Kong Sizhen

Overview

Kong Sizhen was the daughter of Kong Youde, a high-ranking official in the early Qing Dynasty. In the ninth year of the Shunzhi Emperor's reign, Li Dingguo's army captured Guilin, and Kong Youde committed suicide, bringing misfortune to his family. She later went to Beijing, where the court bestowed silver upon her and granted her treatment equivalent to that of a Heshuo Gege (a high-ranking imperial princess). The *Draft History of the Qing Dynasty* uses the phrase "regarded as a Heshuo Gege," emphasizing the comparison of her treatment, and cannot be used to directly claim her as the emperor's biological princess. Kong Sizhen married Sun Yanling, the son of Sun Long. Sun Yanling later commanded troops in Guangxi and became involved in anti-Qing activities during the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories; related records also mention Kong Sizhen persuading him to surrender. Her father's title of Prince of Dingnan, her husband's military position, and her own treatment are three separate pieces of information and should not be combined into a single position inherited by her. During the Qing Dynasty, the titles of women in the imperial family were hierarchical; the titles of Heshuo Princess, Junzhu (a princess of the second rank), Xianzhu (a princess of the third rank), and various other Gege (a type of imperial princess) were not interchangeable; the empress consort's rank also varied depending on the rank of the woman he married. To understand Kong Sizhen, it is necessary to first distinguish between her status as the daughter of a meritorious official, the lifestyle and position arranged for her by the court, and her marital ties with the Guangxi military governor. The specific scope of her direct military command cannot be inferred solely from later legends.