The election of concubines and the marriage of princesses in the Ming Dynasty The trivialities and splendor of married life
As the emperor's daughter, the princess was one of the few groups of women in ancient times whose aristocratic status could be higher than that of her husband. Because of their noble birth, their marriage naturally has a set of elaborate systems, but there are still relatively few existing studies on the marital status of princesses in the Ming Dynasty, especially when it comes to the princess Zhuzunbao and the horse. Short description.
Procedures for selecting horses in the Ming Dynasty.
Regarding the selection of horses, the "History of the Ming Dynasty" contains:"The selection of horses, set up in the Beijing Division, the military and civilian children are between fourteen and sixteen years old, neat appearance, good conduct, there is a person who keeps the book, and will choose a household department Shangshu to be in charge of the internal affairs of the Imperial Palace. If you are not selected, please go to Bogu, Shandong, Henan and other places for inspection. Three people were selected, one was appointed, and the other two were sent to various places to serve as Confucianists. "
In the Ming Dynasty, choosing an extra horse to ride on the side of the team was basically divided into three stages:
The Etiquette Department conducts a pre-selection. The Department of Etiquette publishes the list and publishes the selection criteria. Young talents and middle-aged talents in the capital who are deemed to be eligible can apply to the Ministry of Rites and provide basic personal information such as their place of origin to the Ministry of Rites. After a preliminary screening by the Ministry of Ceremonies, players who are not eliminated will be allowed to stay and qualify for the next round.
2.Goshidai selection. The selection competition was held in the palace of the kings, and the three best candidates who passed the preliminary examination of the Ministry of Rites were selected by the eunuchs of the Ministry of Rites, and the results were reported to the emperor. In the spirit of"Rather lack than excess"This round of selection is extremely important. If there is really no suitable candidate, the scope of selection can be expanded to the capital area, and even neighboring provinces such as Shandong and Henan.
3.It is up to the emperor or empress dowager to decide. Three people are finally selected from the emperor or empress dowager, and one person is appointed as a substitute horse to lead the team, in addition, he also has a say in the process of his spouse, and can have a certain role as a counselor.
Although the eldest princess is highly respected, she cannot decide who to choose the colt, and she cannot even meet the colt before the wedding; The decision-making power was in the hands of the Ministry of Rites**, the eunuchs of the Imperial Palace, the Emperor and the widowed Empress. However, if the emperor finds a problem after choosing a colt but before the official marriage, he can disqualify the colt and choose a new son-in-law.
The entire draft process is similar to a modern naval election, requiring only age, appearance, and neatness. ** and eunuchs at all levels are very involved in the draft process and often accept ** bribes, which is also one of the main reasons why most Ming Dynasty princesses are deceived into marriage. For example, in the tenth year of Wanli, when Mingshenzong chose a horse for his sister Princess Yongning, Liang Bangrui, a son of a wealthy family in Beijing, bribed the eunuch Feng Bao to marry Princess Yongning to him, but Feng Bao died of illness soon after.
Procedures and etiquette for the wedding of princesses in the Ming Dynasty.
After the selection of the crown princess was decided, the clan, the Ministry of Rites and other departments began to prepare for the wedding in accordance with the etiquette. The procedure for marrying princesses in the Ming Dynasty generally followed folk customs, mainly including giving surnames, inviting An, Naji, Naji, Naji, inviting relatives, etc., the only difference is that in most other dynasties, the emperor himself did not preside over the wedding. The only difference is that in most other dynasties, the emperor himself did not officiate at the wedding, but was officiated by princes and feudal lords with the same surname, while in the Ming dynasty, the emperor presided over the wedding.
1.Adopt. This refers to the fact that ordinary people in the civilized world have to give a dowry to the woman when they marry in the south, and the form is the same. Generally led by the head horse, usually by a group of men running forward and backwards, first to the palace to meet, to express loyalty and gratitude, and then by the groom to lead, prepare gifts and ** in advance, by the envoy to the palace to the emperor.
2) Naming. This is a divination ceremony and the official naming of the princess, after which the name of the princess is read out, and a banquet is held at the palace to prepare an extra horse for the princess to ride with the men's team.
3, Najib. That is, the joint eight, the side horses, the team, the birth of the eight, the prophecy is beneficial to the princess of both sides.
4.Doto. The dowry is provided by the family of the other horse in the ranks.
5.Invitation Period. Determine the exact date of the wedding and decide on a favorable date.
6.Personal greetings. These are extra horses that greet the princess personally during the wedding ceremony procession.
This set of procedures does not seem to be much, but after all, it is a royal wedding, the complexity of the etiquette and the cumbersomeness of the wedding ceremony are incomparable to ordinary people, and the particularity of the Ming Dynasty is also well documented, so I won't say more.
After the wedding, the princess went to visit her mother-in-law the next day. But in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the etiquette of visiting mothers-in-law changed. In general, the etiquette, in addition to detailing the entire procedure, emphasizes the status of the princess. For example, in the twenty-sixth year of Hongwu (1393), Zhu Yuanzhang changed the wedding etiquette of the prince and princess, stipulating"She sits in the east and faces west; The princess stands on the west and faces east. Four salutes, two salutes"。Unlike ordinary people, the husband's aunt, uncle and other elderly relatives had to return the favor to the princess.
It can be seen that although the traditional understanding of male superiority and inferiority in ancient society has not changed, the status of the princess as a noble member of the royal family is incomparable to the extra horses that go hand in hand with the carriage and its family, and she is one of the few women in ancient society whose status can be higher than that of her husband.
The married life of a princess of the Ming Dynasty.
According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, after the princess gets married, the palace will send ** to manage the affairs of the princess. And the so-called married princess will actually only spend candle nights in the cave house in the princess's mansion, and then she will move back to the harem to worship the temple, and she can only live by horses in the princess's mansion.
If the prince wants to see his wife, the princess, he can only go to the palace. He had to be approved by ** in the princess's palace, and the meeting between the husband and wife was completely under the control of **. That's why we often hear that princes and princes are angry with the ladies of the court. Without the permission of these female officials, it would have been difficult for the princess to lead her horse to the side of the procession to the meeting.
Not only that, the Ming Dynasty not only did not allow the relatives of the husband and wife to interfere in politics, but even the concubine was blocked out, even if you were talented, marrying a princess would be equivalent to interrupting your career and not allowing you to be an official, only the normal official positions such as the concubine were given by the imperial court.
Of course, the princess and the colt are all relatives of the royal family, so there is no need to worry about their lives. Under the Ming system, both the princess and the concubine could receive 2,000 stones, which was divided equally between the imperial court.