Other lordship · The Jin empire of Zhangzong · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Li Shi'er

Li Shi'er is the woman the sources of the reign remember: a concubine of Zhangzong, a Han woman of humble birth, who in his later years had his favour, and whose relatives were given government posts (English Wikipedia, Zhangzong page).

The story told with hindsight (English Wikipedia, Empress Qinhuai page) is that Zhangzong tried to raise her to empress, that his ministers opposed it fervently because every earlier empress had come from the great Jurchen consort clans (Tudan, Tangkuo, Pucha, Nalanpusan, Heshili, Wulinda and Wulungu), and that she was made Consort Yuan (Yuanfei), one rank below the empress; the pages give no year for any step. The assignment and the campaign board treat her as the favourite of this winter and we follow them, at medium confidence, but the English page's words 'in his later years' may mean after 1200, so how far the favour, the posts for her kin and the quarrel have gone by 1 January 1200 is not pinned (see the likely course). If the quarrel is already live it is also a quarrel about the succession, since a son by her would change the argument; that reading is mine, not a source's.

Who he is

Name
Li Shi'er
Title
Favourite consort of Zhangzong (the Jinshi's style for her is Yuanfei, 'First Consort', which she may not yet hold)
Since
not known (English Wikipedia says only that in his later years Zhangzong spoiled her and gave her kin posts)
Born
not known
Family
A Han woman of humble origin; her relatives were given government posts (English Wikipedia). Names of her kin not checked.
Confidence
medium

English Wikipedia on Zhangzong and on Empress Qinhuai, from the Jinshi's consort biographies. The year she received the style Yuanfei is not given in what we opened; our recollection is the years 1200 to 1202, so on 1 January 1200 she may hold a lower style.

Overlord

Emperor Zhangzong

What it holds

  • A household of ladies and eunuchs in the palace at Zhongdu
  • Posts and favours for her kin

Allies and rivals

Allies: her kin, the emperor. Rivals: the senior Jurchen ministers, and the nearest princes, who gain if the emperor stays without a son.

How things stand that morning

A concubine of Zhangzong, probably already in favour, though how far is not pinned. Her rank and style on the morning of 1 January 1200 are not pinned; the quarrel over making her empress may be live, may not yet have begun, or may already be settled by the lower rank.

Threats

  • The ministers' hostility, if the quarrel has begun
  • A childless emperor

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

  1. between 1200 and 1208, dates not pinnedLi Shi'er receives the style Yuanfei, one rank below the empress; Zhangzong tries to raise her higher, the ministers refuse, and no new empress is ever named.Depends on: The emperor's favour and the ministers' hold on the rules of rank. Stopped by: A son by her or by another consort, which would change the argument; or her fall from favour.

Later, on the likely course

  1. 1209Li Shi'er dies a year after Zhangzong (English Wikipedia gives 1209 for her death).Depends on: Zhangzong dying in 1208; the page we opened does not say how or why she died. Stopped by: Zhangzong living longer, or a son by her.

Places of note

  • Zhongdu: The Central Capital.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: One English Wikipedia statement of her rank and death year; the Jinshi's consort chapter was not opened.

On the map: A person or office with no land of its own; the drawing is a marker.

Primary sources for Jin empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Annals of the Western Xia, Wu Guangcheng (吳廣成) (1825 to 1827, compiled from Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's year-by-year reconstruction of Tangut history from the Chinese histories, since the Xia left no surviving annals of their own in Chinese. Read online
  • Continuation of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, Bi Yuan (畢沅), completed by Feng Jiwu after his death (late eighteenth century, finished after 1801, from Song and Yuan sources). A Qing scholar's continuous month-by-month chronicle of the Song and Yuan centuries, compiled from the Song shi, the Liao, Jin and Yuan histories, Li Tao, Li Xinchuan and other Song sources. Read online
  • Essentials of the History of Goryeo, Kim Jong-seo (金宗瑞) and the Joseon history office (1452). The chronological companion to the Goryeosa, finished a year after it and drawing on the same lost records, sometimes with entries the Goryeosa omits. Read online
  • Outline and Details of Two Reigns (thirteenth century, after 1224). A Song outline-and-detail chronicle of exactly the two reigns around 1200, drawn from the court's daily records. Read online
  • Record of the Personal Campaigns of the Holy Warrior (Chinggis Khan) (presented to Khubilai in 1288, finished in Mongolian in 1290; the surviving Chinese version dates from 1369). A year-by-year Chinese account of Temujin's wars, drawn from the lost Altan Debter (the same source behind the Yuan shi's first chapter and Rashid al-Din). Read online
  • The Secret History of the Mongols (1228 or 1240 (the colophon's Year of the Rat is disputed), with later additions; the surviving Chinese transcription and gloss were made under the Ming in the 1380s). The only Mongol account of Temujin's rise, written within living memory. Read online
  • History of the Jin, Toqto'a (脫脫) and the Yuan history office, with Ouyang Xuan among the chief compilers (1343 to 1344, from the Jin veritable records and the Jin national history). The official history of the Jurchen empire that ruled north China and Manchuria in 1200. Read online
  • Record of the Great Jin State, Attributed to Yuwen Maozhao (宇文懋昭); the attribution is doubtful (preface dated 1234; probably assembled in the Southern Song from Song and Jin material, with later accretions). A Song-side history of the Jin, with annals for each emperor and chapters on institutions, customs, the capitals and the Jurchen way of life. Read online

14 more in the sources library for North China and Manchuria.

Sources and studies

  1. Emperor Zhangzong of Jin (English Wikipedia)
  2. Empress Qinhuai (English Wikipedia)
  3. Jinshi (History of the Jin), Benji of Zhangzong, Dili zhi, Hequ zhi, Shihuo zhi and Bing zhi (recalled from memory and the secondary literature; the text itself could not be opened in this session)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.