Consort Qin

Consort Duanshun, also known as Qin Shufu, whose given name has not been recorded, was a title conferred during the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty. She was the daughter of Qin Feng, a First Class Officer of the brocade-clad Guard, and a concubine of Emperor Mu of Ming, Emperor Longqing Zhu Zaiqi. She was also the mother of Princess Qixia Zhu Yaoxin, the seventh daughter of the emperor.

Details regarding Qin’s birth and initial entry into the palace are not clearly documented. On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month in the fourth year of Longqing (February 26, 1570), Emperor Longqing ennobled Qin as Consort, and appointed her father Qin Feng as a First Class Officer of the brocade-clad Guard. On the 29th day of the same month, the Emperor issued an edict to the Ministry of War, officially granting her father the position of First Class Officer of the brocade-clad Guard. On July 2, 1571 (the seventh year of Longqing), Qin Shufu gave birth to her seventh daughter, Princess Qixia Zhu Yaoxin.

On May 26, 1572 (the sixth year of Longqing), Emperor Longqing passed away. The following year, on September 28, her seventh daughter died young. The very next day, Emperor Wanli posthumously bestowed the title Princess Qixia upon her.

The exact time of Qin Shufu’s death is not clearly recorded, but it is likely that she died during the reign of Emperor Wanli (1573–1620). On the second day of the first month in the first year of the Tianqi era (1621), Consort Yishi, who was posthumously known as Queen Mu Miao, passed away. Emperor Tianqi honored her funeral accordance with Qin Shufu’s funeral rites and posthumously granted her the title Consort Duanshun. According to the compilation "Records of Ming Posthumous Honors," Qin Shufu died during Wanli’s reign. The "Miscellaneous Notes of Wanshu," compiled in the 20th year of Wanli (1592), mention that Consort Duanshun Qin was buried at Jinshan, indicating she likely died around 1592. The "Extended Records of the Ancestral Sacrifices" from the Chongzhen era also mention several empresses buried at Jinshan, but there are inaccuracies in these records, erroneously listing Qin Shufu as an empress consort of Wanli. Based on available information, she should have died around 20 years before Wanli’s reign, but her exact age at death remains unknown.