Have you ever wondered what the life of a court maid was like in ancient times? Not only do they have to sleep on their side, they also have to keep their legs clamped all night, and there are strict rules about how they can place their hands. If the maid is found not sleeping as required, she is severely punished. These regulations may seem strange, but they were the norm in ancient imperial palaces.
The palace maids in the ancient palace can be roughly divided into two categories according to their positions and status, one is the palace maids who mainly serve the emperor, this kind of palace maids have a relatively high status, and some will even be awarded official positions, which is the female officials we often hear about. The other type is to do some rough work in the palace, and the status and treatment are far from the former.
There are many rules in the palace, and if the palace maid does something a little badly, she will be scolded at the lightest, and it may be a board at the worst. Therefore, these palace maids are not immediately able to take up their posts after being selected into the palace, and at the beginning they will follow the old ladies in the palace to learn the etiquette rules and various skills in the palace, such as the palace maids can not run around in the palace, can not speak loudly in the palace, and can not cry and laugh, and can only be officially employed after a series of strict training.
Among the many rules, one is that the palace maid must lie on her side when sleeping. According to the rules of the Qing Dynasty imperial palace, the palace maid could not sleep on her back facing the sky, she had to curl up her legs sideways, clamp her legs tightly, and then stretch one hand flat and put the other hand on her side. If your hands and legs are numb, you can change the direction, but you can't change your posture.
You may ask, at night, the lights are blind, you can't see anything, and there are so many palace maids in the palace, who really wants to break the rules can't control, why are these palace maids obedient? It turns out that there are many palace maids in the palace, and their sleeping environment is naturally not as good as those concubines in the harem, and they generally sleep on the chase bunk, so that as long as there is a palace maid with a different sleeping position, it is easy to see. And there will be a night round of the palace grandmother, specifically at night to observe the sleeping posture of the palace maids, if there is a palace maid's sleeping posture is not right, they will be immediately woken up, and then severely punished.
So, the ancient palace maid had to lie on her side to sleep, why is this? Why are there such strange regulations?
The first reason is to save space. Although the palace is very large, but the population is also large, so in addition to the palace left for the emperor and the harem concubines, there is only a small piece of space for the palace maids to live, when the number of palace maids is very large, one person and a bed must not sleep, so the palace maids are arranged to sleep in the Chase bunk, and in order to effectively save space, and require the palace maids to keep lying on their sides.
The second reason is feudal superstition. Ancient emperors all claimed to be the Son of Heaven and felt that they could be protected by heaven, such as the temple gods, since there are gods, then they need to maintain a good image at all times. If any palace maid sleeps in a ** posture and collides with the gods, it is a great disrespect to the gods, so she can't sleep with her back facing the sky and her legs crossed.
The third reason is caused by the low status of the palace maid. There is a clear hierarchy in the palace, so in order to let the palace maids recognize their position and always remember their mission, they are required to maintain a specific sleeping position.
The last reason is that it is convenient for the palace maids to get up at any time, and the palace maids serve the harem concubines closely, which can be said to be very difficult, and sometimes they also need to serve in the middle of the night, so the palace maids need to work in shifts, and they naturally can't sleep too well at night. Therefore, sleep on your side and maintain a state of light sleep, so that the palace maid can get up and work at any time.
The lives of ancient court ladies were full of hardships, and their sleep was also a challenge. What do you think of this story? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss, looking forward to your attention, and we will see you next time.