Heshuo Shushen Princess

Princess Heshuo Shushen was born in 1708, on the second day of the first lunar month of the 47th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, during the hour of the ox (approximately 1:00-3:00 AM). She was the sixth daughter of the deposed Crown Prince Yuner, her mother being Side Furen Tang Shi. Her paternal aunt was the sister of Hongyan, a supporting imperial duke. In the early years of the Yongzheng Emperor’s reign, she was raised within the palace.

In December of the 4th year of Yongzheng (1726), she was married to Gūlūn Borjigit of the Khorchin Mongol tribe, an extra attendant in the Bureau of Cults, and was granted the title of Princess Heshuo Shushen. On December 12th of the 7th year of Yongzheng (1729), the Imperial Household Department requested that her marriage be conducted according to the precedent set for princess consorts and their dowries; her dowry included ten households and related estates as specified, with detailed arrangements recorded for the customary accompanying gifts and ceremonies.

Princess Shushen was the first princess of the Qing Dynasty to marry into a Mongolian noble family and reside in Beijing. During the 36th year of Qianlong (1771), at the Wanshou celebration for the octogenarian Empress Dowager Chongqing, Princess Shushen was granted a Ruyi scepter, a hand warmer, two small pouches, a snuff bottle, a box of rouge, and a box of imperial powder as gifts. On August 16th of the 37th year of Qianlong (1772), her daughter, the Furen of the Crown Prince of the Xun commandery, visited Princess Shushen’s residence from the Shushen Palace to see her mother, returning to Changchun Garden that same day.

After her son, Prince of the Third Rank Xingjun, died in the 25th year of Qianlong (1760), her third consort lived mainly in Shoukang Palace and Changchun Garden. On September 10th of the 49th year of Qianlong (1784), at the hour of the hai (approximately 9:00-11:00 AM), Princess Shushen passed away at the age of 77. The Grand Controller of the Imperial Household, Yongrong, submitted a memorial requesting instructions from the emperor to allocate her household and properties to the Bordered Yellow Banner's Mianyi Bei, who was responsible for handling funeral arrangements; a guard officer from the Anchang commandery was appointed to escort the princess’s coffin to the Khorchin region for her funeral rites.