Consort Jin

Consort Jin (ca. 1785 – January 19, 1823) was a woman of Manchu ethnicity belonging to the Šarhūda Fuca clan, which was part of the Bordered Yellow Banner, one of the Eight Banner divisions of Manchu society during the Qing Dynasty. She held the title of Noble Lady Jin (Jin Guiren) during her lifetime and was a consort of the Qianlong Emperor.

Family Background

Consort Jin was a member of the Šarhūda Fuca family, which had notable connections within the Qing imperial court. The family was related to prominent figures, including Empress Xiaoxianchun and Imperial Consort Shushen. Empress Xiaoxianchun was the granddaughter of Misihan, a distinguished official, and Consort Jin was a more distant relative within this lineage, being the great-grandniece of the Empress.

Her paternal grandfather was Fu Guang, who established the fifth house of the Fuca clan’s lineage. Fu Guang was employed in mid-level government positions. His son Dekejinge, Consort Jin’s father, passed the civil service examinations and served as a local official, a magistrate. Dekejinge had six sons who formed separate family lines, including Consort Jin's brothers. Her family primarily engaged in lower-ranking governmental roles; despite their respectability, they did not wield significant political influence.

Married Life

Consort Jin initially received the title Jin Guiren, a naming convention based on phonetics rather than meaning. In Manchu, her name was rendered as jin gui žin, and later, the character “晋” was translated into Manchu as imiyangga, meaning “gathered” or “assembled.” She was affiliated with the Bordered Yellow Banner, classified as part of the Outer Eight Banners, which included Manchu noble households.

It is presumed that she entered the imperial palace through selection processes reserved for women of the Eight Banners. The earliest confirmed record mentioning her appears in a medical file from the third year of the Jiaqing Emperor’s reign (around 1798), where she is referred to as “Jin Guiren.” The absence of earlier records suggests her arrival in the palace likely occurred between the second and third years of Jiaqing, possibly in late 1797 or early 1798.

Her entry into the palace coincided with the period when the Qianlong Emperor was in retirement, serving as the Retired Emperor Gaozong. He was approximately 87 years old at that time. The emperor died in the fourth year of Jiaqing (1799). Consort Jin lived as a widow for nearly two decades after his death, until her own passing during the second year of Emperor Daoguang’s reign (1822–1823).

Records from Jiaqing 3 indicate she suffered from a skin illness during her time in the palace. The details of her life after the emperor’s death remain limited.

Death and Burial

Consort Jin died on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the second year of Emperor Daoguang's reign (January 19, 1823). She was approximately 37 to 40 years old at the time of her death. Following her death, she was interred in the Yuling Mausoleum, the burial site for the Qing imperial family. She was the last among Emperor Qianlong’s concubines to be buried in this mausoleum.

In Fiction

Consort Jin’s character appears in popular media; she was portrayed by Feng Subo in the television series “War and Beauty 2” (2013).