Hu Shanxiang was praised for his virtue, why was he deposed

The Ming Dynasty was an era that produced a plethora of bizarre emperors, as well as an era with four deposed empresses. Hu Shanxiang, the original consort of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, was a deposed empress dowager who caused many public outrage. So, why did such a queen, who was praised for her virtue, become such an ‘unfortunate one’? Interested friends, let’s take a look with the history encyclopedia editor.
1、 A generation of empresses renowned for their virtues
In the fifteenth year of the Yongle reign (1417), Zhu Zhanji, the great grandson of the emperor, reached the age of marriage. Marriage is already a major event in life, not to mention the possibility of becoming the wedding of the emperor’s grandson in the future. Therefore, after careful selection, there were still two options in front of Zhu Zhanji: one was Hu Shanxiang, the daughter of Jining Hu Rong, who was known for her talent at a young age, and the other was Sun Shi, the daughter of Sun Zhong in Yongcheng, Henan, who had long been brought up by Empress Zhang of Renzong and personally raised by her. Compared to Hu Shanxiang, Sun has extraordinary beauty.
Because Empress Zhang was very fond of the Sun family, and the Sun family had a face that made Zhu Zhanji’s heart flutter, many people initially had a higher opinion of the Sun family. But the position of Empress Dowager Sun’s consort ultimately fell to the Hu family. Not only did the Sun family express dissatisfaction with this, but the public was also puzzled. Therefore, later on, in order to explain the election of the Hu family, there were also mysterious sayings among the people, such as “The small building where the Hu family lived was surrounded by red and white smoke every morning” and “When the Si Tian played the Star Qi and saw Kui Lou, he should seek it between the Ji River”.
These wonderful claims are probably not very reliable. But looking back at the Ming Dynasty, it is not difficult to find that “virtue” was placed above “beauty”. For example, the “History of Ming Dynasty” praises Empress Ma as “virtuous, similar to Empress Changsun of Tang Dynasty”, Empress Xu as “virtuous”, and Empress Wu as “virtuous”. Therefore, the Hu family, known for their excellence, became the Empress Dowager Sun’s consort, and the Sun family became the Empress Dowager Sun’s consort. This should not be due to any supernatural reasons, but rather to the tradition of “selecting the virtuous rather than the beautiful” in the Ming Dynasty.
In the 22nd year of the Yongle reign (1424), Emperor Mingren Zhu Gaochi succeeded to the throne, and Hu became the Crown Princess. The following year, in the first year of Hongxi (1425), Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty ascended to the throne, and the Hu family was promoted to empress. But the rise of Hu’s status was also accompanied by the fading of her relationship with Zhu Zhanji. This laid the groundwork for her to become the first deposed empress in the Ming Dynasty.
2、 Hu was deposed and Sun was newly established
As mentioned earlier, compared to the Hu family, the Sun family is a beautiful person. And she is also very smooth and adept at pleasing others, which is very pleasing to Zhu Zhanji. Therefore, when Zhu Zhanji, who was known for his promiscuity, gradually lost interest in his wife Hu Shi, under the instigation of Sun Shi, Hu Shi, who had no knowledge or fault, suddenly came to the brink of being deposed.
Zhu Zhanji also knew that it was not easy to abolish the virtuous Empress Hu who had no faults. So before deposing the empress dowager, he first proposed to the empress dowager to make an exception and grant Jinbao, which originally belonged to the empress, to Sun Shi, who had already become a noble consort. Upon hearing that her son had personally pleaded for mercy, and that Sun had fulfilled her own wishes, Empress Dowager Zhang readily agreed to grant Jinbao. Sun became the first noble consort in the Ming Dynasty to possess a golden treasure.
Subsequently, Sun Shi, who felt that the timing was right, added fuel to the issue of deposing the empress and urged Emperor Xuanzong of Ming Dynasty to depose Hu Shi on the grounds that he had “no children and was also prone to illness”. Using the example of “there are three types of unfilial behavior, and having no offspring is the greatest”, this reason for deposing the offspring may seem reasonable at first glance. However, in reality, Hu is not infertile. Before being deposed, she had already added two offspring to the royal family, both of whom were princesses. On the other hand, Sun only gave birth to one princess before Hu was deposed. But in order to completely overthrow the Hu family, Sun secretly took away the son of a palace maid, who later became Ming Yingzong.
So when Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty decided to depose the Hu family for this reason, not only did courtiers such as Zhang Fu, Jian Yi, Yang Rong, and Yang Shiqi fight against it, but the people also erupted with doubts like when the Hu family was enthroned as the legitimate wife, and “the world heard of it and felt sorry for it”. Ke Xuanzong’s intention has been decided, and Hu Shi is a generous and selfless character. Therefore, Hu ultimately reluctantly abdicated and became the first deposed empress of the Ming Dynasty. And soon after, Sun became the new queen and held this position until his death.
3、 The Green Lantern Career After Being Abandoned
When Sun was flaunting his power as a new queen, Hu, who was alone, was obviously unable to protect himself. But she unexpectedly received protection from Empress Dowager Zhang. It is also difficult for us to determine whether Empress Dowager Zhang genuinely cared for the virtuous Hu family who was deposed without any fault, or was trying to make up for her past favoritism towards the Sun family. In short, the Hu family received protection from Empress Dowager Zhang. Even at every imperial banquet, the seat of the Hu family was arranged by Empress Dowager Zhang above the Sun family, who was already the empress.
Sun was naturally very angry about the status of the deposed Hu family. It is Empress Dowager Zhang who can protect the Hu family, and the Sun family also dares not speak out in anger. It was not until the death of Empress Dowager Zhang in the seventh year of the Zhengtong era (1442) and the death of the Hu family the following year that the Sun family “avenged themselves” by coercing the courtiers to bury the Hu family with imperial rites instead of posthumous rites, and posthumously awarded the title of “Jingci Xianshi”. It was not until Ming Yingzong learned that Sun was not his biological mother and that Hu was unjustly deposed by Sun’s calculation that Hu regained her rightful position as empress and was posthumously honored with the title of “Empress Gongrang Chengshun Kangmu Jingci Zhang”.
From the renowned empress dowager to the innocent and desolate Jingci Immortal Master guarding the green lanterns, even if the injustice is finally cleared, the Hu family, who holds the title of “the first deposed empress dowager of the Ming Dynasty,” may still have a sense of melancholy in their hearts. But being indifferent like her, not being a queen may also be a good choice.