Why Was Her Coffin Left Above Ground for 30 Years? Xiaozhuang and Zhaoxi Mausoleum | Full Version

Born among the Mongolian nobility on the Khorchin steppe, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang shaped the fate of the early Qing Empire through compassion, restraint, and political wisdom. In this episode, we travel to the Eastern Qing Tombs near Beijing to uncover why this legendary 17th-century power figure was buried outside the main imperial necropolis—and how her “temporary” resting place eventually became the Zhaoxi Mausoleum we see today. From the Forbidden City and a relocated palace hall to the mysterious triple glazed-tile gates, Xiaozhuang’s burial story reveals a deep clash between Manchu cremation traditions and the later Qing shift toward full-coffin inhumation. After her death in early 1688, her coffin remained above ground for more than thirty years—until the Yongzheng Emperor finally ordered a full imperial mausoleum to be built on the very site of her temporary hall, creating a one-of-a-kind tomb with double concentric walls. Centuries later, the Republican-era looting of the Eastern Qing Tombs reached Zhaoxi—yet even in that darkness, the story ends with a solemn act of restoration carried out by Manchu banner women. Today, the khadas hanging before her spirit-way stele still speak to how many people in China continue to remember her kindness and wisdom.