The Ming Dynasty Harem System: An Exploration of Tradition and Change
For more than 200 years in the Ming Dynasty, relatives in the harem did not interfere in politics, in addition to Zhu Yuanzhang's testament, the author believes that there are three main reasons. First of all, the three queens Gao, Wen, and Zhao understood the righteousness and perseverance, so they did not resist the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang. Especially the Empress Dowager Zhao, who deliberately did not listen to the behind-the-scenes politics. The second is the special wife selection system of the Ming Dynasty, where most wives come from the common class, and the power of foreign relatives is limited. The third was the selection of the emperor, who favored eunuchs over relatives in the struggle against the civilian clique.
Zhu Yuanzhang's legacy.
Zhu Yuanzhang left the harem at the beginning of the founding of the country, he should not have interfered with the teachings of his ancestors, and this system was not interrupted after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in the "History of the Ming Dynasty - Biography of Foreign Relatives", there are also"Ming Taizu founded the country, the family law is strict, the historian said, the wife is in the palace, the government is not dry, and the relatives are all groomed, because they are not as good as the Tang Dynasty, the Han Dynasty does not dare to be good and sick"of the record.
In the history of the Ming Dynasty, there was no dry relatives in the harem, and Zhu Yuanzhang's testament played a great role, after all, it was very important in ancient times'Filial piety'No one dares to take the risk of disobeying the ancestral teachings, but I think it is more important to be able to mediate between the emperor and the concubines.
The historical contributions of Empress Gao, Empress Wen, and Empress Zhao.
These three are the three queens of the early Ming Dynasty, and their experiences are different, but they persist"The harem does not interfere in politics", stopped the evil deeds of his relatives, and made a good start for all the wives of the Ming Dynasty.
The first Empress Gao was Zhu Yuanzhang's Empress Gao, namely Ma Xiuying. Empress Gao is not only talented and extremely useful to Zhu Yuanzhang, but also deeply valued by Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang once offered to give her title to her relatives in exchange for favors, but Empress Dowager Gao said:"The lordship of the state should be shared with virtuous people, not with the house of adultery"。Empress Gao's profound righteousness can be seen, and it is considered to be a good beginning for the later queens of the Ming Dynasty.
The second Empress Wen was Empress Renxiaowen, the daughter of Zhu Di's empress Xu Da. No one knows Xu Da's talent, but as Xu Da's daughter, she came from an extraordinary background, especially her brother Xu Zengcai, who was killed by Zhu Yunwen for helping Zhu Di in the Battle of Jing'an. Despite this, she was still conscientious and gave advice to the relatives of **, and she persuaded Zhu Di"Do not be selfish"，"You can't be proud of your husband"。
3. Empress Zhao is Empress Cheng Xiaozhao, also known as Empress Zhang of Zhu Gaochi. This is the first widowed queen of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaochi died in less than a year of reign, his son Zhu Zhanji also died after ten years of reign, and Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong was only nine years old when he ascended the throne. We know that most of the harem politics in history are because the emperor is young, because Zhu Qizhen is young, there were ministers at that time who asked the Empress Dowager Zhao to follow the old system of the previous dynasty and listen to the government, but the Empress Dowager Zhao refused, she said"The ancestral system cannot be violated", Ying Gong, Zhang Fu, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yang Pu, Hu Ying and others served as the emperor's deputies, even if the emperor cared about them, he did not easily interfere in political affairs.
The first three queens of the Ming Dynasty were loyal, making a good start for the Ming Dynasty and ensuring the smoothness of the harem.
The special mate selection system of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Yuanzhang clearly pointed out in his "Records of Ming Taizu" that the prince and the princess should choose women from good families"Do not marry according to the rites, and do not go near prostitutes because the ministers are afraid of rebellion"。In this case, most of the wives of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty came from the common people or under the **, rather than marrying the powerful.
On the other hand, because the power of the imperial relatives is small, the impact on the emperor's spouse is also very small, and the problem of them wanting to interfere in politics is too great.
However, during the reign of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di, Empress Wenxiu allowed aristocratic women to read books such as "The Biography of Empress Cixiao Gao", "Nu Zhi", and "Neijiao" to prevent their spouses from crossing the line. This had a great impact on the thinking of wives and even folk women in the Ming Dynasty.
The Emperor's Choice.
We know that in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the contradiction between the emperor and the civil official group was very intense, and the emperor appointed eunuchs on a large scale to fight the civilian official group.
Due to the special wife selection system of the Ming Dynasty, the power of foreign relatives is very limited, and it is still in the foreign dynasty, firstly, the emperor is not very relieved, and secondly, the national ** group is very easy for foreign relatives, so the role that foreign relatives can play in opposing the huge national ** group is very limited. In contrast, eunuchs had a closer relationship with the emperor and were directly encouraged by the inner court, but not the outer court, so the civil officials could not prevent their rise.
Therefore, in an era when the emperor did not choose himself and the civil and official groups were strictly protected, the relatives of the Ming Dynasty were always cautious and did not dare to assert their opinions.