Concubine Xun

Xun Pin (?–1787), of the Shen Jia clan, also written as Shen Shi, was a person of the Bordered Yellow Banner and served as a flag-gourd assistant officer within the Banner units. She was the daughter of the Minister of Military Affairs and the General Overseer of Rehe, holding the title of Grand Minister of the Inner Court. She was also a daughter of Yonghe. During the Qianlong era, she was a Gege (junior princess) at the residence of Emperor Renzong and was later posthumously honored as a concubine.

Biographical Summary: Shen Jia was a granddaughter of Shen Dui, a Han Chinese from Shenyang, and was the eighth generation descendant of the Shen family, which was a family of mid-level officials within the Inner Court. In the 47th year of Qianlong’s reign, Shen Jia was appointed as a Gege to Prince Jiajing. In the 51st year of Qianlong (1786), on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, at the hour of Zi (around 11 am), she gave birth to the fifth daughter of Emperor Renzong. She passed away in the 52nd year of Qianlong. On the seventh day of the fifth month in the 60th year of Qianlong (1795), at about 8 years old, her fifth daughter died prematurely. In the 23rd year of Jiaqing (1818), in March, she was posthumously honored as Hui’an Heshuo Princess. On the twenty-second day of the fourth month of the second year of Jiaqing (1817), Emperor Jiaqing issued an edict to the Cabinet, posthumously bestowing the titles: the side consort of the Gege Shen Dui’s family, Wan Yan clan, as Shufu (Consort Shu); the Gege Guan Shi as Jian Pin (Elegant Consort); and the Shen clan as Xun Pin (Xun Concubine). In his record “Memorial on the Hundred-Day Memorial of Empress Xiaoshu”, Emperor Jiaqing stated that the posthumous honoring of these consorts was due to the death of Empress Xiaoshu. The nephew of Xun Pin, who served as a Banner-officer (Tong Yuan Zuo Ling) of the Plain Yellow Banner, including Fu An (Fu An from Ban Yan clan), expressed thanks to the court for the honors. On June 18 of the third year of Jiaqing, the funeral rites for Shufu, Jian Pin, and Xun Pin were held at Jing’an Zhuang Funeral Palace outside Dongzhimen. On October 17 of the eighth year of Jiaqing, Xun Pin’s golden coffin was enshrined at Changling Palace, the Empress Dowager’s burial site.

Family background: The Shen family belonged to the Bordered Yellow Banner with the banner name Bao Yi, and the family’s ancestor was Shen Dui. The Shen family had a long tradition of serving as officials within the Inner Court, with genealogical records noting ancestors such as Great-grandfather Shen Yu, great-grandfather Su Bo, grandfather Chang Dai, Ya Er Dai, and Cha Er Dai. Her father was Yonghe (1707–1785), a banner-officer, commander of the Inner Court Guards, stationed in Jilin to oversee animal sacrifices at Wula, Minister of Military Affairs, and during the 26th year of Qianlong’s reign, held the title of Grand Minister of the Inner Court and served as Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Rehe.