Introduction: The Overlooked Royal Women

While the dramatic “Nine Princes’ Struggle for Succession” dominates popular narratives about Emperor Kangxi’s reign (1661-1722), his twenty-one daughters—nearly one-fifth of all Qing dynasty princesses—remain largely forgotten. These royal women navigated perilous childhoods, political marriages, and complex family dynamics, their stories offering a revealing window into Qing court life, gender politics, and frontier governance.

The Perilous Path to Adulthood

Kangxi’s twenty-one daughters (including one adopted cousin raised as a princess) faced staggering mortality rates. Twelve died before reaching marriageable age—ten as children under ten, with two succumbing in early adolescence. Their survival showed no correlation to maternal status: the youngest daughter of Kangxi’s highest-ranking consort, Imperial Noble Consort Tongjia (de facto empress), died within weeks, while daughters of low-ranking concubines sometimes lived longer.

Court records reveal disturbing negligence cases. In 1706, Kangxi harshly punished the wet nurse of the Eleventh Princess (his sixteenth daughter), exiling her family after unspecified mistreatment. The princess died aged thirteen the following year while Kangxi toured southern China—one of many parent-child separations marking these royal lives.

Political Pawns: The Mechanics of Manchu-Mongol Alliances

Of the nine princesses who survived to adulthood, seven married Mongol princes, continuing the Qing’s strategic “marriage alliance” (满蒙联姻) policy that saw 430 Manchu royal women wed Mongol nobles between 1612-1912. These unions stabilized northern frontiers after the 1688 Khalkha Mongol migration into Qing territory following Dzungar invasions.

Key marriages included:
– Princess Chunxi (1671-1741): Kangxi’s eldest (adopted) daughter, wedded Khorchin Mongol leader Bandi in 1690 during the Dzungar wars. Their 36-year marriage became the dynasty’s longest royal union.
– Princess Rongxian (1673-1728): The biological eldest daughter, married Barlin Mongol prince Ulgung in 1691. Her nursing of a sick Kangxi in 1708 earned her the rare “Gurun Princess” (固伦公主) title.
– Princess Duanjing (1674-1699): First Qing princess married to Khalkha Mongols in 1697, cementing control after Dzungar leader Galdan’s defeat.

These brides carried lavish dowries—silks, jewelry, even entire Beijing-style brick mansions built in Mongol territories—yet faced cultural isolation. While early Kangxi-era princesses could occasionally visit the capital, later restrictions made such reunions rare.

Short Lives and Tragic Ends

Marriage offered no protection from tragedy:
– Princess Wenxian (1683-1702): Married to her cousin Sunanyan (a grandson of Kangxi’s uncle), died suddenly at 20 during a summer retreat, devastating her grandmother Empress Dowager Xiaohui.
– Princess Kejing (1685-1709): Died at 23 delivering twins—the only recorded maternal death among Kangxi’s daughters. The emperor’s terse response (“What can be done? She was a married daughter”) hints at suppressed grief.
– Princess Dunke (1690-1709): Died at 19, just a year after wedding Khorchin Mongol prince Dorji. Her elaborate funeral procession reflected Kangxi’s affection.

Only five princesses lived past thirty. The longest survivor, Princess Chunxi, died at 71 in 1741—a childless widow cared for by her nephew Emperor Qianlong.

Gendered Realities: Princesses vs. Princes

The princesses’ fates contrasted sharply with Kangxi’s 35 sons (15 died young). Scholars attribute this disparity to systemic neglect:
– Lower stipends for princesses (200 taels silver annually vs. princes’ 1,000+ taels)
– Smaller servant contingents (4 eunuchs vs. princes’ 8-12)
– Limited medical attention in court records

Yet these women exercised surprising agency. Princess Rongxian and her husband Ulgung hosted Kangxi during his northern tours, while Princess Duanjing earned local renown as “Hainuo Gongzhu” (海蚌公主) for governing Khalkha Mongol territories—a stone tablet commemorating her policies still stands at Laoniu Bay on the Yellow River.

Conclusion: Fragile Flowers of the Empire

More than biographical curiosities, Kangxi’s princesses embodied Qing frontier strategy. Their brief lives—marked by high mortality, political utility, and occasional influence—reflect both the privileges and constraints of imperial womanhood. As historian Ding Yizhuang notes, these royal women were “simultaneously privileged and powerless,” their bodies serving as instruments of statecraft even as they carved spaces for personal legacy in the empire’s northern reaches.

The scattered records of their existence, from hastily written infant death reports to grand funeral processions, collectively trace an alternative history of the Kangxi era—one written not in battlefields or throne rooms, but in nursery chambers, wedding palanquins, and lonely Mongol yurts under endless northern skies.