Cixi's palace maid recalled lying on her side and curling her legs, the rules of court sleep
In popular film and television dramas such as "Kangxi Dynasty" and "The Secret History of Xiaozhuang", we often see the dignified manners and uniform costumes of the court ladies of the Qing Dynasty. But in fact, there are far more rules they have to abide by in court life than they appear in the TV series.
According to the Empress Dowager Cixi's personal palace maid Rong'er recalled in her later years, the palace maids had strict rules on dressing, eating, and being courteous, and even when sleeping, they had to lie on their sides and curl up their legs.
So, why do palace ladies sleep in such a position? What happens if you don't?
Rong'er, the personal palace maid next to the Empress Dowager Cixi, is smart and clever, and is deeply loved by Cixi. According to historical records, the Empress Dowager Cixi was the de facto ruler of the late Qing Dynasty, and her court life was extremely luxurious.
The palace maids who serve her have a clear division of labor, including those who comb her hair, wash her face, serve meals, accompany her to sleep, and light cigarettes for her. Rong'er is one of them, her father and brother are homeless people near the capital, living on the emperor's grace.
According to the rules of the time, in a family like theirs, girls were sent to the palace as errands at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Some families with good conditions may avoid letting their daughters enter the palace on errands by taking care of the internal affairs office.
But there are also some families who will send their daughters to the palace as errands, because in this way they can not only earn monthly silver, but also be trained by their aunts, and it will be easier to find a good in-law in the future.
Rong'er was born in an ordinary family, and at the age of 13, she was elected to the palace and became a palace maid in Chuxiu Palace. For five years, she was responsible for serving the Empress Dowager Cixi.
When she was 18 years old, the Empress Dowager Cixi granted her a marriage and married her to a eunuch surnamed Liu. This eunuch Liu is Li Lianying's godson and the imperial head shaver of Emperor Guangxu.
In order to celebrate this special marriage, the Empress Dowager Cixi held a grand wedding for Rong'er, and accompanied the dowry of 8 pairs of dolls, gold, silver, jewelry, silk and satin.
Although Rong'er is just a small palace maid, being able to get such treatment is enough to see that the Empress Dowager Cixi loves her. However, Rong'er doesn't seem to have much affection for Eunuch Liu.
It may be that the married life is not satisfactory, and Rong'er asked the Empress Dowager Cixi in the second year after marriage, hoping that she can return to the palace to continue working. Although the Empress Dowager Cixi was a little reluctant, she still agreed to Rong'er's request.
Although Cixi was the empress dowager, in the imperial palace, married palace maids were not allowed to return to work in the palace. And she only married off Rong'er with great fanfare a year ago, and now she wants her to come back to work, which will undoubtedly make her slap herself in the face.
Therefore, Cixi was initially hesitant about this. However, Rong'er persisted in her request, which made Cixi realize that her wedding to Rong'er might not be appropriate, and agreed to let her return to work in the palace again.
After returning to the palace this time, Rong'er worked harder to serve Cixi, and even felt that she had an extra layer of pampered aura on her head, hoping to live in the palace all the time. Since then, Rong'er has been by Cixi's side.
On August 14, 1900, the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded Beijing, and the imperial city was also in danger. Realizing that the crisis was looming, Cixi immediately took the emperor and empress to disguise themselves as commoners and fled to Xi'an in a hurry.
Before leaving, Cixi made a special request to bring Rong'er with her so that she could continue to smoke for herself.
Rong'er is her own person in Cixi's heart, and she trusts and relies on her at all times. Even during Cixi's refuge in Xi'an, her habit of smoking has not changed, and Rong'er has been waiting carefully.
However, after a long period of wandering, the many inconveniences of life made Cixi nostalgic for the days when she was high in Beijing. So she negotiated peace with the Western powers, and after signing the "Xinchou Treaty", she also punished the main battle ** and dismantled the fort from Dagu to Beijing.
After this twist and turn, Rong'er and Cixi have established a friendship of sharing adversity and suffering, and they should get more grace in the future.
In the Qing Dynasty Imperial Palace, the upper age limit for court maids was 25 years old. At the age of 25, Rong'er was forced to leave the palace and live in Beichizi. The gold and silver jewels given to her by Cixi could have allowed her to live a comfortable life, but in"The 918 Incident"Later, some Japanese ronins and ruffians teamed up to kick her out of the house.
In desperation, she rented a private house near the root of the imperial city. I thought I could live a stable life in this way, but"The Seventy-Seven Incident"Later, she was sacked by two bandits.
Although she could ask Cixi for help in the past, now that the Qing Dynasty has fallen, she can only swallow her anger and start working to survive. During those difficult days, she deeply remembered the days in the palace.
However, those past years have turned into dreams, and the only thing that can keep her immersed in dreams is to tell the stories of the palace to the commoners.
In the forties of the last century, Rong'er told her neighbors about her court experience. She said that the words and deeds of the palace maids during the Qing Dynasty were strictly restricted. Among them, sleeping is also particular.
Rong'a recalls that when she first entered the palace gate, she received a long period of training, and one of the projects was to learn how to sleep properly. The aunt in the palace told her that the palace maid must lie on her side and curl up when sleeping, and it is best to put one hand flat and the other hand on her body, and never lie flat on all fours.
Although Rong'er was puzzled at the time, she didn't ask. Later, she learned that the people in the palace believed in the gods, and legend has it that there were corresponding guardian gods in each dormitory, protecting the Queen Mother, the Emperor, and Agogege.
In the middle of the night, these gods will come out to inspect, and if the palace maids sleep **, they will collide with the gods and bring disaster to the queen mother. This rule sounds a little unreasonable, but the palace ladies believe it and upgrade it: in addition to not sleeping on your back, you can't hold your chin.
The palace ladies privately agreed not to sleep upright, so as not to damage the shape of their faces and affect their fortune. When Rong'er first entered the palace, she strictly abided by the palace rules and private agreements, and at first felt very uncomfortable and often had insomnia.
Sometimes she would lie down in a regular manner, but between half dreaming and half waking up, she would unconsciously turn over and lie down, and then she would be woken up by her aunt with a board. These aunts are all veterans of the palace, and they use the opportunity of their upcoming resignation to train the new palace maids.
During Rong'er's time in the palace, although she was not beaten for poor service, she was beaten countless times by her aunt because of her sleeping position. Later, she was so frightened that she even dreamed that she was beaten because of a problem with her sleeping position.
Later, she gradually got used to sleeping on her side all night, and even after leaving the palace, and even until the fall of the Qing Dynasty, she maintained this sleeping position until her old age.
Rong'er shared a surprising rule, in addition to sleeping positions, palace maids were also severely restricted in terms of eating and dressing. It is said that the aunts required the palace maids to maintain absolute neatness and meticulousness in their appearance when they were on errands.
Especially the palace maids who serve the old queen mother, their hair and clothes must be neat, and there must be no peculiar smell on their bodies. If the palace maid has a peculiar smell, not only will she lose her errand, but she may also affect the aunt in charge.
Although palace maids are not a noble profession, they are still eager to keep this errand in the imperial city. Therefore, Rong'er and the other palace maids could only comply with her aunt's request to ensure that their bodies were clean.
In order to maintain her elegant demeanor, she often chooses vegetarian food in the palace, and she does not even dare to try fishy foods such as fish and mutton. Every time I eat, I only dare to eat until I am full, and if I burp in front of the Queen Mother, it is disrespectful to the Queen Mother.
In fact, hiccups are not the only reason, there is another more intimate reason, that is, the palace ladies should try to minimize farting. If you anger your master by farting at work, you may be punished with a punishment of reprimand or even "dismissal".
Therefore, she and her companions had to endure hunger every night, and although there was a habit of adding food in the palace, few dared to eat it. In this way, a group of young girls in their teens and twenties stayed up hungry every night until breakfast the next morning in the luxurious palace.
As mentioned above, palace ladies must pay attention to appearance and demeanor when serving the queen mother and the emperor, so it is not allowed for a group of palace ladies to wear colorful and different styles of clothes.
Therefore, from the moment Rong'er entered the palace, there was a responsible eunuch who led others to take measurements of her whole body in order to make work clothes for her. In the end, she was given a four-piece overall, consisting of a base, shirt, coat and vest.
The color of these clothes is usually relatively elegant, and there are few patterns and patterns, and the main ones are spring silk and Ning silk. Although the material worn by the concubines is a little worse, it is better than that worn by ordinary people.
After getting the clothes, she must wear them according to the regulations, from the clothes to the shoes and socks, which must be the same as everyone else's, and she cannot wear more or less of them, let alone add any decorations.
Once she wears this overalls, her aunt will ask her to pay attention to her walking posture and to "walk without looking back and smile without showing her teeth".
"Don't look back", it's not that you can only move forward, but if you are shouted at by your master or aunt, you have to turn your head and bow your head to deal with it, and you can't turn your head directly. When Rong'er first entered the palace, she felt very novel about these rules and felt that such a duty was more solemn.
However, after a long time, she gradually felt as if she had become an emotionless puppet under the wrapping of this layer of clothing. She can't express her emotions, and she can't have too many body movements, and she thinks about how not to make her master angry, how not to be beaten by her aunt, and how to better serve the old lady.
The old queen mother has a great addiction to smoking, and although these numerous rules make people feel numb, they are a necessary skill for the palace maid to enter the Chuxiu Palace. It was precisely by abiding by these rules at all times that Rong'er was able to get close to her master and win the love of Cixi.
When it came to serving the old queen mother, Rong'er's old eyes flashed and she told in detail about that profound memory.
According to her account, every morning, when Cixi woke up, the palace maids who were sleeping next to her would start to groom her according to the established procedures. Although Cixi has entered old age, she is still meticulous in her clothing and makeup.
After some scrubbing and eyebrow painting, Cixi looked at herself in the mirror and nodded with satisfaction, and the palace maid next to her also praised her, which made Cixi full of joy. In the end, Rong'er, who is in charge of the cigarette, is about to play.
Because Cixi was very addicted to cigarettes, especially like to smoke hookah, the eunuch in charge gave Rong'er a pack of cigarettes in one or two. Rong'er opened the cigarette pack, took out the golden tobacco, put it in the clother and lit it, and gently sent it to the Queen Mother's mouth.
When the Empress Dowager smoked, she had to stand on the left side of the Empress Dowager, holding the cigarette stick steadily, and holding this position until Cixi finished smoking. Sometimes, Cixi smoked for a long time, and Rong'er felt that her arm was sore, but she didn't dare to move, even if she froze, she had to wait until Cixi finished smoking.
The open flames in the chimney were terrifying, and once the sparks splashed on Cixi, the consequences would be unimaginable. Even if there is no Mars, too much movement will cause Cixi to frown and trigger a scolding from the aunt in charge.
Rong'er kept breathing a sigh of relief in her heart, waiting for the breakfast to begin. The convention before Cixi's breakfast is milk tea, but the milk tea here is not simple, it can be milk or human milk, and it can be drunk with tea.
Breakfast is varied and includes a variety of porridges and teas, such as rice porridge, barley porridge and beef bone marrow tea soup, as well as fried foods and sweets. But Cixi usually only eats a few bites casually, and then the palace maid serves her to rinse her mouth, drink half a cup of tea, and Rong'er is about to go to the stage to smoke again.
Because of her close relationship with the Queen Mother, Rong'er was specially favored, and was even given a marriage, so that she could return to the palace to continue working after getting married. However, her youth is consumed in daily pandering.
Although she enjoyed all the glory and wealth, her heart was full of the pain of loss of personality. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, she still retained the habits of court life, showing her deep nostalgia for her past life.
These court ladies may have become accustomed to the constraints of the feudal system, and even though times have changed, the imprint of the feudal dynasty still accompanies them. They went from carefree little girls to strict palace maids, and finally to depressed old ladies, such a life is really distressing.