Ming Dynasty · 1368 – 1644

Empress Xia

Lady Xia was the daughter of Xia Ru (夏儒), and she was virtuous and elegant. She was from the district Shangyuan (in present Nanjing). In 1506, she was selected to become the first consort and empress of the emperor. She had no issue and when her spouse died childless in 1521, he was succeeded by his cousin Jiajing. She was given the title Empress Zhuangsu, because she couldn’t be an empress dowager.[1]

Explore other Ming Dynasty empresses

Spouse: Emperor Zhangde of Ming

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhengde_Emperor

The Hongzhi Emperor (Chinese: 弘治帝; pinyin: Hóngzhì Dì; 30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505), personal name Zhu Youcheng (朱祐樘),[2][3] was the tenth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1487 to 1505. He was the eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called the “Hongzhi Restoration” (弘治中興). His era name, “Hongzhi”, means “great governance”. During his reign, he impeached a large amount of his officials from office as he considered them corrupt and incompetent. His transparent style of governance fostered prosperity among the people he ruled, and he was one of only two Chinese Emperors who had no concubines.