Consort Duan

Consort Duan (曹端妃; d. 1542), of the Cao clan, was a Ming dynasty concubine of the Jiajing Emperor. She was one of the emperor's most beloved concubines, but was implicated in an assassination attempt and subsequently executed.

Biography Cao was born the daughter of an official in Wuxi, modern Jiangsu Province. It is unknown when she entered the Ming Palace, but she was initially titled Lady Cao .

In 1536, Lady Cao gave birth to the emperor's first daughter, Shouying , Princess Chang'an. The same year, she was promoted to Imperial Concubine Duan and her father was made a member of the Jinyiwei with authority over 1,000 households. She gave birth to the emperor's third daughter in 1539, Luzheng .

Palace women uprising

On 27 November 1542, a group of palace women attempted to murder the emperor when he was staying in Consort Duan's quarters. They pretended to wait on him whilst there, tied a rope around his neck and attempted to strangle him. It was later determined that Consort Duan had not been involved,

Titles During the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505–1521) Lady Cao (曹氏; from Unknown Date) During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–1567) Woman of Gentleness (淑女: from Before 1535) Concubine Duan (端嫔; from 1535) Consort Duan (端妃; from 1537)

Issues As Concubine Duan: Zhu Shaoying, Princess Chang'an (常安公主 朱壽媖; 1536–1549), Jiajing's first daughter As Consort Duan: Zhu Luzheng, Princess Ning'an (寧安公主 朱祿媜; 1539–1607), Jiajing's third daughter