Dowager Consort Shoukang

Shoukang Taifei, of the Khorchin Borjigit clan, named Haoshang, written in Manchu as hoošan, meaning "paper." She was the Empress Consort of the Taizu of the Qing Dynasty; her father was Kunga'er Beile, and she was the daughter of the Zasak Dorobiantu Junwang (Prince of the Left Wing of the Khorchin banners).

Regarding her family background, according to the "Imperially Approved Biographies of Mongol and Hui Princes and Nobles," Haoshang was a descendant of the second brother of Genghis Khan, Habu'tu Kasar. Her grandfather Namsai’s lineage divided into three branches: the eldest son was Mangus, the second son Ming'an, and the third son was Kunga'er, Haoshang’s father. Mangus had children with the daughter of the Gurbuchid Grand Princess Gumbü, including Empress Xiaozhuangwen Bu Mu Bu Tai and Min Hui Gonghe Consort Hailanzhu. Kunga'er, Ming'an Beile’s brother, also had two daughters who married into the Qing imperial family: one, as Haoshang’s mother, became the Taizu Shoukang Taifei; the other, Boktu, became the foremost consort (Fujin) of Ajige. From this, it is evident that Haoshang maintained multiple layers of marriage alliances with both contemporaneous and later Qing imperial families.

Key points of her life include: On the first day of the first lunar month, 1615, Kunga'er Beile of the Mongol Khorchin tribe married his daughter to Nurhaci, who accepted her. From this point, Haoshang entered the lineage of the Later Jin imperial consorts. In March 1621, after the Later Jin captured Liaodong city, Haoshang accompanied other consorts to Liaodong; during their journey, they stopped due to nightfall and other reasons, participating in discussions and resolutions jointly with officials and Nurhaci. Afterward, those responsible for the incident were dealt with, reflecting the complex power dynamics and ceremonial rules between the imperial harem and officials at the time. On February 24, 1631, Emperor Taizong held a banquet honoring her, on the pretext of her father Kunga'er Beile's court visit, and presented items such as an embroidered and inlaid leather cloak worn by the Taizu. On July 26, 1635, Haoshang, along with other consorts, accompanied by the First Khan's Taizu’s second consort, visited and paid filial tribute before the home of her mother-in-law.

In September 1644, Haoshang and Emperor Shunzhi moved into the Forbidden City; she was also referred to as "Taizu Consort" and "Renshou Palace Taizu Consort." On October 28, 1660, during the seventeenth year of Shunzhi, the emperor issued an imperial edict calling her “Renshou Palace Taizu Consort, senior in respect,” and conferred titles accordingly. On October 19, 1661, the newly ascended Kangxi Emperor honored her with the title “Empress Ancestor” and called her “Empress Taikang Shoukang.” There is some academic debate over the appropriate honorific: some believe she should be called “Great-Grandmother of the Emperor, Shoukang Taifei,” based on generational rank.

On December 25, 1665, Haoshang, the Shoukang Taifei, passed away, and was interred as a consort at Fuling tomb. Ultimately, only her, Anbu Furen, and Aunt Chaoqi were buried in the Fuling Empress Cemetery. The records of all these stages come from Qing court historical materials and related compilations.