A Fateful Journey to Mount Tai

In the thirteenth year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign (1748), the Qing Empire was struck by a profound tragedy. Empress Xiaoxian, the emperor’s beloved primary consort from the Fucha clan, died unexpectedly during an imperial procession to Mount Tai. This sacred mountain, long revered in Chinese tradition as the eastern peak of the Five Great Mountains, had been the destination for a routine inspection tour. No one anticipated that the journey would end in personal catastrophe for the emperor.

The death of Empress Xiaoxian sent Qianlong into deep mourning. Known for his devotion to Confucian rituals, he ordered an elaborate funeral befitting her status. Her coffin was transported back to Beijing on the same grand barge she had used during the journey. However, the vessel proved too large for the city gates—a logistical nightmare that required workers to dismantle part of the gate and ingeniously use cabbage leaves as a lubricant to slide the barge through. This peculiar detail underscores the extraordinary measures taken to honor the empress.

A Grieving Emperor and a Court in Disarray

The period of mourning should have been one of solemn reflection, but instead, Qianlong found himself besieged by administrative failures and personal betrayals.

### Bureaucratic Blunders and Disrespect

First came a series of humiliating errors by government officials. The Hanlin Academy, responsible for drafting formal documents, committed an egregious mistake in the empress’s memorial text by mistranscribing “imperial mother” (皇妣) as “deceased empress dowager” (先太后) in Manchu—an error tantamount to denying her proper rank. Worse still, memorials submitted to the throne contained language deemed “grossly disrespectful” and “absurd.” Investigations revealed that Akdun, the Minister of Justice, had allowed these oversights due to longstanding grudges.

### The Scandal of Absentee Officials

On April 22, when Qianlong visited Jing’an Manor to inspect the temporary resting place for the empress, more than half of the expected officials failed to appear without excuse. A week later, during a wine-pouring ceremony before the empress’s coffin at Guande Hall, the attending nobles and ministers displayed shocking indifference, some arriving late or behaving with inappropriate casualness.

### The Unfilial Princes

Perhaps the most personal wound came from Qianlong’s own sons. Princes Yonghuang and Yongzhang, tasked with receiving their mother’s coffin, showed no visible grief. Yonghuang, already 21 and a father himself, should have understood the gravity of filial piety. Enraged, Qianlong publicly declared that neither prince would ever inherit the throne—a stunning rebuke that derailed their political futures over what might have been a minor lapse in another context.

The Infamous “Haircut Scandal”

The most widespread controversy, however, revolved around haircuts. Manchu tradition, as recorded in the Ningguta Jilue from the Kangxi era, held that refraining from cutting one’s hair for a full season was a key mourning practice for parents. For the empress’s funeral, the court explicitly mandated a 100-day prohibition on haircuts. Yet violations erupted across the empire:

– Jiang Xinghan, a military officer in Shandong, trimmed his hair prematurely.
– Jin Wenchun, a prefect in Fengtian, ignored the ban.
– Zhou Xuejian, director of the Jiangnan waterways, not only cut his hair after 27 days but ordered his subordinates to do the same.
– Senior officials like Serengge (Governor-General of Huguang), Peng Shukui (Governor of Hubei), and Yang Xifu (Governor of Hunan) all violated the rule, some even enforcing group haircuts among their staff.

Qianlong’s response was brutal: Serengge and Zhou Xuejian were ordered to commit suicide, while others faced demotion or imprisonment. This crackdown sent a clear message—loyalty to imperial decrees was non-negotiable.

Legacy of a Funeral: Power, Ritual, and Memory

The aftermath of Empress Xiaoxian’s death reveals much about mid-Qing politics. Qianlong’s extreme reactions—whether to bureaucratic sloppiness or haircuts—were not merely personal outbursts but calculated displays of authority. By punishing even high-ranking officials, he reinforced Confucian ideals of filial duty while asserting his absolute power.

Modern historians see this episode as a turning point in Qianlong’s reign. His grief hardened into a stricter governance style, foreshadowing later purges like the literary inquisitions of the 1770s. For the Fucha clan, the empress’s death marked the end of their peak influence. And for ordinary citizens, the haircut scandal became a cautionary tale about the perils of disobeying imperial ritual.

Today, Empress Xiaoxian is remembered not just as a tragic figure but as a catalyst for one of the Qing dynasty’s most revealing political dramas—a moment when personal sorrow collided with the machinery of state, leaving an indelible mark on Chinese history.