Let's take a closer look at the rank and daily life of the harem concubines of the Qing Dynasty, enjoy the palace fighting of the Yongzheng harem in "The Legend of Zhen Huan" while eating melons, unravel the mystery of the titles of queen, concubine, promise, and Changzai, and walk into the explanation of the abnormal history research room to understand the unique status and historical background of these harem concubines.
After Zhen Huan Kangxi, the hierarchy of the harem was gradually improved, with a total of nine ranks, namely the queen, the imperial concubine, the concubine, the concubine, the concubine, the noble, the constant, the promise and the official woman.
The process of promotion is like fighting monsters and upgrading, starting from the promise to gradually promote to a concubine, but it is difficult to be promoted up at the level of concubine, and if you want to be promoted to a concubine or queen, you must come from a mother family with status.
Official women are palace maids with a slightly higher status than ordinary palace maids, although they do not have a clear rank, but compared with ordinary palace maids, their living treatment and benefits are better.
In the harem, the concubines were rewarded with a fixed amount of money and household items every year, and the distribution of these items was determined according to their rank. The queen can get the most rewards every year, including silver taels, python satin, satin and other items, while the concubines who are often below have less subsidies and daily use, if they are oppressed by other concubines, life is even more difficult, therefore, they need to improve their status by competing for favor.
In the harem, competition for favor is a very common phenomenon, because only by getting the favor of the emperor can you get more benefits and treatment.
In Qing court dramas, we can see the ornaments worn by the concubines on their heads, and the ornaments worn by concubines of different grades also have strict specifications and grade requirements. The ornaments of the queen, the imperial concubine and the concubine are all made of gold, while the ornaments of the golden concubine are inlaid with gold edges, and the concubine is a silver book, while the nobles, the permanent presence and the promise are not registered, and the ornaments are simpler.
These ornaments are not just a decoration, but also a status symbol.
In ancient harems, the type and color of the headdress represented different status levels. The queen can wear bright yellow and red headdresses, and can wear phoenix or phoenix crowns, tassels can also be worn on both sides of the head, three earrings on the left and right, and the gold dragon ranks first-class beads.
Imperial concubines can wear purple headdresses, seven-tailed phoenix bead hairpins and tassels on vertical shoulders, but can only wear earrings with more than three grades on one side. Concubines can wear reddish headdresses and walks.
Concubines of other ranks could wear gold and silver jewelry, but only headflowers. The ornaments on the headdress are from high to low, which are Dongzhu, ruby, coral, sapphire, lapis lazuli, crystal, clams, plain gold, and gold flowers, and the quantity and quality are decreasing in turn, and they must not be transgressed.
In terms of earrings, the queen can wear first-class East Pearls, the Imperial Concubine and the Imperial Concubine can wear the Second Class East Pearl, the concubine can wear the third-class East Pearl, and the concubines can wear the Fourth Class East Pearl, and others can only wear ordinary pearls or gold and silver.
In the harem, the importance of rank is self-evident, and only by constantly competing for favor can you improve your status, live in the palace, and enjoy more seniority and treatment.
If you can be favored by the emperor, you can not only give birth to children, but also enjoy special treatment in the harem. However, it is absolutely not allowed to interfere in the politics of the harem, and the choices above the concubine are basically the meaning of grace, so it is not so helpful to the family.
However, for the children, if the mother can be favored by the emperor, then it is also of great benefit to their growth. For example, Emperor Kangxi broke the ancestral precept of the Qing Dynasty that he did not pre-appoint the crown prince before his death, and established Yinren as the prince because of his pampering of his biological mother.