The warrior emperor and the five phoenixes

The bedroom for Harjol and Huang Taiji.

According to the official record of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji was away fighting Ming troops when Harjol fell seriously ill in her palace. Between battlefield glory and the woman he loved, the emperor chose the latter. However, it took a galloping horse five days to race from the frontline, about 250 kilometers away, to Shenyang, and by the time Hang Taiji charged through the door, 33-year-old Harjol had closed her eyes.

The emperor was devastated, and he grieved over his loss for two years, and then died aged 52.

However, the end of one legend gave rise to another: Bumbutai, long overshadowed by her older sister, now made a grand entrance onto the historical stage.

Upon Huang Taiji's death, Bumbutai's son Fulin, born in the Shenyang palace, became the new emperor. In 1644, Fulin, 6, moved to Beijing, after his mighty troops trampled all resistance. The new empire was named Qing, a decision that Huang Taiji had made in 1636.

Bumbutai the empress dowager was to spend the next 44 years in the Forbidden City in Beijing until her death in 1688. Having experienced heartbreak of her own－Fulin died in 1661 at the age of 23－she went on to bring up her grandson, who later became the much-venerated Emperor Kangxi, the longest-reigning emperor of the Qing Dynasty.

In the intervening years Bumbutai also witnessed the death of her aunt, Empress Jerjer, in 1649, as well as the death of Huang Taiji's other two most prominent concubines who were the former wives of Ligdan Khan.