Consort Jin

Imperial Noble Consort Wenjing's personal name was not recorded in history.

• Father: Changxu (長敘), served as the Right Vice Minister of Revenue
  • Paternal grandfather: Yutai (裕泰), served as the Viceroy of Shaan-Gan in 1851
  • Paternal grandmother: Lady Gūwalgiya
• Mother: Lady Zhao
• Three brothers
• Three elder sisters and one younger sister
  • Fifth younger sister: Imperial Noble Consort Keshun (1876–1900)

The future Imperial Noble Consort Wenjing was born on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month in the 12th year of the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor, which translates to 6 October 1873 in the Gregorian calendar.

On 26 February 1889, Lady Tatara entered the Forbidden City and was granted the title "Concubine Jin". Her younger sister, the future Imperial Noble Consort Keshun, entered the Forbidden City at the same time and was granted the title "Concubine Zhen".

The Jadeite Cabbage sculpture, which is now on display in Taiwan's National Palace Museum, is believed to be part of the dowry settlement.[1] The Guangxu Emperor did not really like her and instead favoured her younger sister.

On 6 February 1894, Lady Tatara was elevated to "Consort Jin". In November 1894, Consort Jin's younger sister, Consort Zhen, was discovered to have abused her influence over the Guangxu Emperor by interfering in civil appointments.[2] On 26 November 1894, Consort Jin was implicated and demoted along with her sister by Empress Dowager Cixi. The empress dowager also ordered the execution of a palace eunuch who collaborated with Consort Zhen. Zhirui, a cousin of the two consorts who served as an official, was banished from Beijing.[3] On 29 May 1895, the two sisters were restored to their positions. However, Consort Zhen was placed under house arrest.[4]

When the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing in 1900, the imperial court fled from the Forbidden City to Xi'an. They apparently forgot about Consort Jin and left her behind, but she was saved by a noble and brought to Xi'an later. Consort Zhen, on the other hand, died after being thrown into a well, allegedly on Empress Dowager Cixi's order.

When the imperial court returned to Beijing in 1902, the Qing dynasty had lost its influence.

The Guangxu Emperor died on 14 November 1908, followed by Empress Dowager Cixi, who died one day after the emperor. Before her death, Cixi named Zaifeng's son, Puyi, as the new emperor. On 18 November 1908, Lady Tatara was elevated to Dowager Noble Consort Jin.

Puyi, the Last Emperor, had five other adoptive mothers in addition to his own biological mother, Youlan. Among the five, Empress Dowager Longyu ranked the highest while Dowager Noble Consort Jin ranked second. The other three, Dowager Imperial Noble Consort Zhuanghe, Dowager Imperial Noble Consort Jingyi and Dowager Imperial Noble Consort Ronghui were former consorts of the Tongzhi Emperor, the Guangxu Emperor's cousin and predecessor.

In 1911, Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication documents on behalf of Puyi, bringing an end to the Qing dynasty. The empress dowager died on 22 February 1913, and Lady Tatara became the highest ranked woman in the palace. On 12 March 1913, Lady Tatara was elevated to "Dowager Imperial Noble Consort Duankang". In 1921, Puyi's birth mother, Youlan, committed suicide by swallowing opium after being publicly reprimanded by Lady Tatara for her son's misbehaviour.

Puyi wrote in his autobiography that Lady Tatara saw Empress Dowager Cixi as a role model even though Cixi was responsible for the death of her younger sister. Lady Tatara's strictness often angered the young emperor Puyi, but she softened her approach towards him after his birth mother died.

When the time came for Puyi to marry, Lady Tatara and Dowager Imperial Noble Consort Jingyi had an argument over who should be the empress. Lady Tatara favoured Wanrong while Jingyi preferred Wenxiu. In Lady Tatara's opinion, Wenxiu was not beautiful enough to be empress and she came from a lesser family background as compared to Wanrong. Despite so, Puyi's first choice was Wenxiu, and this frustrated Lady Tatara. She held a discussion with other nobles and officials in the imperial court, and they succeeded in persuading Puyi to select Wanrong as his empress and to name Wenxiu as a consort.

Lady Tatara died on 24 September 1924 just before Puyi was forced to leave the Forbidden City.