Consort Ji, Of The Ula Nara Clan

Consort Ji, belonging to the Ula Nara clan, was a secondary consort of Hong Taiji, the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Her family background includes her father, Bokdo, who held the title of beile and died around 1607, and her grandfather, Buyan, the son of Tailan, who was the first beile and the founder of the Ula tribe. Her father and uncle were executed during the Battle of Wujieyan, which was part of Nurhachi’s campaigns to unify Jurchen tribes.

The exact date of Lady Ula Nara’s birth remains unknown. Her father’s death occurred in the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty (corresponding to 1607). It is unclear whether she became a wife of Hong Taiji following the decline of the Ula tribe’s power or status.

In the thirty-seventh year of Wanli (1609), on March 13, she gave birth to her first son, Hooge, who later became Prince Suwu of the First Rank. Two years later, in Wanli’s thirty-ninth year (1611), she bore a second son, Loge, who died prematurely in late 1621. On April 3, 1621, she gave birth to her first daughter, Princess Aohan of the First Rank.

Details concerning her death are not documented. It is speculated that she might have died before Hong Taiji ascended the throne of the Later Jin Dynasty in August of the eleventh year of Destiny (likely the year 1627). Throughout her life, she was not posthumously granted the title of Empress.

Her titles evolved over time. During the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1563–1620), she was recognized as Lady Ula Nara and later held the title of Primary Consort (嫡福晋). After Hong Taiji established the Qing Dynasty and reigned from 1626 to 1643, she was known as Consort Ji (繼妃), a title conferred after 1626.

Her issue from her marriage with Hong Taiji includes:

- Hooge (1609–1648), who acquired the title Prince Suwu of the First Rank and was the emperor’s first son.

- Loge (1611–1621), the second son, who died in childhood.

- Princess Aohan of the First Rank (1621–1654), the emperor’s first daughter.

References for her life and family include the "Manuscripts of Qing History" and the "Genealogy of Aisin Jueluo," notably the section “Xing Yuan Ji Qing.”