Empress Chen (Jiajing)
| Empress Xiaojiesu 孝潔肅皇后 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Empress consort of the Ming dynasty | |||||
| Tenure | 1522–1528 | ||||
| Predecessor | Empress Xiaojingyi | ||||
| Successor | Empress Zhang | ||||
| Born | 1508 Yuancheng County, Zhili (present-day Daming County, Hebei) | ||||
| Died | 1528 (aged 19–20) | ||||
| Burial | Tianshou Mountain (before 1567) Yong Mausoleum (after 1567) | ||||
| Spouse | Jiajing Emperor | ||||
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| Clan | Chen (陳) | ||||
| Father | Chen Wanyan (陳萬言) | ||||
Empress Xiaojiesu (1508–1528), of the Chen clan, was a Chinese empress consort of the Ming dynasty, first empress to the Jiajing Emperor.
She was the daughter of a local scholar named Chen Wanyang (d. 1535). She was selected in to the palace of the Jiajing Emperor in 1522. Later that year, she was appointed empress upon the wish of the emperor's aunt, the Empress Dowager Zhang. Because of the tense personal relationship between the Emperor and his aunt, however, he did not take a liking to Chen. In 1528, she became pregnant. During her pregnancy, the Emperor kicked her repeatedly in a fit of rage and caused her to fatally miscarry.
The Emperor did not permit her to be buried in the imperial mausoleum: this was not done before 1567.