Empress Dowager Cixi's Hated Consort was Thrown into a Well? | Consort Zhen

Consort Zhen was born in 1876 and came from the noble Manchu Tatara clan. She and her sister Consort Jin grew up with their uncle in Guangzhou, which allowed them to broaden their knowledge and experience. When Consort Zhen was 10 years old, her uncle retired from his position as a general. She and her sister returned to Beijing and later participated in the concubine selection for Emperor Guangxi was the nephew of Emperor Dowager Qixi. When Emperor Tongji passed away, he was chosen to be the new emperor. During his earlier years as ruler, he was under the joint regency of Emperor Dowager Qixi and Emperor Dowager Qiyan. Later, when Emperor Dowager Qiyan passed away, Emperor Dowager Qixi ruled alone. Although the emperor later had a chance to rule by himself, he was still under the control of Qixi and never had actual power throughout his life. During the Qing dynasty, the imperial court would choose eight badness girls to become imperial consort every few years. However, Emperor Guangxi's earlier years did not have any selection. Finally, in his 12 years of reign, the selection process was held, lasting until the 14th year of his reign. The process involved multiple rounds of screening, with 93 candidates in the first round, including Consort Zhen. The number of candidates decreased in subsequent rounds, with only 15 being selected in the end. In 1888, they entered the palace for the final round. Finally, Empress Dowager Qixi chose her own niece to be the empress. It allowed her to have someone close to the emperor and monitor his every move. The emperor actually favored another girl as his empress, but Qixi rejected it. Besides the empress, the 13-year-old Consort Zhen and her 15-year-old sister Consort Jin were selected as concubines. After the marriage, the emperor was not very close to the empress, and he had a distant relationship with Consort Jin. However, he particularly liked Consort Zhen. Consort Zhen was the most lively among her peers as she was young. She was gentle, charming, and talented in calligraphy and painting. She often accompanied the emperor. They shared meals and enjoyed leisure time together. She quickly became the emperor's favorite. Even Empress Dowager Qixi liked her very much. Qixi even asked her to reveal official documents, and Consort Zhen performed well at this task. Qixi was impressed at Consort Zhen's calligraphy and painting skills. She often praised her and asked her to write big characters, which were given as gifts to important officials. It was said that in order to make it easier to study with Emperor Guangxu, Consort Zhen would dress up as a man and wear male clothing. In 1894, five years after entering the palace, Consort Zhen and her sister were promoted to consort, marking a turning point in her life. When Consort Zhen entered the palace, photography had already been introduced to China. However, at that time, camera were considered to be a taboo object that could capture the person's soul and shorten their lifespan. Despite this belief, Consort Zhen was open to the idea of being photographed and soon became interested in photography. In 1894, she secretly purchased a camera from outside the palace. Not only did she take pictures of herself, but she also taught the emperor and eunuchs how to take photos. At first, like many others, Qixi did not accept photography, so when she knew about it, she did not allow Consort Zhen to take photos again. However, Consort Zhen insisted and even asked eunuch to open a photography shop outside the palace. Qixi was furious and ordered eunuch to be killed. Their relationship deteriorated. During Qing Dynasty, the annual salary for a concubine was 200 taels of silver and a consort had 300. However, Consort Zhen spent far more than In the 23rd and 24th year of Emperor Guangxu's reign, she spent 1,440 taels of silver and 1,012 taels of silver respectively. To make up for her overspending, she started to sell official positions. She bribed officials in the imperial household department to learn about the recruitment of officials. She then asked her brother to find people outside the palace who were willing to buy these positions. Finally, she encouraged the emperor to appoint those who had purchased this position. For example, it was reported that Consort Zhen received 40,000 gold coins for selling a high-ranked position in Shanghai. Later, when Empress Dowager Qixi learned about this, she personally interrogated her and finally found her account book of income from selling positions in her palace. Qixi was furious and demoted Consort Zhen, her sister, to noble ladies. She issued an edict stating that her reign was strictly prohibited from interfering in politics. She even ordered to take off Consort Zhen's clothes and beat her with a court rod. This severe punishment was mainly aimed at high-ranking officials in the imperial court. Prior to this, there had been no precedent for punishing concubines with this kind of punishment. In the next year, Consort Zhen's and Consort Jin's titles were restored. In 1994, Sino-Japanese War broke out. The war was followed by the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was seen as a humiliation for China. The Qing dynasty was facing huge pressure from Freudian powers. As a result, Emperor Guangxu wanted to implement reforms to modernize China and strengthen the central government. At first, Qixi agreed to the reforms, but her support was short-lived. In 1898, the reform movement went too far for her liking, so she launched a coup to suppress the reformers. The emperor was imprisoned in the Summer Palace and lost his power to rule. Consort Zhen was accused of encouraging the emperor to pursue reforms. She was caught and was imprisoned in a small courtyard. The main gate was tightly shut and sealed with the imperial seal of the Palace Internal Affairs Department. She lived in a small room and the door was locked from the outside. Meals were passed through a small window by a servant. She ate the same food as ordinary servants and was not allowed to talk to anyone. On holidays or on the first and fifteenth of each month, the old eunuch who After that, Consort Zhen had to bow and thank the eunuch. She was only allowed to use the toilet once a day. In 1900, when the Ignatian Alliance attacked Beijing, Qixi decided to take the emperors and others to flee to Xi'an. At that time, everyone changed into civilian clothes and Qixi suddenly remembered Consort Zhen who was still imprisoned and ordered her to be brought out. Qixi ordered an eunuch to open the well and asked Consort Zhen to commit suicide to prevent her from being insulted by foreigners. Consort Zhen refused to die, so the eunuch pushed her into the well. At that time, she was only 25. All her possessions, including her photos, were destroyed. She was officially said to have committed suicide and was posthumously promoted to noble consort. There are several photographs of Consort Zhen, but it is possible that the photos may not be her. The most famous one shows a girl with very sharp bangs in front of her forehead. However, this hairstyle was naturally a trend called Starry Sky, which was popularized by the Han Chinese, particularly by prostitutes in the 1900s. Since Consort Zhen was a manchu, it was unlikely that the girl in the photos was her. When Emperor Guangxu returned to the palace, he requested an old canopy that Consort Zhen had hung before to honor her memory. However, his ring was short-lived and he died in 1908 at the age of 37 under mysterious circumstances with some believing he was poisoned. In 1913, after the death of Emperor Dao Zhixi, Consort Zhen had a sister tomb located in the Western Qing tombs. When Consort Zhen passed away, she was also buried in the same cemetery as her sister.