The harem concubines of the Qing Dynasty were forbidden to sleep in their fifties, not because of color decay
In the feudal era, the emperor, as the king of a country, had supreme power, but also assumed the responsibilities of the royal family.
As the saying goes, there are three thousand beauties in the harem, which is not a joke, because there are indeed many women around the emperor, even the most famous emperor in history, he also has many wives in his harem, and all of them are like flowers and jade, and they are both talented and beautiful.
As the saying goes, only a few concubines in history can always achieve fame and fortune, especially the concubines of the Qing Dynasty can no longer sleep when they are 50 years old, is this the reason?
In fact, age is only part of the symptoms, and the truth is often more in line with the actual situation.
Avoid the risk of childbirth.
The emperor's purpose in marrying a wife is to have children, but a 50-year-old wife is already very old, and in modern times, she is also an advanced maternal age, so she will face great risks.
Not only is it easy to faint a lot during childbirth, but the children born may not be healthy. In any case, in the old era of backward medical technology, people were exposed to more risks than ever.
Moreover, the old birth control operation was not very effective, and the miscarriage caused great damage to the concubine's body, so in order to avoid the occurrence of such problems, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty fundamentally solved the problem and did not allow the concubines over 50 years old to sleep.
At that time, each concubine in the harem had a green turban, and before the eunuch presented the green turban to the emperor, if the emperor turned over the green turban, it meant that who could sleep at night.
But when these concubines reached the age of 50, their green turbans were removed, and they never had a chance to be turned over.
In the feudal era, let alone harem concubines, even women from ordinary families could not have children after the age of 50.
And in that era, men with status married a concubine, and when this concubine reached the age of 50, they married another, which shows how low the status of women was in the old days.
Shelter the emperor from the wind and rain.
In the Qing Dynasty, a show girl ** was held almost every three years, and all school-age women in the family had to participate, so the emperor's harem was always full of newcomers.
For example, in "The Legend of Zhen Huan", Zhen Huan entered the palace as a concubine at the age of seventeen, and Yongzheng was forty-five years old, older than her father.
The youngest concubine in the palace, Chun Chang, was just over fourteen years old when she entered the palace. Even after Yongzheng's death, there was no shortage of young concubines in their teens.
With so many concubines, of course the emperor can't be pampered casually, and it must be evenly soaked in rain and dew, so this rule is to create opportunities for later concubines.
This allows more concubines to multiply and ensure the quality and quantity of royal heirs.
As a result, many concubines would try to keep the emperor young in order to increase the chances of conception. If they can successfully give birth to a son for the emperor, even if they are no longer favored in the future, they will be able to gain a firm foothold in the harem.
Limit the power of the favored concubine.
For the harem, the emperor's favorite concubine is a weather vane, and the emperor decides who is the favorite concubine and who to support.
If his wife is over half a hundred years old and can become the emperor's favorite concubine, it means that the emperor has deep feelings for her, and in this case, the wife will definitely be able to accumulate a lot of strength in the harem.
If the wife's power is too great, the harem will no longer be peaceful. The turmoil in the harem would shake the old dynasty and thus affect the power of the emperor.
Especially the sons born to these concubines, if the emperor continues to be favored for a long time, then his children may be the sons of the mother and may be eligible to inherit the throne, but in the long run, it is difficult to guarantee that the favored concubines will not have the idea of harming the heir.
Therefore, the Qing Dynasty made such regulations to limit the power of favorite concubines;Even if the favorite concubine is in power at the age of 50, she will disappear quickly after gaining power.
Avoid the dictatorship of foreign relatives.
If a concubine is deeply favored, her family in the previous dynasty will also be reused, so we can always see many examples of the dictatorship of relatives in history.
For example, at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the Wang family dominated the government, and Wang Zhengjun, the queen mother's nephew, forced the young emperor to abdicate and ascended to the throne himself.
As the last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing Dynasty accumulated a lot of experience in previous dynasties and naturally understood this, so the Qing Dynasty established this rule in history, not because of relatives or social problems.
However, from another point of view, this provision is entirely for the sake of **feudal women. Three wives and four concubines are a man's business, and three of the four virtues are a woman's business.
The important significance of the existence of these concubines is to give birth to children for the emperor, and when they are old and the emperor leaves them, their lives are lived for others, and they can't be sad.
The concubines in the harem of the Qing Dynasty who were over 100 years old could no longer sleep, not only because of their age, but also because"Old and nowhere to go"。