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Warm introduction.
That is, since 1644 AD, after our powerful Qing soldiers ended their years of conquest and entered the customs with great dignity, they laid the foundation by force and built their own great Qing Dynasty, and at the same time, they also integrated the excellent traditional culture and rich social life elements of the ancient Central Plains into it to create a new institutional system.
What is particularly worthy of our attention is that the system related to the selection of concubines in the Qing Dynasty, both in terms of institutional form and development, fully demonstrates the unique charm of women in this era, and also fully reveals the problem of the integration of Manchu and Han cultures at that time.
When we are the most popular opera TV series "The Legend of Zhen Huan" and "Yanxi Raiders", we can always see that the protagonists in these film and television dramas are actively looking for opportunities to seek a higher status as much as possible in order to maintain their own noble status and promote the prosperity of the family.
Just like a small promise to be able to finally become a queen after hard work, and in this seemingly difficult journey, the key breakthrough they make is often to be able to change from nobles to "concubines".
In addition, there is a more important point that after being promoted to "concubine", they will also receive many excellent privileges.
First of all, "four concubines and six concubines", which refers to the arrangement from the identity of the concubine, each corresponding to a different status.
We have to mention that Nurhachi, the outstanding leader and great founder of the Later Jin, was one of the founders of the Qing Dynasty. He had more than a dozen outstanding wives in his life, known as Da Fu Jin, Fu Jin, and Side Fu Jin, and later renamed Queen, Side Concubine and so on. Therefore, in the early period, an overly strict hierarchy of concubines was not introduced.
However, with the deduction of history, after the management of Taizong, Shunzhi and others, the hierarchy of concubines in the Qing Dynasty in China gradually began to take shape.
By the Kangxi period, this model system of etiquette had almost fully developed. "The queen guards the middle palace, one imperial concubine, two concubines, four concubines, six concubines, and various numbers of nobles, always present and promised vary from time to time, uncertain. ”
For the rank of many beautiful show girls and maids, they come from all over the world, with various identities, statuses and futures, although some of their women are extremely beautiful and moving, quite favored by the emperor, and even gave birth to princes or princesses, and finally obtained some titles.
However, even if they had such an honorable status, it could not fundamentally change their low social status as slaves or concubines.
Chang Zai and promised to be affectionately called "Tongfang girls" by the people, although their status in the court is slightly better than that of show girls, but it is not difficult to see from the nickname of this commoner that they actually do not get the attention they deserve in the hearts of the royal family.
This kind of low-level concubine can't talk about any harem title at all, let alone be qualified to participate in major royal activities such as ancestor worship and canonization.
Unless they can be promoted to a higher level of concubine, they can really enter the ranks of wives and concubines in the ancient "monogamous and polygamous concubine system". Although they are far inferior to the queen in status, as one of the three wives and four concubines, they also enjoy the right to take care of life and receive salaries from the personal maids in the palace.
Obviously, it can be seen that the transformation from a noble person to a concubine is actually a process of changing a person's identity from a slave to a mastermother, which is undoubtedly a key threshold on the road to the peak of power for the concubines.
2. From a servant to a master, enjoy a luxurious life.
In the ancient and mysterious years of China, we can see that the living environment, food choices, clothing and jewelry and other details of daily life not only meet people's basic needs, but more importantly, they have become an important means of dividing social classes, maintaining class order, and maintaining respect for the elders and inferiority.
Although there are many beautiful and moving concubines, each of them has a complex and strict set of rules in terms of mansions, food and wine, and ceremonial pomp. The promotion from the nobles to the status of "concubines" is undoubtedly a sign that their quality of life has been greatly improved.
The noble concubines of the Qing Dynasty lived in the East Sixth Palace in order of dignity and humility: Jingren, Chengqian, Zhong Cui, Yanxi, Yonghe, and Jingyang; West Sixth Palace: Yongshou, Yikun, Chuxiu, Qixiang, Changchun, Xianfu. The Empress Dowager, as the highest level of people, lived alone in Cining Palace. Let us be so emotional, the world is always so unfair!
When the harem sisters jump to the rank of "concubine", they will have their own independent residences and the palace maids who provide intimate services for them to take care of their daily life. This not only highlights their status, but also a kind of humane treatment.
In the inner courtyard of the deep palace in the Qing Dynasty, the meals and rations enjoyed by the concubines below the queen were gradually reduced, and the daily meal arrangements were distributed in accordance with strict regulations, and the ingredients were also clearly stipulated. As their social status rises, they can also indulge in more sumptuous meat and fishy delicacies, and feel the deliciousness of extremely precious ingredients.
3. Give birth to children and maintain the continuation of the family bloodline.
Although these beautiful women are in the deep palace compound and their status is relatively low, this does not mean that they are far away from the ** big things. On the contrary, as the emperor's pillow and lover, they are actually very close to the center of power.
In the various political activities in full swing in the Qing Dynasty, it was almost impossible for the concubines to be alone. They often relied on their own kinsmen, the princes, to actively intervene or exert influence in the course of the political and historical development of the Qing Dynasty.
According to Qing Dynasty historical records, the descendants of the Qing imperial family did not thrive around their biological mothers, and in most cases they were taken care of by special people, that is, excellent nurses and attentive palace maids.
As the princes and princesses grew up, they were fortunate enough to be able to meet their birth mothers. However, whether they can meet depends on the status of the mother, and only the higher status of the mother concubine can be eligible for custody.
What is particularly impressive is that the watershed of whether you can see your own children is actually the "concubine", and the poor and low-ranking concubines who are lower than the "concubines", such as nobles, Chang Zai, and promises, may not be able to see their children for the rest of their lives.
And those concubines and others who are in the rank of "concubine" and above can meet them again, but they still need to follow the rules and boundaries of the harem, and they will not be too close.
The status of the mother determines the fate of her son, and the phenomenon of "the mother is more expensive than the son" that often occurs does exist. Harem women who are higher than the "concubines" often adopt the children of other lowly concubines in order to enhance their status and the influence of their families.
Fourth, the benevolent emperor returned to the west, and the beauties of the harem were treated gently!
The beauties in the harem rely entirely on the emperor's life and warmth, but when the emperor who is in charge of the world dies, what will their fate be? Let's go into more detail.
According to the difference between the hierarchical status of the concubine and the status of her children, it can be divided into a variety of different ways of dealing with it.
For those concubines who had given birth to dragons for the first emperor, they could choose to live in the court with their dignified sons. However, if there are no concubines to sustenance from their children, they often choose to cut their homes and live a simple life.
Relatively low-status concubines, they can only choose to wait by the tomb of the former emperor at most, and spend their old age alone with the late emperor. It's like another form of burial, day after day, year after year.
In the Forbidden City of the Qing Dynasty, there was a special Cining Palace, which was reserved for those queens who lost their husbands. Over time, only reached"Concubine"The concubines of this noble rank were able to share the same palace with their mothers and spend the rest of their lives together after the emperor's death.
Despite the death of the Emperor, the concubines were able to have at least one place to live to ensure peace and ease for the last few years. In contrast, it is not easy for those low-level concubines who are forced to wander around the deep palace to seek a stable life, and the quality of life is obviously seriously affected.
The situation of concubines in the Qing Dynasty was inseparable from the social background and historical evolution of the time, and the harsh hierarchy effectively managed the harem and maintained the stability of the regime.
Whether it is within the rigorous harem system, strive to climb upwards to become"Concubine", which means that the next step will be to have the support of family power, the improvement of their own status, and also include more special treatment and identity transformation.
The acquisition of these powers can not only bring political support to the concubines' families, but also undoubtedly fully prepare and guarantee them for the rest of their lives.
However, as the controllers of feudal society, the concubines were certainly vested interests, but also exploited slaves, and the endless power in turn firmly controlled their bodies and minds, causing them to be lonely and helpless in the high-ranking Forbidden City, and they were inherently cold and lonely.
Reference**: Encyclopedia "The Concubine System of the Qing Dynasty" [ol].
Dr. Li Chengdan**, "Research on the Concubines of the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty"[D], Heilongjiang University, 2024-02-04.
Ms. Yang Yao's academic article: "A Preliminary Study on the Concubine System in the Qing Dynasty"[J], Journal of Chongqing University of Science and Technology: Social Sciences, 2013(9): 3