The Daoguang Emperor, Ai Xin Jueluo Minning, was the eighth emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the only emperor of the Qing Dynasty to inherit the throne as the eldest son of a concubine. The Daoguang Emperor reigned for 30 years, although he practiced frugality and diligence in government affairs; like his father, the Jiaqing Emperor, he had limited ability and mediocre qualifications; coupled with his gou an appeasement and refusal to change in the later period of his reign, the Qing Dynasty rapidly declined, and internal and external troubles became increasingly serious.
Although the level of governance was not very good, the Daoguang Emperor was still quite loyal to his duties and conscientiously implemented the issues of filling the harem, taking concubines, and spreading branches and branches for the royal bloodline. In his lifetime, the Daoguang Emperor had four empresses, one imperial concubine, three noble concubines, three concubines, four concubines, four nobles, one promise, and one official woman, for a total of 21 concubines. According to the official documents of the Qing Dynasty, as many as 11 of these 21 concubines were once demoted by the Daoguang Emperor, and most of them did not explain why.
According to the records of the "Qing History Manuscript, The Biography of the Later Concubines" and the "Palace Records", there are concubines who have been punished with demotion (subject to the final harem position): two noble concubines - Jia Guifei and Cheng Guifei; two concubines - Xiang Concubine, Chang Concubine; three concubines - Shun Concubine, Yu Concubine, Heng Concubine; two nobles - Na Gui, Li Guiren; one Chang Zai - Man Chang Zai; one promise - Mu Agree.
The Daoguang Emperor and harem concubines
Among these 11 concubines, some were demoted from concubines to nobles; some were demoted from nobles to constant presence; some were demoted from constant to promised; and there were even rare cases of descending from concubines to officials and women all the way.
Then, why was this Daoguang Emperor, who was evaluated by later generations as having "the virtue of frugality and the amount of generosity", so harsh and unsentimental to the harem?
In fact, for the strict management of the harem, it is because the Daoguang Emperor wants to be a good emperor and an emperor who is praised by later generations. It's just that in this way of becoming a generation of masters, he used the wrong place and the wrong object.
Mr. Feng Erkang, a professor of history at Nankai University, once commented on the Daoguang Emperor:
The family law of the Qing Dynasty was indeed passed down from generation to generation, which concretized the emperor's sense of responsibility to the subjects of the state. Minning followed the royal family law.
Under the careful cultivation of the two generations of emperors of Qianlong and Jiaqing, Min Ning's adherence to the ancestral family law was absolutely beyond any emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Just the specific performance of his "pursuing frugal virtue" and "diligent governance" is enough to prove the success of the education of the children of the Qing Dynasty royal family. According to the traditional moral standards of China's feudal society, the Daoguang Emperor was definitely a virtuous prince.
For harem concubines, the Daoguang Emperor's dependence on the empress's management decreased significantly, and the observance of the ancestral family law was an important basis for managing harem affairs and harem concubines. In the twentieth year of Daoguang, the Shangjia clan, who was always in Ling,000, was reprimanded several times for beating the stupid palace women, and the Daoguang Emperor directly bypassed the then "Sixth Palace Affairs" Imperial Concubine Niu Hulu Clan and "sent personnel to check the affairs of the Interior Ministry in detail and then play according to the facts." After receiving a detailed report, the Daoguang Emperor, in accordance with the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, severely punished the Shangjia clan with a promise.
In addition, the Liu clan, who was always in the past, was also demoted to an official woman for "violating palace rules", and Empress Xiao Quancheng at that time was reprimanded by the Daoguang Emperor in person for "the matter of Liu Palace women, the empress was late". As Mr. Feng Erkang put it, the Daoguang Emperor "concretized his sense of responsibility to the subjects of the state", and the management of harem concubines was more specific, more rules to follow and evidence to follow. As long as the ancestral family law was violated, the Daoguang Emperor would show no mercy.
The frugality of the Daoguang Emperor has always been praised by later generations. According to many historical documents, the Daoguang Emperor was able to practice frugality and economy in all aspects of clothing, food, housing, and transportation. Mr. Xiao Yishan, a scholar of Qing history, said that "the purity of Emperor Renzong and the frugality of Emperor Xuanzong are all commendable" is by no means a compliment.
The emperor was strictly thrifty, even wearing patched clothes, and the harem concubines had to keep up with the rhythm and strictly implement the low-standard living standards formulated by the Daoguang Emperor. The History of the Manchu Qing Dynasty records the frugality of the Daoguang harem:
For thirty years, Yi Fei Sanhuan Fuyi. The amount of money used in the palace is not more than 200,000. All the officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had a state of hunger and death. The one who praises him is said to be frugal, the first person in the three generations, Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Renzong of Song are almost beyond reach.
Under such harsh living conditions, the harem concubines who originally thought that they could join the royal family would naturally try their best to improve their living conditions, resulting in many disasters that violated the palace rules and ancestral family laws.
Qing Dynasty harem concubine image
During the reign of the Daoguang Emperor, the social shortcomings of the Qing Dynasty had accumulated and could not be returned, and the Qing Dynasty gradually entered a crisis. Social unrest, internal and external troubles, coupled with the outbreak of the First Opium War and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement are already brewing, Min Ning, the monarch of the Qing Dynasty, did not have a good life.
However, as Mr. Meng Sen, a scholar of Qing history, said, "The mediocrity of Xuanzong is also unprecedented since the Qing Dynasty entered the customs", minning, who was originally mediocre in qualifications and was not suitable for being an emperor, also seriously lacked the clear insight and boldness required by the emperor. Many later articles even believe that "however, external troubles, internal transformation, and extraordinary calamities are all opened in the Daoguang Dynasty" The reason is because "there is no discrimination between adultery and adultery."
The First Opium War
Under such a vicious circle, the Daoguang Emperor, who vowed to be a qualified emperor, could only reluctantly give up all kinds of promising actions in the early stage of his reign and allow the decline of the Qing Dynasty. But the Daoguang Emperor was after all the king of a country, and seeing the ancestral jiangshan become like this, the worries in his chest could be imagined. In such a situation, the Daoguang Emperor could only vent his resentment on the poor women of the harem concubines.
References: "Qing History Manuscripts, Later Concubines", "Qing Shilu Xuanzong Shilu", "Manchu Qing Foreign History", "Daoguang Emperor Living Registration", "Palace Records"