Xian Jie

Biography

Family Background and Early Life Xing was born in 1106, the fifth year of the Chongning era, in Xiangfu County, Kaifeng Prefecture. Her father, Xing Huan, attained the office of Court Gentleman for Consultation. The Xing family was not originally prominent, but after Xing became empress, members of the family received posthumous honors and ennoblements. Her great-grandfather Xing Yundi was posthumously appointed Grand Tutor and made Prince Gong; her grandfather Xing Zongxian was posthumously appointed Grand Preceptor and made Prince Yong; and her father Xing Huan was posthumously appointed Junior Preceptor and made Prince An. Her mother, of the Xiong clan, was granted the title Lady of Wei. Xing married Zhao Gou while he was still Prince Kang and was granted the title Lady of Jia. When Zhao Gou went on a mission to the Jin, Xing remained at his princely residence. ### The Jingkang Incident and Removal to the North In 1127, the second year of the Jingkang era, Jin forces captured Kaifeng, and Xing and other women of the imperial family were taken north. During the journey, Xing fell from a horse and suffered a miscarriage. She was subsequently forcibly assigned to Wanyan Zongxian, a member of the Jin imperial clan, and nearly took her own life. In 1135, the fifth year of the Tianhui era, the Jin court sent Xing and the others to Wuguocheng and granted her the title Lady Jianyan of Song. ### Remote Investiture as Empress and Death Away from Home In 1127, the first year of the Jianyan era, Zhao Gou ascended the throne at Yingtian Prefecture in Nanjing and remotely invested Xing as empress. Earlier, Emperor Huizong of Song had sent Cao Xun south. Xing removed one of her gold earrings and asked Cao Xun to deliver it to Gaozong as an expression of her wish to be reunited with him soon. Gaozong treasured the gold ring after receiving it. In 1139, the ninth year of the Shaoxing era, Xing died at Wuguocheng at the age of thirty-four. The Jin kept her death secret, and the Southern Song court remained unaware of it. ### Posthumous Honors In 1142, the twelfth year of the Shaoxing era, the Southern Song welcomed back Empress Dowager Wei and only then learned that Xing had died. Gaozong suspended court and granted her the posthumous title Yijie. In August of the same year, Xing's coffin returned to Song territory and was temporarily placed northwest of the coffin of Empress Dowager Shengxian. Gaozong often missed his first wife. To console him, Empress Wu requested that her nephews Wu Xun and Wu Ju respectively marry two daughters of the Xing family. Late in the Chunxi era, Xing's posthumous title was changed to Xianjie, and she was enshrined in Gaozong's ancestral temple.

Xing Bingyi was the principal wife of Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of Song. At the Jingkang disaster she was taken by the Jin army at Kaifeng and carried north with the other imperial clansmen and consorts. After Zhao Gou took the throne in the south he made her empress by a distant investiture, but she never returned, dying in the Jin realm. Her posthumous name was Xianjie, and the histories accordingly call her Empress Xianjie.

Her case is a concrete instance of the northward removal of the Song imperial clan and consorts in the Jingkang disaster. Her lot in the Jin realm is described in several Song accounts, the details differing according to the standpoint of the sources.

After Zhao Gou took the throne he made Lady Xing empress by a distant investiture, a gesture that nominally maintained the palace ritual of the Southern Song court and expressed mourning for the captive clan. She never returned, and when word of her death came the court gave her the posthumous name Xianjie, a title of particular meaning among the consorts of the Southern Song.

Major Activities

The Gold Earring as a Token Before Xing was taken north, Emperor Huizong of Song sent Cao Xun south. Xing removed one gold earring and entrusted it to Cao Xun to deliver to Gaozong, expressing her wish that they might meet again soon. Gaozong treasured the earring after receiving it, remotely invested her as empress, and granted official posts to twenty-five of her relatives. ### The Vacant Empress's Position After Gaozong ascended the throne, he remotely invested Xing as empress, and the empress's position thereafter remained vacant. Even after learning of Xing's death in 1142, the twelfth year of the Shaoxing era, Gaozong still delayed appointing another empress and did not establish Empress Wu until 1143, the thirteenth year of the Shaoxing era. The position was vacant for a total of sixteen years. ### Honors Granted to Her Family Because of Xing, members of her family received posthumous honors and ennoblements. Her father Xing Huan was posthumously appointed Junior Preceptor and made Prince An; her great-grandfather and grandfather were both posthumously granted princely rank; and her mother and grandmother received the titles of ladies of state. Her younger brother Xing Xiaoyang rose to the office of Chengxuan Commissioner of the Baoxin Army; Xing Xiaosu and Xing Xiaokuan respectively attained the posts of Right Court Gentleman for Instruction and Direct Academician of the Palace Library.

Personal Relations

• Mother: Lady Xiong, titled Lady of Wei
• Great-grandfather: Xing Yundi, posthumously appointed Grand Tutor and made Prince Gong
• Grandfather: Xing Zongxian, posthumously appointed Grand Preceptor and made Prince Yong
• Younger brothers: Xing Xiaoyun, Xing Xiaoqian, Xing Xiaoyang, Xing Xiaosu, and Xing Xiaokuan
• Elder sister: Lady Xing, titled Lady of Yongkang Commandery
• Younger sister: Lady Xing, married to Pan Wenqing ### Ruler and Consort - Husband: Zhao Gou, Emperor Gaozong of Song
• Successor as empress: Empress Wu, who was established later and arranged marriages between her nephews and the Xing family to console Gaozong ### Contemporaries - Cao Xun: envoy entrusted with delivering the gold earring
• Wanyan Zongxian: member of the Jin imperial clan to whom Xing was assigned after being taken north

Historical Assessment

Song Dynasty / Contemporary Views - The History of Song, Biographies of Empresses and Consorts records her life and states that Gaozong “left the central palace vacant awaiting her for sixteen years,” indicating the depth of his attachment to her.

• Empress Wu asked that her nephews marry two women of the Xing family in order to console Gaozong, reflecting Xing's place in Gaozong's affections.
• The Southern Song court posthumously titled her Yijie, later changed the title to Xianjie, and enshrined her in Gaozong's ancestral temple, according her the honors due an empress. ### Song–Yuan Period - Historical works such as the Chronological Record of Important Events since 1127 record her removal to the north and provide material for later study of the fate of imperial women after the Jingkang Incident.
• When the History of Song was compiled in the Yuan dynasty, she was included in the biographies of empresses and consorts, affirming her status as empress. ### Ming and Qing Periods - Ming and Qing historians often discussed Xing's experience in the context of the Jingkang Incident and treated her as a representative example of the tragedy suffered by imperial women during the disaster.
• Ming writer Zhang Sui's Qianbainian Yan and other notes mention Gaozong's decision to leave the empress's position vacant and regard it as evidence of deep marital affection. ### Modern Period - Modern scholars studying the Jingkang Incident often cite Xing's removal to the north as a source for understanding politics and diplomacy in the early Southern Song.
• Xing has occasionally appeared in film and television works; in the 2013 television drama The Patriot Yue Fei, she was portrayed by Huang Xiaoge.