Empress Chen (Jiajing)

Empress Xiaojiesu
孝潔肅皇后
Empress consort of the Ming dynasty
Tenure1522–1528
PredecessorEmpress Xiaojingyi
SuccessorEmpress Zhang
Born1508 (1508)
Zhengde 3
(正德三年)
Yuancheng County, Zhili (present-day Daming County, Hebei)
Died1528 (aged 19–20)
Jiajing 7
(嘉靖七年)
Burial
Tianshou Mountain (before 1567)
Yongling Mausoleum (after 1567)
SpouseJiajing Emperor
Posthumous name
Empress Xiaojie Gongyi Cirui Anzhuang Xiangtian Yisheng Su (孝潔恭懿慈睿安莊相天翊聖肅皇后)
ClanChen (陳)
FatherChen Wanyan (陳萬言)

Empress Xiaojiesu (1508–1528), of the Chen clan, was a Chinese empress consort of the Ming dynasty, first empress to the Jiajing Emperor.

She was the daughter of Chen Wanyang (d. 1535). She was selected in to the palace of the Jiajing Emperor in 1522. Later that year, she was appointed empress upon the wish of the emperor's aunt, the Empress Dowager Zhang.[1] Because of the tense personal relationship between the Emperor and his aunt, however, he did not take a liking to Chen.[2] In 1528, she became pregnant. During the pregnancy, the Emperor exposed her to a fit of rage, which caused a fatal miscarriage.[3]

The Emperor did not permit her to be buried in the imperial mausoleum: this was not done before 1567.[4]

  1. ^ Lily Xiao Hong Lee, Sue Wiles: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 - 1644
  2. ^ Lily Xiao Hong Lee, Sue Wiles: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 - 1644
  3. ^ Lily Xiao Hong Lee, Sue Wiles: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 - 1644
  4. ^ Lily Xiao Hong Lee, Sue Wiles: Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 - 1644