True Royal Love in the Palace of Empress Fuca | Tea with Amy

Is there true love for an emperor? In the political world of the imperial palace, marriages were usually for influential alliances instead of personal affection, making true love seem impossible. But I like to think that there was true love. Previously, we talked about Emperor Hongzhi, the famously monogamous emperor, and his devotion to Empress Zhang. But there is another love story that is even more famous to the modern audience. This brings us to the story of Lady Fuca, widely believed to be the first love and empress of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. Lady Fuca comes from the Manchu Fuca clan, a powerful family from the prestigious bordered yellow banner, and married Emperor Qianlong while he was still a prince, eventually becoming the famous Empress Xiao Xianchun. Based on historical accounts, their love was real. She was often described as virtuous, intelligent, frugal, and his soulmate. But this love story did not have a magical ending. In 1748, while on an imperial boat returning to Beijing from an imperial tour, Empress Xiao Xianchun suddenly died at the age of 36. Official records claim that she died from illness, but many rumors and folklore suggest other surprising and scandalous reasons. Initially seen as a wise and benevolent emperor, some historical accounts suggest that her death even caused a great change in Emperor Qianlong's personality. These accounts tell stories of him becoming incredibly harsh, even leading to purges and executions. Many of you may recognize Lady Fuca or Empress Xiao Xianchun from popular sea dramas like Story of Yanxi Palace and Ruyi's Love in the Palace. While the stories in these shows are mostly fictional, some of them were probably inspired by popular folklore that we still share today. Some of you might even be thinking, wait, I thought Emperor Qianlong's true love was Empress Nala or Consort Ling, maybe in some shows, but historical records tell a different story. Hey everyone and welcome back to Tea with Amy. Today we're spilling the tea on the love story of Empress Xiao Xianchun and Emperor Qianlong, including the mysteries surrounding her sudden death and the shocking events that followed. Let's start from the beginning. Emperor Qianlong married his beloved Empress while he was still at just 16 years old. Instead of meeting and falling in love, Lady Fuca was carefully selected by Emperor Yongzheng during an imperial draft to become Prince Hongli's wife. The imperial draft was a system that was used throughout most of the Qing dynasty to select the wives and consorts of the emperor and male members of the imperial family. This system prioritized the candidate's qualities, talents, as well as family background for determining who should join the imperial family. Previously, I made another video that goes into more details about the imperial draft system if you're interested in learning more. At this moment in time, Emperor Yongzheng had already secretly chosen Prince Hongli as his successor through the secret designation of the heir process, Mijian Huangchu. This meant he knew that Prince Hongli would be the next emperor and that by choosing a wife for him, he was actually choosing the next empress of the Qing dynasty. While not specifically documented, it is reasonable to assume that Lady Fuca must have demonstrated some impressive qualities to be selected out of all of the candidates. One of Lady Fuca's most famous qualities was her frugality, a highly regarded Confucian value. Even in the extravagant life of the Forbidden City, anecdotes suggest that she would wear simple flowers in her hair instead of jewels to honor her Manchu roots. Another story describes how she made Emperor Qianlong a simple pouch from deerskin instead of using more expensive materials to remind him of their ancestors' simple traditions. It is said that he kept this pouch with him for his entire life. But wait, this sounds just like a politically arranged marriage. Where is the true love? Details of actual imperial relationships and feelings are rarely documented in official records. But in the case of Empress Xiaoxianchun, her love with Emperor Qianlong is described through various stories. For example, in Langqian Jiwen, it is recorded that Emperor Qianlong once suffered from boils. After medical attention, he was advised to rest for a hundred days to recover. In order to ensure that Emperor Qianlong was not disturbed, Empress Xiaoxianchun came to live right outside the emperor's bedchamber for the entire hundred days to take care of him and to block any visitors. Another anecdote described how Emperor Qianlong restored the ancient silkworm ceremony specifically for Empress Xiaoxianchun. This was an important imperial ritual with origins from the Zhou dynasty. It reinforced the empress's status as the mother of the empire and symbolized the empress's vital role in the empire's prosperity by promoting sericulture. For stability reasons, this ritual had not yet been performed in the Qing dynasty. By restoring this ritual for Empress Xiaoxianchun, Emperor Qianlong effectively announced the significance that his empress held for not just him but to the entire empire. Emperor Qianlong even tasked imperial artists to document the entire ceremony in a series of precious paintings, an honor usually only reserved for events surrounding the empress dowager. Sadly, this incredible love story is filled with its own In 1730, Empress Xiaoxianchun gave birth to her first son, Prince Yonglian. Beloved by his father, Prince Yonglian was secretly designated as the heir to the throne in 1736. However, in a cruel stroke of fate, he contracted smallpox in 1738 and died shortly after. A devastated Emperor Qianlong canceled court sessions for five days and publicly announced that Prince Yonglian had been the crown prince, breaking from the protocols of the secret designation of the heir. In 1746, Prince Yongcong was born as Empress Xiaoxianchun's second son. It was recorded that Emperor Qianlong saw the son as a gift from heaven and a sign of renewed fortune. It was no secret that he intended to designate Prince Yongcong as his new successor. The fate continued to be a cruel mistress. In 1748, the 20-month-old Prince Yongcong also contracted smallpox and died. This was believed by some to be the straw that broke the camel's back and is a popular modern explanation for Empress Xiaoxianchun's death just a few months later. While official records clearly documented these tragic deaths as due to smallpox, that did not stop the rumor mill from creating their own fantasized versions. Modern Chinese pop culture likes to suggest that there must have been foul play involved. We see these rumors recreated in C-dramas like Story of Yanxi Palace where Prince Yongcong was shown to have died in a deliberately set palace fire. While these rumors are completely unfounded, they definitely add to the shock and tragedy of the death of Empress Xiaoxianchun's two sons. Now, for the biggest mystery, how did Empress Xiaoxianchun actually die? Official records are brief and vague. Some records claim that she died of illness. The draft history of Qing doesn't even provide a reason. It simply records that she died at age 36. This brevity leaves a lot of room for imagination, leading many to wonder if it is covering up something more sinister. As I mentioned earlier, a popular modern theory suggests that Empress Xiaoxianchun died from overwhelming grief. But a darker and more dramatic legend claims that Empress Xiaoxianchun committed suicide by throwing herself off of the boat and into the waters of Grand Canal. Was this also due to grief? Shockingly, no. This legend claims that it was a reaction to Emperor Qianlong's infidelity. Now, you might be thinking, what does infidelity mean for an emperor? Isn't he expected to have relationships with many women? Absolutely. But there are still rules. An emperor's relationships are meant to be with members of the official imperial harem. Any relationship with a woman outside of that system would be a big scandal. This shocking legend says that Empress Xiaoxianchun caught Emperor Qianlong engaging in a wild debauchery with courtesans during the tour. When confronted, it is said that he scolded her in return. This caused her to become disillusioned and ashamed of the men she loved, leading to her taking her own life. Some of you may remember a similar event happening between Emperor Qianlong and Empress Nala as shown in the C-drama Ruyi's Love in the Palace. A coincidence or a pattern? Or maybe the rumor mill needs new ideas. But the most scandalous theory of all comes from a historical novel, The Romance of the Qing History, written in the 1920s by Tai Dongfan. It's important to point out here that Chinese stories starting with the word romance are romanticized fictions, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms. So we should definitely hear this story with a grain of salt. In this novel, the story begins shortly after Emperor Qianlong ascends the throne. One day, while visiting the old summer palace, the emperor came across a young woman that was so beautiful that he froze in place. Only after Empress Xiaoxianchun went to greet this young woman did he realize who she was, his own sister-in-law, the wife of the empress's own brother. This young woman was not named in the novel or any historical records, but she was famously reimagined in the story of Yanxi Palace as the villainous character Erqing. An old Chinese saying claims that a wife is not as desired as a concubine, and a concubine is not as desired as someone stolen. This saying was used to suggest that men tend to desire what they cannot have, and perfectly illustrates what happened with Emperor Qianlong in this story. Captivated by the beauty of someone he could not have, he was unable to get her out of his mind. After attempting to seduce her, he finally succeeded during a birthday banquet. He got her drunk and slipped into her room after the banquet, beginning their illicit affair. The novel continues that Empress Xiaoxianchun went looking for her husband that night and could not find him. When passing by her sister-in-law's room, she was blocked entry by a group of nervous eunuchs. After repeated failed attempts to enter the room, she realized what was happening. Her heart broke, and her relationship with the emperor became cold and distant. Shortly after this event was the tragic death of her sons, one after the other. The novel claims that Emperor Qianlong invited her onto the eastern tour as a way to cheer her up. But it was too late. The compounded anger of her husband's infidelity, along with the loss of both of her sons, caused her health to fail. And on the imperial boat in Dezhou, she passed away. Modern interpretations of this story suggest that it added suspicions to the events surrounding her death, lending credibility to the rumors of suicide or dying from a broken heart. Another shocking rumor even suggests that Emperor Qianlong had an illegitimate son with his sister-in-law. This theoretical son is Fu Kang'an, who is documented in historical records as Emperor Qianlong's nephew. Some historians support this because Emperor Qianlong favored Fu Kang'an in an incredible way, allowing him to grow up in the Forbidden City and even promoting him to a prince of the fourth rank. This made Fu Kang'an the only non-imperial family member to be granted this rank in the entire Qing history. Now, before we all start hating on Emperor Qianlong, I need to stress again that these stories are from unverified rumors and fiction. Only modern folklore describes Emperor Qianlong as a playboy and womanizer. Recorded history paints a very different picture and strongly suggests that Emperor Qianlong loved Empress Xiaoxianchun very much. Many modern accounts even describe her as his Baiyueguang, meaning that she was the light of his life. Can a cheater still love his wife? I don't know. But personally, I want to believe that Emperor Qianlong and Empress Xiaoxianchun truly loved each other. This was the romantic love story that I heard growing up. Regardless of the reason for Empress Xiaoxianchun's death, the aftermath was undeniable. Her death was a major blow to Emperor Qianlong, especially following the passing of his two beloved sons. He ordered that her room in the Palace of Eternal Spring be kept exactly as she had left them, preserving them like a shrine for over 40 years. He even wrote over 100 poems describing his sorrow, mourning his lost love. An interesting side note is that Emperor Qianlong is famous for writing poetry, with over 40,000 poems under his name. However, modern historians often criticize the quality of his poetry, jokingly claiming that his writing guaranteed quantity but not quality. This was even referenced in Story of Yanxi Palace, where the main character Wei Yingluo hilariously complained about having to memorize the emperor's poems, even though they were not very good. Another notable feature of his poetry is that they were generally devoid of emotion, often written from the perspective of a more divine and less human figure. But his poems mourning Empress Xiaoxianchun were surprisingly filled with emotion. For example, a famous excerpt from his poem Expressing My Sorrow says, A body and its shadow, how can one leave the other? I am in a daze, as if a part of me is missing. In the Qing Dynasty, official empresses' names as we know them by today are typically granted after the empress's death. A touching legend describes how Empress Xiaoxianchun actually asked Emperor Qianlong if she could have the name Xiaoxian after she died. In Chinese, the word xiao means filial piety, and the word xian means virtuous. Both were highly regarded Confucian values that she must have hoped could represent her one day. Emperor Qianlong agreed and declared her as Empress Xiaoxianchun after her death. Traditionally, in the Qing Dynasty, the death of an empress was not announced to the empire through imperial decree. Breaking from tradition, Emperor Qianlong declared his empress' passing and commanded all court officials to travel to Beijing to attend her funeral. It was at this moment that historical records describing Emperor Qianlong changed. Once considered to be benevolent, records began to imply that he had become increasingly harsh and severe. These records describe how he severely punished numerous court officials and imperial family members for not grieving sufficiently. Many officials who were responsible for funeral operations were punished and demoted for not putting enough effort into preparing the funeral. Emperor Qianlong claimed that proper etiquette and conduct during the mandatory mourning rituals were a loyalty test, and over a hundred officials were said to have been punished, with a number of them executed or forced to death. A famous pretext for the execution was the hair shaving incident. According to Manchu customs, men were forbidden from shaving the front portion of their heads for a hundred days during the mourning period of an emperor or empress. But a hundred days is a long time to not shave your head considering Manchu haircut traditions. Some officials who felt their head had become too unkept secretly tried to trim it. Those who were caught were met with Emperor Qianlong's wrath and severely punished. Two of the most powerful governor generals were even ordered to take their own lives as a result. Folklore interpretations of these punishments suggest that Emperor Qianlong was not simply punishing failure, but was instead purposely sending people to accompany his beloved empress in the afterlife. Another fascinating folklore was the ghost ship legend. This folklore claims that Emperor Qianlong ordered the imperial boat that Empress Xiaoxianchun died on to be carried over land, from the Grand Canal all the way back to Beijing. This massive operation was rumored to have required thousands of laborers to complete, all so he could preserve the site of her death. The veritable records of the Qing dynasty also describe an edict from Emperor Qianlong, reprimanding the eldest prince Yonghuang and the third prince Yongzhang for their behavior during the mourning period of Empress Xiaoxianchun. In this edict, he described his disappointment and officially declared them as unfit for the throne. This decree effectively ended any chance at a political career for these two princes. And the eldest prince Yonghuang was said to have died two years later from anxiety and fear. The third prince Yongzhang also died a few years later at the age of 25, supposedly from illness. Nobody was safe. More evidence of Emperor Qianlong's devotion to Empress Xiaoxianchun can be seen through his relationship with his second empress, the famously erased Empress Nala. After Empress Xiaoxianchun's passing, Consort Nala was promoted to imperial noble consort to act as the head of the imperial harem in the absence of an empress. Many considered this as an indication that Consort Nala would become the next empress and take on the appropriate responsibilities. However, when it came time for the silkworm ceremony, government officials asked Emperor Qianlong if Consort Nala should host the ceremony in place of the empress, to which Emperor Qianlong famously responded, a consort can only act on behalf of the empress when there actually is an empress. The imperial noble consort is not the empress and will not host the ceremony. And with that, this silkworm ceremony was hosted by government officials instead of the head of the imperial harem. In 1750, after the mourning period for Empress Xiaoxianchun, Consort Nala was finally promoted to empress due to pressure from Empress Dowager Chongqing. But many historians believe that Emperor Qianlong was still resistant in allowing her to host the silkworm ceremony even after she became empress. However, in the veritable records of Emperor Gaozong, it is recorded that Empress Nala did host the ceremony in 1752. Four years after the passing of Empress Xiaoxianchun, Emperor Qianlong wrote a poem that was believed to describe his relationship with Empress Nala. In this poem, he said that it's not that the new scythe is not good enough, but it still cannot compare to the old familiar sword. This poem perfectly captures how Emperor Qianlong doesn't necessarily think that there is anything wrong with Empress Nala, but he still loves Empress Xiaoxianchun deeply and cannot get over her passing. It is particularly interesting to contrast these historical accounts with modern folklore. While many modern stories like Ruyi's love in the palace tend to dramatize the love between Empress Nala and Emperor Qianlong, there is actually no historical evidence to support this. Instead, if only using historical accounts, it would appear that Empress Nala never really gained the emperor's favor as empress and was mostly met with indifference. This leads us to the great scandal of Empress Nala cutting her hair, leading to her disgrace and stripped from power. Was this her way of making a defiant stand against the emperor's indifference? Nobody knows for sure. If you're interested in learning more, I made another video exploring some of the popular theories. After Empress Nala passed away in 1766, Emperor Qianlong refused to appoint another living empress for the rest of his life. During this time, several officials petitioned for another empress to be named, but were met with severe punishments, eventually silencing any further suggestions regarding this. When Emperor Qianlong was 80 years old, he wrote another famous poem in response to officials wishing that he would live to be 100. In this poem, he expressed that even if he were to live to 100 years old, that is only 20 years until he can finally be with his beloved Empress Xiaoxianchun again. In 1796, when Emperor Qianlong abdicated the throne to his son, Emperor Jiaqing, he declared that the promotion of Emperor Jiaqing's wife, Empress Xiaoshurui, would only be celebrated within the imperial palace, and would not be celebrated across the empire. He also declared that any celebratory events for Empress Xiaoshurui should also be celebrated only within the imperial palace, and that officials outside of the palace would not be invited to attend. This is a stark contrast to the scale and attention that he gave to all of the events surrounding his own Empress Xiaoxianchun. This was likely not intended as a slight towards the new empress, but was probably an unfortunate byproduct of Emperor Qianlong's continued mourning. I imagine it must have been tough to be that daughter-in-law. The honors that Emperor Qianlong granted to Empress Xiaoxianchun enshrined her not only as the love of his life, but also as the ideal empress. For the rest of the Qing dynasty, Empress Xiaoxianchun was seen as the role model for all empresses to aspire to. A perfect empress that could never be surpassed. What do you think about this love story? And then there's the great mystery of her sudden death at a young age. What do you think really happened? Let me know in the comments. And if you enjoyed today's topic, don't forget to like and subscribe. And if you want to support this channel and help me uncover more fascinating stories from Chinese history, please check out my membership and become a Noble Baoban. Thanks again for watching, and I'll see you in the next one. Stay curious, stay magical.