Noble Consort Yu
| Noble Consort Yu | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 June 1714 |
| Died |
9 July 1792 (aged 78) Yonghe Palace, Forbidden City, Beijing, China |
| Burial | Yuling, Eastern Qing tombs |
| Spouse | Qianlong Emperor |
| Issue | Yongqi |
| House |
Keliyete (by birth) Aisin Gioro (by marriage) |
| Father | E'erjitu |
| Noble Consort Yu | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 愉貴妃 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 愉贵妃 | ||||||
| |||||||
Noble Consort Yu (15 June 1714 – 9 July 1792) was a consort of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty.
Life
Noble Consort Yu was born in the Mongol Keliyete (珂裡葉特) clan, which was under the Bordered Blue Banner. Her personal name was not recorded in history. Her father, E'erjitu (額爾吉圖), served as a yuanwailang (員外郎) in the Qing government. Sometime during the reign of the Yongzheng Emperor (r. 1722–1735), Lady Keliyete became a concubine of Hongli, the emperor's fourth son, and received the title of a gege.
In 1735, the Yongzheng Emperor died and was succeeded by Hongli, who was enthroned as the Qianlong Emperor. After his coronation, the emperor granted Lady Keliyete the rank of changzai under the title "Changzai Hai" (海常在). A year later, she was promoted to "Noble Lady Hai" (海貴人).
In 1741, Lady Keliyete gave birth to the Qianlong Emperor's fifth son, Yongqi (1741–1766). She was promoted to Imperial Concubine under the title "Imperial Concubine Yu" (愉嬪) within that year. Yongqi became the Qianlong Emperor's favourite son because of his diligence and proficiency in various arts. Despite not being the firstborn son, he was the first among the Qianlong Emperor's sons to be made a qinwang (first-rank prince). In 1745, the Qianlong Emperor promoted Lady Keliyete to "Consort Yu" (愉妃).
Following Yongqi's early death in 1766, Lady Keliyete gradually lost the Qianlong Emperor's favour and became neglected. She died on 9 July 1792 at the age of 78 in Yonghe Palace (永和宮) in the Forbidden City. The emperor granted her the posthumous title "Noble Consort Yu" in 1793 and had her interred in the Yu Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs.
In fiction and popular culture
- Portrayed by Zhuang Qingning in New My Fair Princess (2011)
- Portrayed by Lian Lian in Story of Yanxi Palace (2018)
- Portrayed by Janine Chang in Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace (2018)
Issue
- Yongqi (永琪; 23 March 1741 – 16 April 1766), the Qianlong Emperor's fifth son, posthumously honoured as Prince Rongchun of the First Rank
See also
Notes
References
- Zhao, Erxun (1928). Draft History of Qing (Qing Shi Gao) (in Chinese).