Empress Zhou

Empress Xiaojielie (10 May 1611 – 24 April 1644), of the Zhou clan, was a Chinese empress consort of the Ming dynasty, married to the Chongzhen Emperor. She is commonly referred to as Empress Zhou. Early life Empress Zhou originated from Suzhou. She came from a poor background, which was customary in the Ming dynasty, who selected imperial spouses from the poor, who unlike upper class women did not have powerful families who could help any potentially political ambitious empress. Empress She was elevated to the position of empress after the succession of the Chongzhen Emperor to the throne. Empress Zhou is described as "stern and prudent"; never forgetting of her poor origin, she maintained a frugal policy in palace affairs, and was admired and praised for this. The Chongzhen Emperor reportedly had a good relationship to her and divided his affections and attention equally between empress Zhou and his favorite concubine, Consort Tian (d. 1642), who was the mother of his 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th sons. Zhou was allegedly not jealous of Consort Tian, but she did disapprove of her haughty behavior. This eventually caused a conflict between the Empress and Consort Tian, which also involved the emperor.