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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
Dates Birth year unknown; died 1627; powerful at court 1620–1627