Empress Dowager Cixi, the mother of the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, carried the rise and fall of Chinese feudal society. She is known for her strength and intrigues, however, her life is also full of unique preferences and legendary anecdotes. Among them, the legend about her relying on Wang Batang to continue her life and the pearl of the night in her mouth after her death has become a mystery that cannot be ignored in history.
Wangba soup is commonly known as turtle, and Wangba soup is a soup made with turtle as the main ingredient.
According to legend, the Empress Dowager Cixi believed that Wang Ba Tang had the effect of prolonging life, and regarded it as an immortal drink for immortality. However, this superstition about Wang Batang did not come without a price. Empress Dowager Cixi's long-term consumption of Wangba Tang resulted in malaria, revealing a historical figure's over-reliance on traditional herbs and cuisines, and the potential health risks that this dependence could pose.
In order to maintain her appearance and pursue the so-called "prolongation of life", the Empress Dowager Cixi did not hesitate to sacrifice her own health. This caused people to think deeply about the absurdity and superstition under imperial power in the feudal era.
Is the Empress Dowager Cixi also a mortal who cannot be detached in the face of birth, old age, sickness and death?This contradiction makes her image fuller and makes people's scrutiny of feudal society more profound.
In the feudal society at that time, the worship of imperial power and the pursuit of longevity almost became a religious belief. The idea of divine authority of kings was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the emperor and queen mother were regarded as the embodiment of the gods.
The Empress Dowager Cixi tried to get rid of the erosion of time through her belief in Wang Batang, but she fell into the quagmire from which she could not extricate herself from this superstition.
After the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi in 1898, she was left with a puzzling mystery. The eunuch put a night pearl in her mouth and became part of the mystery of the cause of death.
The Night Pearl, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the shell of a shellfish animal that is commonly used to make pearls. The reason why the eunuch put the Night Pearl in the mouth of the Empress Dowager Cixi was partly out of admiration for her, and on the other hand, it may have been out of a supernatural belief that this would allow the Empress Dowager to obtain some kind of mysterious power or eternal youth in the afterlife.
This behavior is not only an expression of the Empress Dowager Cixi, but also a reflection of the supernatural reverie of feudal society about death.
The life of the Empress Dowager Cixi is full of legends, and her cunning, wit, charm and uncanny food legends constitute a mystery that will fascinate historians and culture lovers.
In today's society, the evaluation of the Empress Dowager Cixi is also diverse. Some see her as a representative of the intrigue in Chinese history, others see her as a political wizard, and others resent her for her aggressiveness and cruelty. In any case, Empress Dowager Cixi, as a historical figure, her life has become a meeting point between history and reality, legend and reality.
Summing up the life of the Empress Dowager Cixi, it is far from us, but her story has always shone in the long river of history. For the legend that she relied on Wang Batang to continue her life and the pearl of the night in her mouth after her death, we can find some clues from historical documents, and we can also see the absurdity of feudal society and the complexity of human nature.
In modern society, we may be able to treat birth, old age, sickness and death more rationally, and treat health and longevity more scientifically. These legendary stories in history are also worthy of our in-depth thinking in order to better understand and grasp the development trajectory of human society.