Royals › Court Figures
Madame Ke
Wet nurse of the Tianqi Emperor, ennobled as Lady Fengsheng, who allied with Wei Zhongxian to dominate the palace and was beaten to death under Chongzhen.
Mural of the event “Purge of the Donglin Faction”, which this person took part in.
Under the Tianqi Emperor (1624–1627) the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke dominated the court; Donglin officials such as Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou died in the imperial prison, and Zhou Shunchang's arrest in Suzhou set off a townspeople's revolt. After the Chongzhen Emperor's accession Wei hanged himself, and in 1629 the court proclaimed the Traitors' Case.
Also known as Lady Fengsheng · Ke Yinyue (name given in later sources) · Madam Ke
- Roles
- Court Figures
Madame Ke, from Dingxing, was the wife of a commoner named Hou Er and became wet nurse to the imperial grandson Zhu Youjiao. When he took the throne as the Tianqi Emperor in 1620, she was made Lady Fengsheng, granted estates, and saw her son Hou Guoxing given office. First the companion of the eunuch Wei Chao, she transferred her favour to Wei Zhongxian, and together they controlled the emperor from inside and outside the palace. The History of Ming says she persecuted Empress Zhang and starved the consort Zhang Yufei to death, along with other palace women. Donglin memorials by Yang Lian and Wei Dazhong attacked her by name alongside Wei Zhongxian, as the palace pillar of eunuch rule. After the Chongzhen Emperor's accession in 1627 she was beaten to death in the palace laundry.
Life and times
- UnknownBorn
Ming - 1624Purge of the Donglin Faction
Took partUnder the Tianqi Emperor the eunuch Wei Zhongxian and Madam Ke dominated the court; after Yang Lian's memorial of twenty-four crimes, Donglin officials were dismissed and died in prison until the Chongzhen Emperor's accession brought Wei's fall and suicide.- Yang Lian Impeaches Wei ZhongxianIn 1624 the vice censor-in-chief Yang Lian impeached Wei Zhongxian for twenty-four great crimes, but the Tianqi Emperor kept Wei and rebuked Yang.
- Wei Zhongxian Hangs Himself at Fucheng1627After the Chongzhen Emperor's accession, Wei Zhongxian was banished to Fengyang and then ordered arrested, and he hanged himself at Fucheng on the way.
- Chongzhen Court Proclaims the Traitors' Case1629In 1629 the Chongzhen court drew up the Traitors' Case, grading and punishing Wei Zhongxian's partisans and bringing Donglin officials back to office.
- Yang Lian Impeaches Wei Zhongxian
- 1627; powerful at court 1620–1627Died
Connections
- Shared events9
- Others1
