Royals › Empress / Consort
Consort Rong
Uyghur consort of the Qianlong emperor from the Khoja family of Kashgaria, entering the palace in 1760; the Fragrant Concubine legend later grew up around her
In a spring palace garden, a pavilion with round windows stands over a pond of goldfish; a peony-painted round fan, a zither and a lacquer box of pearl hairpins lie in the foreground, and one small figure in a long-sleeved gown stands at the far end of a covered walkway.
Also known as Hezhuo Shi · Xiang Fei
- Roles
- Empress / Consort
Consort Rong belonged to the Khoja family of Kashgar, Muslim religious aristocrats of the Altishahr region, and was born in 1734; her brother Turdu had helped Qing armies defeat the rebel Khoja brothers. She entered the Qianlong emperor's palace in 1760 as Lady He, was made Concubine Rong in 1762 and Consort Rong in 1768, and was allowed to keep the food and dress of her own people. She went with the emperor on several tours, including the southern tour of 1765. She died in 1788 and was buried in the consorts' cemetery of the Yu Mausoleum at the Eastern Qing Tombs. Most historians see her as the person behind the Fragrant Concubine legend that spread in the early Republic, and when her burial chamber was cleared in 1979 Arabic scripture was found on her coffin.
Life and times
Dates 1734 CE–1788 CE