youwei Jiyong; it circulated widely in the capital, arguing that Lü Kun's book opened with Han Empress Ma the Mingde, who rose from palace maid to empress—a pointed allusion to the consort—and that her reprinting was meant to lend credence to naming her own son as heir. The essay posed its argument as a dialogue under the pseudonym "Zhu Dongji." "Dongji" stood for the Eastern Court—the heir apparent. The title Youwei alluded to a memorial on peril that Lü Kun had once submitted; by borrowing his name it offered satire—in essence, sedition posing as prophecy. The consort's brother Guotai and nephew Chengen, recalling that Censor Dai Shiheng had once impeached Lü Kun and that Fan Yuheng, magistrate of Quanjiao, had also impeached the noble consort, suspected those two were the authors. The emperor heavily punished the two men but ignored the seditious text itself. More than five years later A Continuation of the Youwei Jiyong Discussion circulated again. By then the crown prince was already named; Grand Secretary Zhu Geng obtained the tract and reported it to the throne. The tract cast its argument as a dialogue under the name "Zheng Fucheng." "Zheng Fucheng" meant that the Zheng family's Prince of Fu was destined to succeed. It declared in essence: "The emperor named the Eastern Palace heir only under compulsion; one day the heir will surely be changed. Its especial use of Grand Secretary Zhu Geng was a coded hint at replacing the heir." The language was especially wild and seditious; contemporaries called it a demon book—a text of sedition. The emperor flew into a rage and ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard to hunt down the authors with all speed. After a long search a man named Jiao Shengguang was seized and executed; the full account appears in the biographies of Guo Zhengyu and Shen Li.

四十一年，百戶王曰乾又告變，言奸人孔學等為巫蠱，將不利於聖母及太子，語亦及妃。賴大學士葉向高勸帝以靜處之，而速福王之籓，以息群言。事乃寢。其後「梃擊」事起，主事王之寀疏言張差獄情，詞連貴妃宮內侍龐保、劉成等，朝議氵匈氵匈。貴妃聞之，對帝泣。帝曰：「外廷語不易解，若須自求太子。」貴妃向太子號訴。貴妃拜，太子亦拜。帝又於慈寧宮太后几筵前召見群臣，令太子降諭禁株連，於是張差獄乃定。神宗崩，遺命封妃皇后。禮部侍郎孫如游爭之，乃止。及光宗崩，有言妃與李選侍同居乾清宮謀垂簾聽政者，久之始息。

In the forty-first year, company commander Wang Rigana lodged a report of treason, alleging that men such as Kong Xue had used witchcraft against the Holy Mother and crown prince—and implicating the consort as well. Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao persuaded the emperor to stay calm and speed the Prince of Fu to his fief, quieting public uproar. The matter died down. Later came the Club Assault affair: Section Director Wang Zhicai memorialized on Zhang Chai's case, implicating eunuchs Pang Bao and Liu Cheng of the noble consort's household; court opinion boiled over. When the noble consort heard of it, she wept before the emperor. The emperor said: "This talk outside the palace will not easily die away—you had best go yourself and appeal to the crown prince." The noble consort went to the crown prince and poured out her grief. The noble consort kowtowed, and the crown prince kowtowed in return. The emperor again assembled the ministers before the memorial tablet of the Cining Empress Dowager and had the crown prince issue orders forbidding guilt by association; Zhang Chai's case was finally closed. At Shenzong's death his final injunction was to create the consort empress. Vice Minister of Rites Sun Ruyou objected, and the plan was abandoned. After Guangzong's death, rumors spread that the consort and Selected Attendant Li, dwelling together in the Qianqing Palace, meant to rule from behind a screen; the talk subsided only slowly.

崇禎三年七月薨，諡「恭恪惠榮和靖皇貴妃」，葬銀泉山。

She died in the seventh month of Chongzhen 3 and was posthumously titled Imperial Noble Consort Gongke Huirong Hejing; she was buried at Yinquan Mountain.

光宗孝元皇后郭氏，順天人。父維城以女貴，封博平伯，進侯。卒，兄振明嗣。后於萬曆二十九年冊為皇太子妃。四十一年十一月薨，諡恭靖。熹宗即位，上尊諡曰「孝元昭懿哲惠莊仁合天弼聖貞皇后」，遷葬慶陵，祔廟。

Empress Guo (posthumous name Xiaoyuan), consort of Emperor Guangzong, came from Shuntian. Her father Weicheng was ennobled when his daughter rose in rank—first as Baron of Boping, then as marquis. At his death her elder brother Zhenming inherited the title. In Wanli 29 she was formally installed as crown prince's consort. She died in the eleventh month of the forty-first year and received the posthumous name Gongjing. At Xizong's accession she received the elevated posthumous title Empress Xiaoyuan Zhaoyi Zhehui Zhuangren Hetian Bisheng Zhen, was reinterred at Qingling, and joined the imperial temple rites.

孝和王太后，熹宗生母也，順天人。侍光宗東宮，為選侍。萬曆三十二年進才人。四十七年三月薨。熹宗即位，上尊諡曰「孝和恭獻溫穆徽慈諧天鞠聖皇太后」，遷葬慶陵，祀奉先殿。崇禎十一年三月以加上孝純太后尊諡，於御用監得后及孝靖太后玉冊玉寶，始命有司獻於廟。忠賢黨王體乾坐怠玩，論死。蓋距上諡時十有八年矣。

Empress Dowager Wang (Xiaohe), birth mother of Xizong, came from Shuntian. She served in Guangzong's Eastern Palace as a selected attendant. In Wanli 32 she was promoted to Lady of Talent. She died in the third month of the forty-seventh year. At Xizong's accession she received the elevated posthumous title Empress Dowager Xiaohe Gongxian Wenmu Huici Xietian Jusheng, was reinterred at Qingling, and given offerings in the Fengxian Hall. In the third month of Chongzhen 11, while adding honorific titles for Empress Dowager Xiaochun, jade registers and seals for the empress and Empress Dowager Xiaojing were recovered from the Directorate of Imperial Manufactories; only then were officials ordered to present them at the temple. Wang Ti'gan, a follower of Wei Zhongxian, was found guilty of negligence and condemned to death. Fully eighteen years had passed since those titles were first granted.

孝純劉太后，莊烈帝生母也，海州人，后籍宛平。初入宮為淑女。萬曆三十八年十二月生莊烈皇帝。已，失光宗意，被譴，薨。光宗中悔，恐神宗知之，戒掖庭勿言，葬於西山。及莊烈帝長，封信王，追進賢妃。時莊烈帝居勗勤宮，問近侍曰：「西山有申懿王墳乎？」曰：「有。」「傍有劉娘娘墳乎？」曰：「有。」每密付金錢往祭。及即位，上尊諡曰「孝純恭懿淑穆莊靜毘天毓聖皇太后」，遷葬慶陵。

Empress Dowager Liu (Xiaochun), birth mother of the Chongzhen Emperor, came from Haizhou; her household was registered at Wanping. She first entered the palace as a palace lady. In the twelfth month of Wanli 38 she bore the future Chongzhen Emperor. Soon afterward she fell from Guangzong's favor, was punished, and died. Guangzong later regretted the matter, fearing Shenzong would discover it; he ordered the inner palace to keep silent and had her buried on Western Hill. When he came of age and was enfeoffed as Prince of Xin, she was posthumously created Consort Xian. While living in the Xunqin Palace, the future Chongzhen Emperor asked his attendants: "On Western Hill, is there the tomb of Prince Shenyi?" They answered: "There is." "And beside it, is there the tomb of Lady Liu?" They answered: "There is." He secretly sent money for offerings again and again. At his accession she received the elevated posthumous title Empress Dowager Xiaochun Gongyi Shumu Zhuangjing Bitian Yusheng and was reinterred at Qingling.

帝五歲失太后，問左右遺像，莫能得。傅懿妃者，舊與太后同為淑女，比宮居，自稱習太后，言宮人中狀貌相類者，命后母瀛國太夫人指示畫工，可意得也。圖成，由正陽門具法駕迎入。帝跪迎於午門，懸之宮中，呼老宮婢視之，或曰似，或曰否。帝雨泣，六宮皆泣。

He was five when he lost his mother; he asked those around him for her portrait, but none could be found. Imperial Concubine Fu Yi had once entered the palace as a palace lady alongside the empress dowager; now living in the inner quarters, she claimed intimate knowledge of the empress dowager and said that among palace women there were those of similar appearance; the empress dowager's mother, the Grand Lady of Yingguo, was told to guide the painters until a likeness met with the emperor's approval. When the portrait was finished, it was escorted through the Zhengyang Gate with full imperial ceremony. The emperor knelt to receive it at the Meridian Gate, had it hung in the palace, and called old palace women to judge it—some said it resembled her, some said it did not. The emperor wept openly, and every woman of the inner palace wept with him.

故事：生母忌日不設祭，不服青。十五年六月，帝以太后故，欲追前代生繼七后，同建一廟，以展孝思。乃御德政殿，召大學士及禮臣入，問曰：「太廟之制，一帝一后，祧廟亦然，歷朝繼后及生母凡七位皆不得與，即宮中奉先殿亦尚無祭，奈何？」禮部侍郎蔣德璟曰：「奉先殿外尚有奉慈殿，所以奉繼后及生母者，雖廢可舉也。」帝曰：「奉慈殿外，尚有弘孝、神霄、本恩諸殿。」德璟曰：「內廷規制，臣等未悉。孝宗建奉慈殿，嘉靖間廢之，今未知尚有舊基否？」帝曰：「奉慈已撤，惟奉先尚可拓也。」於是別置一殿，祀孝純及七后云。

By established custom, on a birth mother's death anniversary no rites were performed and mourners did not wear blue. In the sixth month of the fifteenth year, moved by devotion to his mother, the emperor proposed honoring the seven birth and stepmothers of prior reigns together in a single temple, to fulfill his filial intent. He then held audience at the Dezheng Hall, summoned grand secretaries and ritual officials, and asked: "The Grand Ancestral Temple allows one empress per emperor, and the collateral temples follow the same rule. Seven birth and stepmothers from prior reigns may not share in those rites; even within the palace the Fengxian Hall offers them no sacrifice. What can be done? Vice Minister of Rites Jiang Dejing replied: "Beyond the Fengxian Hall stands the Fengci Hall, erected to enshrine stepmothers and birth mothers alike. Though it was abandoned, the precedent can be restored." The emperor said: "Beyond the Fengci Hall lie the Hongxiao, Shenxiao, and Ben'en halls as well." Dejing said: "We ministers are not fully acquainted with the inner court's regulations. Emperor Xiaozong had built the Fengci Hall, which was dismantled in the Jiajing reign. Whether any remnant of its original site survives is now unknown." The emperor said: "The Fengci Hall is gone; only the Fengxian Hall can still be enlarged." A separate hall was then established to honor Empress Xiaochun together with the seven empresses.

康妃李氏，光宗選侍也。時宮中有二李選侍，人稱東、西李。康妃者，西李也，最有寵，嘗撫視熹宗及莊烈帝。光宗即位，不豫，召大臣入，帝御暖閣，憑幾，命封選侍為皇貴妃。選侍趣熹宗出曰：「欲封后。」帝不應。禮部侍郎孫如游奏曰：「今兩太后及元妃、才人諡號俱未上，俟四大禮舉行後未晚。」既而帝崩，選侍尚居乾清宮，外廷恟懼，疑選侍欲聽政。大學士劉一燝、吏部尚書周嘉謨、兵科都給事中楊漣、御史左光斗等上疏力爭，選侍移居仁壽殿。事詳一燝、漣傳。

Lady of Imperial Favor Li was a consort-attendant of Emperor Guangzong. At that time two Li consort-attendants served in the palace, known as Eastern Li and Western Li. The Lady of Imperial Favor was Western Li, the favorite of the two; she had once helped raise both Emperor Xizong and the future Emperor Zhuanglie. When Guangzong ascended the throne he was already ill. Summoning his ministers, he received them in the warm pavilion, leaned on his armrest, and ordered that the consort-attendant be promoted to Noble Imperial Consort. The consort-attendant sent the young Xizong out and said: "I want to be made empress. The emperor made no answer. Vice Minister of Rites Sun Ruyou submitted a memorial: "The posthumous titles of the two empress dowagers, the primary consort, and the imperial ladies have yet to be announced. There is no harm in waiting until the four state mourning rites are complete. Before long the emperor died, but the consort-attendant remained in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The court outside grew frightened, suspecting she intended to rule from behind the curtain. Grand Secretary Liu Yipao, Minister of Personnel Zhou Jiamo, Yang Lian of the Bureau of War, Censor Zuo Guangdou, and others memorialized in vigorous protest, and the consort-attendant was moved to the Hall of Benevolent Longevity. The full account appears in the biographies of Liu Yipao and Yang Lian.

熹宗即位，降敕暴選侍凌毆聖母因致崩逝及妄覬垂簾狀。而御史賈繼春進安選侍揭，與周朝瑞爭駁不已。帝复降敕曰：「九月一日，皇考賓天，大臣入宮哭臨畢，因請朝見。選侍阻朕暖閣，司禮監官固請，乃得出。既許复悔，又使李進忠等再三趣回。及朕至乾清丹陛，進忠等猶牽朕衣不釋。甫至前宮門，又數數遣人令朕還，毋御文華殿也。此諸臣所目睹。察選侍行事，明欲要挾朕躬，垂簾聽政。朕蒙皇考令選侍撫視，飲膳衣服皆皇祖、皇考賜也。選侍侮慢凌虐，朕晝夜涕泣。皇考自知其誤，時加勸慰。若避宮不早，則爪牙成列，朕且不知若何矣。選侍因毆崩聖母，自忖有罪，每使宮人竊伺，不令朕與聖母舊侍言，有輒捕去。朕之苦衷，外廷豈能盡悉。乃諸臣不念聖母，惟黨選侍，妄生謗議，輕重失倫，理法焉在！朕今停選侍封號，以慰聖母在天之靈；厚養選侍及皇八妹，以敬遵皇考之意。爾諸臣可以仰體朕心矣。」已，复屢旨詰責繼春，繼春遂削籍去。

When Xizong ascended the throne, he issued an edict denouncing the consort-attendant for abusing the empress dowager until her death and for scheming to rule from behind the curtain. Censor Jia Jichun, however, submitted a memorial in the consort-attendant's defense, and he and Zhou Chaorui quarreled on without end. The emperor issued another edict: "On the first day of the ninth month my late father passed away. After the ministers entered the palace to mourn, they asked to receive me in audience. The consort-attendant kept me in the warm pavilion. Only when the eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonies pressed again and again was I allowed to emerge. She consented, then changed her mind, and sent Li Jinzhong and others time after time to bring me back. Even when I reached the vermilion steps of the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Jinzhong and his men still clutched my robes and would not let go. Hardly had I reached the outer palace gate when messengers were sent again and again telling me to go back and not proceed to the Wenhua Hall. This the ministers saw with their own eyes. From the consort-attendant's actions it is plain she meant to seize control of my person and rule from behind the curtain. My late father had entrusted me to the consort-attendant's care; my food, drink, and clothing were all gifts from my grandfather and father. Yet the consort-attendant treated me with contempt and cruelty, and day and night I wept. My late father recognized his mistake and often tried to comfort me. Had I not left the palace in time, her minions would have gathered in force, and God knows what would have become of me. Having beaten the empress dowager to death, the consort-attendant knew herself guilty; she posted palace women to spy on me and forbade me to speak with the empress dowager's old attendants—any who did were seized at once. The court outside could hardly know the full measure of my suffering. Yet you ministers, forgetting the empress dowager, took the consort-attendant's side instead, spreading reckless slander until rank and justice were overturned. Where was principle? Where was law? I now withhold the consort-attendant's title and honors, to console the empress dowager's spirit in Heaven; Yet I shall provide generously for the consort-attendant and my eighth imperial sister, in dutiful fulfillment of my late father's wishes. You ministers should understand my heart in this. Afterward repeated edicts censured Jichun, and he was stripped of his official status and dismissed.

是時，熹宗初即位，委任司禮太監王安，故敕諭如此。久之，魏忠賢亂政。四年封選侍為康妃。五年修《三朝要典》，漣、光斗等皆得罪死，復召繼春，與前旨大異矣。久之，始卒。莊妃李氏，即所稱東李者也。仁慈寡言笑，位居西李前，而寵不及。莊烈帝幼失母，育於西李。既而西李生女，光宗改命東李撫視。天啟元年二月封莊妃。魏忠賢、客氏用事，惡妃持正，宮中禮數多被裁損，憤鬱薨。崇禎初，詔賜妃弟成楝田產。

At the time Xizong had just ascended the throne and relied on Eunuch-Director Wang An of the Directorate of Ceremonies; hence these edicts took the form they did. In time Wei Zhongxian came to dominate and corrupt the government. In the fourth year the consort-attendant was ennobled as Lady of Imperial Favor Kang. In the fifth year the Three Dynasties Essentials was compiled; Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, and others were condemned and executed. Jichun was recalled—a far cry from the earlier edicts. Long afterward she died at last. Lady of Imperial Favor Zhuang Li was the woman known as Eastern Li. Gentle and reserved, she seldom spoke or laughed. Her rank preceded Western Li's, yet she never won comparable favor. Emperor Zhuanglie lost his mother young and was raised by Western Li. When Western Li later bore a daughter, Guangzong transferred the young prince to Eastern Li's care. In the second month of Tianqi 1 she was granted the title Lady of Imperial Favor Zhuang. Under Wei Zhongxian and Madame Ke, who resented her integrity, many of her ceremonial honors in the palace were stripped away, and she died of wounded pride. Early in the Chongzhen reign, an edict granted her younger brother Cheng Dong fields and estates.

選侍趙氏者，光宗時，未有封號。熹宗即位，忠賢、客氏惡之，矯旨賜自盡。選侍以光宗賜物列案上，西向禮佛，痛哭自經死。

Consort-attendant Zhao had held no title during Guangzong's reign. When Xizong ascended the throne, Zhongxian and Madame Ke, who despised her, forged an edict ordering her to take her own life. She arranged on a table the gifts Guangzong had given her, bowed westward to the Buddha, wept bitterly, and hanged herself.

熹宗懿安皇后張氏，祥符人。父國紀，以女貴，封太康伯。天啟元年四月冊為皇后。性嚴正，數於帝前言客氏、魏忠賢過失。嘗召客氏至，欲繩以法。客、魏交恨，遂誣后非國紀女，幾惑帝聽。三年，后有娠，客、魏盡逐宮人異己者，而以其私人承奉，竟損元子。帝嘗至後宮，后方讀書。帝問何書。對曰：「《趙高傳》也。」帝默然。時宮門有匿名書烈忠賢逆狀者，忠賢疑出國紀及被逐諸臣手。其黨邵輔忠、孫杰等，欲因此興大獄，盡殺東林諸臣，而藉國紀以搖動中宮，冀事成則立魏良卿女為后。順天府丞劉志選偵知之，首上疏劾國紀，御史梁夢環繼之，會有沮者乃已。及熹宗大漸，折忠賢逆謀、傳位信王者，后力也。莊烈帝上尊號曰「懿安皇后」。十七年三月，李自成陷都城，后自縊。順治元年，世祖章皇帝命合葬熹宗陵。

Empress Yi'an Zhang, consort of Emperor Xizong, was from Xiangfu. Her father Guo Ji was ennobled as Marquis of Taikang when his daughter's elevation brought the family honor. In the fourth month of Tianqi 1 she was formally invested as empress. Stern and upright by nature, she often spoke to the emperor of the misconduct of Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian. She once summoned Madame Ke, intending to hold her accountable under the law. Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian turned on her and falsely claimed the empress was not Guo Ji's daughter, nearly swaying the emperor's belief. In the third year the empress became pregnant. Ke and Wei expelled every palace woman who was not their own and replaced them with their creatures, ultimately costing the heir his life. Once when the emperor came to the inner quarters, he found the empress reading. He asked what she was reading. She answered: "The Biography of Zhao Gao. The emperor said nothing. An anonymous placard then appeared at the palace gate denouncing Wei Zhongxian's treachery; he suspected Guo Ji and the expelled officials were behind it. His allies Shao Fuzhong and Sun Jie sought to exploit the affair to launch a sweeping prosecution, wipe out the Donglin faction, and use Guo Ji to undermine the empress, hoping ultimately to install Wei Liangqing's daughter on the throne. Liu Zhixuan, assistant prefect of Shuntian, learned of the plot and was first to impeach Guo Ji; Censor Liang Menghuan followed suit. Only when others intervened was the scheme halted. When Xizong lay dying, it was the empress who thwarted Wei Zhongxian's conspiracy and ensured the throne passed to the Prince of Xin. Emperor Zhuanglie honored her with the title Empress Yi'an. In the third month of the seventeenth year, when Li Zicheng took the capital, the empress hanged herself. In Shunzhi 1 the Shizu Emperor ordered her buried with Xizong in his mausoleum.

裕妃張氏，熹宗妃也。性直烈。客、魏恚其異己，幽於別宮，絕其飲食。天雨，妃匍匐飲簷溜而死。又慧妃范氏者，生悼懷太子不育，复失寵。李成妃侍寢，密為慧妃乞憐。客、魏知之怒，亦幽成妃於別宮。妃預藏食物簷瓦間，閉宮中半月不死，斥為宮人。崇禎初，皆復位號。

Lady of Imperial Favor Yu Zhang was a consort of Emperor Xizong. She was forthright and unyielding by nature. Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian, resenting her independence, shut her in a separate palace and cut off her food and drink. When rain fell, she crawled to drink water from the eaves and died. There was also Lady of Imperial Favor Hui Fan, who bore Crown Prince Daohuai; when the child did not survive, she fell from favor once more. Lady of Imperial Favor Li Cheng, sharing the emperor's bed, secretly interceded for Lady Fan. Madame Ke and Wei Zhongxian learned of this and, enraged, confined Lady Li Cheng in a separate palace as well. She had hidden food under the eaves; though shut away for half a month she survived, and was demoted to the rank of palace maid. Early in the Chongzhen reign their titles were all restored.

莊烈帝愍皇后周氏，其先蘇州人，徙居大興。天啟中，選入信邸。時神宗劉昭妃攝太后寶，宮中之政悉禀成於熹宗張皇后。故事：宮中選大婚，一后以二貴人陪；中選，則皇太后幕以青紗帕，取金玉跳脫係其臂；不中，即以年月帖子納淑女袖，侑以銀幣遣還。懿安疑后弱，昭妃曰：「今雖弱，後必長大。」因冊為信王妃。帝即位，立為皇后。

Empress Min Zhou, consort of Emperor Zhuanglie, came from a Suzhou family that had moved to Daxing. During the Tianqi reign she was chosen to enter the household of the Prince of Xin. At the time Empress Zhaohui Liu of Shenzong held the empress dowager's seal; all inner-palace affairs were decided by Empress Zhang of Xizong. By custom, when the palace selected candidates for an imperial wedding, one empress was chosen with two noble ladies as attendants; if a girl was chosen, the empress dowager veiled her with a green gauze scarf and fastened a gold and jade bracelet on her arm; if she was not chosen, a slip noting the date was tucked into her sleeve and she was sent home with a gift of silver. Empress Yi'an thought the girl too slight; Empress Zhaohui said: "She may be slight now, but she will surely fill out in time. On that basis she was invested as consort of the Prince of Xin. When he ascended the throne, she was made empress.

后性嚴慎。嘗以寇急，微言曰：「吾南中尚有一家居。」帝問之，遂不語，蓋意在南遷也。至他政事，則未嘗預。田貴妃有寵而驕，后裁之以禮。歲元日，寒甚，田妃來朝，翟車止廡下。后良久方御坐，受其拜，拜已遽下，無他言。而袁貴妃之朝也，相見甚歡，語移時。田妃聞而大恨，向帝泣。帝嘗在交泰殿與后語不合，推后僕地，后憤不食。帝悔，使中使持貂裀賜后，且問起居。妃尋以過斥居啟祥宮，三月不召。一日，后侍帝於永和門看花，請召妃。帝不應。后遽令以車迎之，乃相見如初。帝以寇亂茹蔬。后見帝容體日瘁，具饌將進，而瀛國夫人奏適至，曰：「夜夢孝純太后歸，語帝瘁而泣，且曰：『為我語帝，食毋過苦。』」帝持奏入宮，后適進饌。帝追念孝純，且感后意，因出奏示后，再拜舉匕箸，相向而泣，淚盈盈沾案。

The empress was strict and self-restrained by nature. Once, with rebels pressing hard, she said quietly: "We still have a home in the south. When the emperor pressed her, she fell silent; she had evidently been thinking of flight to the south. In other matters of government she never intervened. Consort Tian, favored and imperious, was held in check by the empress through strict observance of ritual. On New Year's Day the cold was bitter. When Consort Tian came to court, her carriage was halted beneath the corridor. The empress waited a long time before taking her seat, accepted the bow, and then immediately stepped down without another word. When Consort Yuan came to court, by contrast, they greeted each other warmly and talked at length. Consort Tian heard of this and was bitterly resentful; she wept before the emperor. Once in the Jiaotai Hall the emperor quarreled with the empress and shoved her to the floor. In her anger she refused to eat. The emperor repented and sent a palace envoy with a sable rug as a gift, asking after her health. Consort Tian was soon banished to the Qixiang Palace for some offense and went uncalled for three months. One day, while attending the emperor at the Yonghe Gate to view the flowers, the empress asked that Consort Tian be summoned. The emperor would not agree. The empress immediately sent a carriage for her, and they were reconciled as before. With rebels ravaging the realm, the emperor lived on vegetables alone. Seeing the emperor grow thinner day by day, the empress prepared a meal to bring him; just then a memorial arrived from the Lady of Ying: "I dreamed last night that Empress Dowager Xiaochun returned, spoke of the emperor's wasting away and wept, saying, 'Tell the emperor for me: do not eat too sparingly. The emperor entered the palace with the memorial just as the empress arrived with the meal.' Moved by thoughts of Xiaochun and the empress's care, he showed her the memorial; they bowed, raised their chopsticks, and wept face to face until tears brimmed over the table.

崇禎十七年三月十八日暝，都城陷，帝泣語后曰：「大事去矣。」后頓首曰：「妾事陛下十有八年，卒不聽一語，至有今日。」乃撫太子、二王慟哭，遣之出宮。帝令后自裁。后入室闔戶，宮人出奏，猶云「皇后領旨」。后遂先帝崩。帝又命袁貴妃自縊，系絕，久之蘇。帝拔劍斫其肩，又斫所御妃嬪數人，袁妃卒不殊。世祖章皇帝定鼎，諡后曰「莊烈愍皇后」，與帝同葬田貴妃寢園，名曰「思陵」。下所司給袁妃居宅，贍養終其身。

At dusk on the eighteenth day of the third month of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen the capital fell; weeping, the emperor told the empress: "All is lost." The empress kowtowed and said: "I have served Your Majesty eighteen years, yet you would not heed a single word of mine—and so we have come to this." She embraced the crown prince and the two princes, wept bitterly, and sent them from the palace. The emperor ordered the empress to kill herself. The empress went to her chamber and closed the door; a palace woman came out to report that the empress had received the decree. The empress died before the emperor. The emperor also ordered Consort Yuan to hang herself; the cord snapped, and after a long while she revived. The emperor drew his sword and struck her shoulder, then struck down several favored consorts; Consort Yuan alone survived. When the Shizu Zhang Emperor took the throne, she was posthumously titled Empress Zhuanglie Min and buried with the emperor in Consort Tian's mausoleum precinct, called Siling. The authorities were ordered to provide Consort Yuan with a residence and maintain her for life.

有宮人魏氏者，當賊入宮，大呼曰：「我輩必遭賊污，有志者早為計。」遂躍入御河死，頃間從死者一二百人。宮人費氏，年十六，自投眢井中。賊鉤出，見其姿容，爭奪之。費氏紿曰：「我長公主也。」群賊不敢逼，擁見李自成。自成命中官審視之，非是，以賞部校羅某者。費氏复紿羅曰：「我實天潢，義難苟合，將軍宜擇吉成禮。」羅喜，置酒極歡。費氏懷利刃，俟羅醉，斷其喉立死。因自詫曰：「我一弱女子，殺一賊帥足矣。」遂自刎死。自成聞大驚，令收葬之。

When the rebels entered the palace, a palace woman surnamed Wei cried out: "We shall surely be defiled by the rebels—let those with resolve act now." She leaped into the Imperial River and died; within moments one or two hundred followed. A palace woman named Fei, sixteen years old, threw herself into a dry well. The rebels fished her out, saw her beauty, and fought over her. Fei deceived them: "I am the eldest princess." The rebels did not dare molest her and escorted her to Li Zicheng. Zicheng had palace eunuchs examine her; she was not the princess, and he gave her as a reward to a company commander named Luo. Fei deceived Luo again: "I am truly of the imperial blood; I cannot yield to force—General, choose an auspicious day for the wedding rites." Luo was delighted and set out wine for a great feast. Fei hid a sharp blade; when Luo was drunk she cut his throat and killed him instantly. She said to herself: "I, a weak woman, have killed one rebel chieftain—that is enough." She then cut her own throat and died. Zicheng, hearing of it, was greatly shocked and ordered her properly buried.

恭淑貴妃田氏，陝西人，后家揚州。父弘遇以女貴，官左都督，好佚遊，為輕俠。妃生而纖妍，性寡言，多才藝，侍莊烈帝於信邸。崇禎元年封禮妃，進皇貴妃。宮中有夾道，暑月駕行幸，御蓋行日中。妃命作蘧篨覆之，從者皆得休息。又易小黃門之舁輿者以宮婢。帝聞，以為知禮。嘗有過，謫別宮省愆。所生皇五子，薨於別宮，妃遂病。十五年七月薨。諡恭淑端惠靜懷皇貴妃，葬昌平天壽山，即思陵也。

Imperial Noble Consort Gongshu Tian came from Shaanxi; the empress's family was from Yangzhou. Her father Hongyu, elevated by his daughter's rank to Left Chief Commander, loved dissolute pleasures and was known as a swaggering rake. She was born slender and beautiful, quiet by nature, accomplished in many arts, and served the Chongzhen Emperor when he was Prince of Xin. In the first year of Chongzhen she was made Li consort and then promoted to imperial noble consort. The palace had covered passages; in summer when the emperor traveled in his carriage, the imperial canopy still passed through the midday sun. She ordered rush matting spread overhead so that all who followed could rest in the shade. She also replaced the junior eunuchs who carried the sedan with palace women. The emperor heard of this and judged her observant of propriety. Once, for some offense, she was sent to a separate palace to reflect on her faults. The fifth imperial son she bore died in the separate palace, and she fell ill. She died in the seventh month of the fifteenth year. She received the posthumous title Imperial Noble Consort Gongshu Duanhui Jinghuai and was buried at Tianshou Mountain in Changping—the site of Siling.

贊曰：高皇后從太祖備歷艱難，贊成大業，母儀天下，慈德昭彰。繼以文皇后仁孝寬和，化行宮壼，後世承其遺範，內治肅雍。論者稱有明家法，遠過漢、唐，信不誣矣。萬、鄭兩貴妃，亦非有陰鷙之謀、干政奪嫡之事，徒以恃寵溺愛，遂滋謗訕。《易》曰：「閒有家，悔亡。」苟越其閒，悔將無及。聖人之垂戒遠矣哉。

The eulogy reads: Empress Gao followed the Founding Emperor through every hardship, helped bring the great enterprise to completion, set the maternal standard for the realm, and her benevolence shone forth. Empress Wen followed—benevolent, filial, generous, and harmonious; her influence transformed the inner palace, and later generations inherited her example, so that domestic governance was solemn and orderly. Commentators hold that Ming domestic discipline far surpassed Han and Tang—it was no empty boast. The noble consorts Wan and Zheng likewise plotted no dark schemes and meddled not in succession politics; they merely, through excessive favor, drew slander upon themselves. The Book of Changes says: "Regulate the household, and remorse disappears." Overstep those bounds, and remorse will come too late. How far-reaching the sage's warning!

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