A rare large Chinese Imperial dark celadon jade seal of Empress Xiaoyiren

19th Century, probably made in the Fourth Year of Jiaqing, corresponding to 1801. The impressive seal with a square seal face, robustly carved and pierced on the top with two crouching five-clawed dragons in the round, their bodies intertwined and heads facing in opposite directions, snarling to reveal their fangs, teeth and tongues; their scales, manes and horns well detailed and defined, the seal face carved in relief in both Chinese and Manchu zhuanshu scripts. The finely polished stone of a greyish green tone with some striations and inclusions, 12.8cm wide x 9cm high.

Provenance: Sir George Sheppard Murray (d.1928), acquired c.1900, and thence by descent.

Exhibited: The National Gallery of South Africa, Cape Town 1953, no.225, Pl.XI.

Cataloguing note: this Imperial seal was acquired between 1888 and 1906 by Sir George Sheppard Murray, a Scottish banker, when he was working as the Managing Director of the Singapore branch of the Mercantile Bank of India. He was credited for his assistance to the Singapore Government in the issuing of bank notes and the establishment of a gold standard. He was awarded a knighthood in 1906 and after his return to the UK resided in Barretstown Castle in County Kildare, which he turned into a successful stud farm.

The seal script can be transcribed: xiao yi wen cheng duan ren xian mu he ke ci hui fengtian zuosheng ren huanghou zhi bao (The Seal of Heaven-Serving, Sage-Auxiliary Benevolent Empress the Filially-Pious, Virtuous, Gentle, Sincere, Upright, Humane, Exemplary, Reverent, Peaceful, Mindful, Benign and Wise).

Empress Xiaoyiren (d.1689) was the Kangxi Emperor's third empress and also the shortest reigning empress in Chinese history; tragically reigning for just one day. Xiaoyiren's ancestors, the Tong clan, were native Han Chinese from the Liaodong area in Northeast China. They were instrumental in helping the Manchus defeat the Ming armies, and Xiaoyiren's paternal aunt was the Shunzhi Emperor's empress as well as the mother of Kangxi. With such close ties to the Imperial family, the clan was, as an exception, elevated by the Kangxi Emperor to 'Honorary Manchu' status and given a Manchu name - Tunggiya Hala (Tong-jia). The Tunggiya clan was one of the most prominent families in the Manchu dynasty, with numerous ministers and three empresses in its illustrious clan history. Xiaoyiren became a Guifei (Noble Consort) in 1677, was promoted to Huangguifei (Imperial Noble Consort) in 1681, a title second only to Empress, and gave birth to a princess in 1683, who died one month later. When Empress Xiaozhaoren, Kangxi's second, died in 1678, Xiaoyiren became the highest-ranking consort in the court and effectively the Empress. However, although she was quickly promoted to the title of Huangguifei after Xiaozhaoren's death, she remained a consort for over 10 years and the Empire was without an empress for that period. It was only when she became gravely ill and was dying that Kangxi finally made her Empress on the 9th of the 7th moon, 1689. Alas, she died the next day.

There is much speculation as to why Kangxi did not make her the Empress sooner, which would be in accordance with court customs after the passing of the last empress. It was certainly not because he disliked her. On the contrary, he once praised her to be 'filially pious by nature, renowned for her fine etiquette, and full of grace and diligence in educating the children'. However, when ministers petitioned him to make her empress he excused himself by saying, 'I have not considered this matter often', and delayed it ad infinitum. As soon as he realised that she was probably not long for this world, however, he decreed to make her Empress without delay. His decisiveness showed that he was not against the idea at all, but perhaps some deeper reasons were at work.

Kangxi's two previous empresses both died young; one in childbirth, aged 22, the other only four years after becoming empress. Although Kangxi was an intelligent and scientifically-minded ruler, he was not completely free from certain deep rooted superstitious beliefs. After the grief of losing two empresses in such quick succession, he perhaps did not want to tempt fate again. And his strategy seemed to have worked for a while, as Xiaoyiren reigned de facto as empress without the title for more than 10 years. This is perhaps the reason why she was not made empress for so long, although tragically this uncertainty probably also contributed to her ill health. After Xiaoyiren's death, Kangxi did not have another empress again for the rest of his reign.

Xiaoyiren was famed for her parenting skills and was credited for raising several princes, including the future Yongzheng Emperor, Prince Yinzhen. Yinzhen was born to a lowly lady-in-waiting, who had no right in raising a prince according to Qing court etiquette, so Xiaoyiren adopted Yinzhen from birth and raised him as her own. The fact that Yongzheng was adopted by the highest ranking consort in the Court undoubtedly contributed to his status and helped in his ascendancy as the next Emperor. He was deeply grateful to Xiaoyiren, perhaps even more than to his own mother, whose other son, his younger brother, later became the strongest contender to the throne. After Xiaoyiren died she was posthumously awarded titles three times, during the Yongzheng, Qianlong and Jiaqing periods. The awarding of posthumous titles normally coincided with the enthronement of the new Emperor. Thus it was in the first year of Yongzheng's and Qianlong's reigns respectively that she attained two more titles. The titled inscribed on the current seal was her final full title, which was awarded in the fourth year of the Jiaqing reign, when the Jiaqing Emperor became the true ruler of China after his father, the Qianlong Emperor the Emperor Emeritus, died that year.