Empress Nara

Empress Nara (11 March 1718 – 19 August 1766), of the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner Nara clan, was the second empress consort of the Qianlong Emperor of China's Qing dynasty. Informally known as the Step-Empress (繼皇后), she is one of the most controversial female figures in Chinese history. She was elevated to empress rank after Empress Xiaoxianchun's death, and in her role as empress, accompanied the Qianlong Emperor on many leisure and hunting trips, as well as ancestral worship ceremonies. Historical records give little information about her life or even her physical appearance. Because of this lack of documentation, there has been intense speculation among Chinese academicians regarding her historicity and character. It is widely suspected that the Qianlong Emperor destroyed all her records and portraits. Although never officially deposed, she lost her authority as chief of the imperial harem in 1765, reputedly because she cut her hair, an act that was considered a grave offense according to Manchu custom. Consequently, the Qianlong Emperor ordered that her four titular imperial edicts, accompanying gifts, and imperial seal be confiscated. After her death, she was not given an imperial funeral or a posthumous name, nor was she buried with the Qianlong Emperor.