politician
Imperial concubine of Ming dynasty (1565-1611)
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Empress Xiaojing, of the Wang clan, was a concubine of the Wanli Emperor of China's Ming dynasty and the biological mother of the Taichang Emperor. Lady Wang entered the imperial palace as a maid serving Empress Dowager Li, the Wanli Emperor's mother. She later became one of the Wanli Emperor's concubines and gave birth to his first son, Zhu Changluo. Due to the Emperor's favor toward Noble Consort Zheng and the prolonged succession dispute surrounding the choice of heir apparent, Lady Wang spent much of her life in relative obscurity. The Emperor eventually appointed Zhu Changluo as his heir, but Lady Wang died in 1611 before her son ascended as the Taichang Emperor. Her grandson, the Tianqi Emperor, posthumously honored her as empress in 1620.
