Imperial Noble Consort Huixian (1711 – 25 February 1745) of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Gaogiya clan, was a consort of the Qianlong Emperor.

Life

Family background

Imperial Noble Consort Huixian's personal name was not recorded in history. She was a Han Chinese by birth and came from the Gao family, who were originally Han baoyi of the Imperial Household Department's Bordered Yellow Banner. It was Qing court protocol to put any non-Manchu consort and her close male relatives like brothers and cousins into a Manchu banner if they were a Han bannermen. Imperial Noble Consort Huixian and her brothers and cousins were put into the Manchu Yellow Bordered Banner effectively changing their ethnicity from Han to Manchu in the eyes of the Qing court. Their surname was Manchurized from Gao to Gaojia (高佳).

Yongzheng era

Lady Gao was considered to be "a beautiful and well-educated woman with a great personality and many capabilities". It is not known when she become a lady-in-waiting, and then a concubine, of Aisin-Gioro Hongli, the Yongzheng Emperor's fourth son. On 4 April 1734, she was elevated to the rank of secondary consort. She was greatly favored by her husband all her life and developed a wonderful relationship with his principal wife, Lady Fuca.

Qianlong era

The Yongzheng Emperor died on 8 October 1735 and was succeeded by Hongli, who was enthroned as the Qianlong Emperor. Around th time, Gao Bin wrote a memorial to the Yongzheng Emperor, thanking him for a bunch of lychees, but it was too late as the emperor had already died when the memorial reached the palace, so the Qianlong Emperor replied in place of his father: "My father recognised your talent and promoted you to a high position. You should do your utmost to repay his grace. Even though your daughter is waiting on me, you should not be harbouring any ill intentions. This will not be tolerated by national law. If you serve the nation well with sincerity and integrity, I will not refrain from giving rewards to avoid being criticised for showing favouritism." Lady Gao directly assisted Empress Fuca in managing the palace at large and caring for Empress Dowager Chongqing. On 23 January 1738, Lady Gao was granted the title of "Noble Consort". As she was the only woman in the imperial harem holding said rank at the time, she did not receive any special title to distinguish her from the emperor's other consorts. On 23 February 1745, when Noble Consort Gao became critically ill, she was elevated to "Imperial Noble Consort Gao" by the Qianlong Emperor. However, she never managed to attend the promotion ceremony because she died 2 days after the emperor announced his decision. In 1752, she was interred in the Yu Mausoleum of the Eastern Qing tombs.

Titles

In fiction and popular culture