Editor's note: **In the first year (1912), Emperor Puyi abdicated the throne, and Puyi and the Qing royal family lived in the palace for another 13 years, which is also known as the "small court period". During this period, Pu Yi got married, and after the marriage, his relationship with the queen Wanrong and Concubine Wenxiu has always been happy. This number intends to tweet 3 articles one after another, and make a new interpretation of the relationship between the three from the perspective of historical archives for readers.
Emperor Sun's wedding was calculated
* At the beginning of the tenth year (1921), Pu Yi had grown into a 16-year-old young man, and he had also reached the age of marriage proposal, and the prince and the Ministry of Internal Affairs began to discuss this matter. As soon as the news spread, people who proposed marriage followed, but unlike the joy of private marriage, the whole process was full of rumors and political calculations.
Pu Yi
Some newspapers published that Xu Shichang, the big ** at that time, and Zhang Zuolin, the warlord of the Feng family, planned to marry the emperor, which was conclusive, but it turned out that they were all false, but some anti-emperor people in the society at that time did not like Xu Shichang's gentle attitude towards the royal family and stigmatized Pu Yi and Xu Shichang. The Ministry of Internal Affairs sent a letter to the people**, asking them to order the relevant newspapers to publish an apology and eliminate the impact, but with little success, such news continued to come out.
Even Pu Yi's memoir "The First Half of My Life" also said with a pretentious statement: **In the fourth year (1915), Zaifeng and others discussed to let Pu Yi marry Yuan Shikai's daughter as the queen, but later gave up because of Yuan's death and loss of power.
Xu Shichang and Yuan Shikai
There was also a group of die-hard widows who wrote a letter advocating that Pu Yi should be the concubine of the German Emperor Wilhelm II, on the grounds that Germany was a world power and was very friendly with the Qing Dynasty, and that in the future, Germany could use the power of Germany to restore the "Great Qing Dynasty". It was also suggested that marrying a Mongolian prince could temporarily live in Yue's house after escaping the palace ban in the future, etc. The absurdity of the narrative is really doubtful.
In the end, according to the old system of the Qing Dynasty, it was selected from the daughters of the Manchu and Mongolian princes. The entire post-election process lasted more than a year, and the royal family was intrigued, each with its own calculations, each with its own preferred candidates, and even in the palace.
At this time, the Empress Dowager Longyu, Zhuang and Concubine have passed away, and there are three concubines in the palace, among which Jingyi and Ronghui are the concubines of the Tongzhi Emperor, and Duankang is the concubine of the Guangxu Emperor, that is, the very familiar Concubine Jin.
Concubine Jingyi has never forgotten that Puyi's inheritance of the throne is "inheriting Tongzhi and concurrently with Guangxu", the Empress Dowager Longyu was in a high position when she was alive, and she didn't pay attention to this set at all, and now that the Empress Dowager Longyu is gone, she can finally clarify her "authentic" status, and wants to preside over Puyi's election, she likes Erdet Wenxiu, the daughter of Dugong.
After the death of the Empress Dowager Longyu, the then great ** Yuan Shikai had designated Concubine Duankang to preside over the affairs of the harem, Puyi had a good relationship with Concubine Duankang, and she would be invited to celebrate with her every New Year's Day.
Duankang Taifei
After a fierce game, Wanrong was finally determined to be the queen and Wenxiu was the concubine.
Wanrong wedding court dress photo
The etiquette and ceremony of marrying Wanrong as the queen are all done in accordance with the old practice of the Qing Dynasty, which is divided into four steps: the Nacai ceremony, the big levy ceremony, the canonization ceremony, and the big wedding. The most important wedding was held on the 13th day of the 10th lunar month of the 11th year of ** (December 1, 1922), and everything was made with reference to the wedding of the Tongzhi Emperor. It's just that the Fengying Imperial Palace should be carried into by the main gate of the Daqing Gate, but because of this, the former dynasty has been owned by ***, and the Daqing Gate has also been renamed Zhonghua Gate.
Puyi's wedding**
In addition, according to the Qing Dynasty wedding, on the day of the palace, the concubine with the highest ranking in the palace needs to lead the people to kneel outside the Kunning Palace to receive the queen's gift of descending to the phoenix. But at this time, there were no concubines in Puyi's harem, so it was arranged for Concubine Wenxiu to enter the palace the day before the wedding, so that she could lead the crowd to welcome the queen Wanrong the next day.
The palace gate is deeply based on creation
Wanrong was born in Manchuria and was born in the White Banner of Manchuria and had a wealthy family. His father Rongyuan was quite business-minded, and after the abdication of the Qing Emperor, although he lost his official position, he often went back and forth between Beijing and Tianjin to do business, and he did quite well. Influenced by it, Wanrong has a more outgoing personality and has accepted a lot of Western concepts. Rong Yuan is very open-minded, and treats his children's education equally, and when Wanrong was very young, he hired a tutor for her and taught her to read, learn calligraphy, play the piano and paint. Later, he also arranged for Wanrong to study in an American church school, and had the foresight to hire the American Ingram sisters as English teachers for her.
Graceful
On the third day of the wedding, Wanrong and Pu Yi were congratulated by envoys from various countries in China in the East Warm Pavilion of the Yangxin Palace, which was Wanrong's first public appearance as the empress.
Wanrong is the same age as Pu Yi, just in the prime of her youth. When receiving envoys from various countries in China, Wanrong combed her Manchu-style "two heads", her high bun was decorated with velvet flowers, and the well-fitting cheongsam set off her figure more gracefully. The well-informed foreign envoys and wives were also amazed by her delicate beauty and elegant demeanor.
The reporters of the Chinese and foreign newspapers who were invited to attend the big wedding and the congratulatory gifts did not hesitate to make vivid and colorful live reports, but the newspapers and periodicals of all sizes that were not invited to participate also did their best to report on hearsay and secret history. The newlywed emperor and queen seem to be treated like stars, and this will continue to be the case for a long time.
Puyi, Wanrong and domestic and foreign guests in the Summer Palace
When entering the palace, Wanrong also brought her English tutor Isabelle Ingram (Chinese name Ren Sam) into the palace. Wanrong has a good relationship with Ren Sam, almost nothing to talk about, and even often swaps clothes. After entering the palace, they quickly became acquainted with Johnston, an Englishman whom Pu Yi respected very much. The four of them often chatted in the study room in Johnston Palace. Sometimes Pu Yi would also send someone to summon Johnston to Chuxiu Palace, the graceful dormitory, to dine with them.
Johnston was hired as a contract for Puyi**
In such private occasions, they are very open, and often do not have any court etiquette. Wanrong taught Pu Yi the etiquette of Western food, and often rode and played ball with him. In addition, Wanrong and her younger brother Runqi also play with Pu Yi's younger siblings and have a very harmonious relationship. It can be said that because of common interests and hobbies, Wanrong quickly integrated into Pu Yi's life.
Pu Yi plays with Wanrong's brother Runqi
Compared with Wanrong, Wenxiu can be regarded as the queen of the famous family. Her great-grandfather Bichang was the governor of Liangjiang, and her grandfather Xizhen served as the secretary of the ministry, the prime minister and the minister of the Yamen, and the later **big** Xu Shichang was also his protégé. However, by the time he reached his father's generation, he was already in the middle of the family, and his father Duangong only became an inconspicuous petty official as the head of the Internal Affairs Office. Especially after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the economy was lost, they first "ate tiles" (collected rent), and then had to sell their real estate to sit on empty water, and life became more and more unsustainable.
Wenxiu received a traditional Chinese education since she was a child, due to her family's poor wealth, she only studied in the private Dunben Primary School in the flower market at the age of 8, but she is smart and studious, quite sensible, and has a maturity beyond her age.
When she entered the palace, she was only 14 years old, judging from the existing **, she was not developed at this time, **dark, short, and the baby fat on her face had not yet receded. Among the few ** that remains, her image is somewhat similar to that of an Internet celebrity in the past few years, and she is often ridiculed by some good people on the Internet, which is really regrettable.
Wen embroidery
Wenxiu's personality is slightly introverted, delicate and sensitive, and the traditional education concept of three obedience and four virtues that he received always seems to be a little incompatible with Pu Yi and the palace life at that time. At that time, the social environment was quite "admiring the foreign", and the "foreign devils" became "foreign masters", and everything that had something to do with Western things became noble. After Johnston entered the palace in 1919 as Pu Yi's English teacher, Pu Yi and the people of the small court also became more and more eager for Western-style culture, according to Pu Yi's recollection: in his eyes, "everything about Johnston was the best, even the camphor smell on his clothes was fragrant". So as soon as the classical embroidery entered the palace, it was inevitably a little out of place.
In the existing **, the number of photos of Wanrong and everyone is very large, in these**, Wanrong is inadvertent, or dignified and noble, or charming and coquettish, or eccentric, she will always be the protagonist, which is of course due to her noble status as the queen, but also because of her outgoing and generous character. Wenxiu, on the other hand, rarely takes photos with others, and even if they take a group photo, they will be biased. And his solo photos, whether sitting upright under the flowers, reading in the shade of a tree, or stroking the flute in front of the window, always look lonely with "nothing to send".
In the courtyard of the Palace of Nourishing the Heart, the embroidered smile on the head full of palace flowers is cute, although the limbs are a little restrained, but it is already a rare cheerfulness.
The embroidery is in the courtyard of the Palace of Nourishing Hearts
Wen Xiu once wrote a "Mourning Garden Deer":
The spring is bright, the garden is full of red and green, and the rest of the couples walk in it, wandering in their eyes, and believing in Coke. Leaning on the tree for a while, I suddenly heard the mournful cry of the deer, and I looked at it, dying, and the situation was very pitiful. Yu Si this deer can enter the royal garden, be raised by grace, and keep his life forever, which can also be said to be fortunate. However, wild animals do not live at home, so that the deer is in the prison, and it is not allowed to go out on its own, and the prisoners in the prison are not allowed to come out unless they are pardoned. Zhuang Ziyun: It is better for him to be born and drag his tail in Tuzhong, and he does not want his death to be precious for his bones.
At the age of fourteen or fifteen, it is commendable to have this kind of writing. Moreover, he used Yuanlu's "no freedom" as a metaphor for himself, and finally used the two sentences in Zhuangzi's "Fishing in Pushui", which is quite eye-catching. After entering the palace, although he has no worries about food and clothing, he is like a prisoner in prison, but it is not as good as the kindness and love of ordinary husband and wife.
Several of her other poems are extant:
It is difficult to dream, Xiao Xiao has a night of wind.
The turbid mash chats and drinks itself, and the morning sun shines on the red window.
For a long night, it was difficult to fall asleep alone, so I borrowed wine to help me sleep, but I didn't realize that the sky was already bright, and I couldn't sleep all night.
Wave a fan between meditation and hang the curtain to avoid the summer breeze.
Birds fly with wingspans and flutter in the clear sky.
If these two poems are realistic, not "for the sake of new words" or appropriate fiction, then Wenxiu's life in the palace is indeed a little unsatisfactory.
A group photo of Wanrong Wenxiu and others