In ancient China, the wives and concubines of emperors were divided into several classes, just as the ministers in the imperial court had different official positions, and the wives and concubines of different ranks enjoyed different titles. The harem concubine system was perfected with the perfection of the imperial power system.
Before the Xia Shang Dynasty, the emperor relied on the virtue to subdue people and rule the country with talent, so the emperor's life was not luxurious, and the concubine system was relatively simple. According to the Tongdian Officials and Empress Concubines, Emperor Zhao and Emperor Yao both had four concubines, with their wives being concubines and the rest being second concubines; Emperor Shun had only three concubines, not concubines, and the three concubines were called wives.
The Xia Dynasty began to enter the slave society, the emperor's concubine system has developed, there are twelve wives and concubines, and in the Spring and Autumn Period, there is "the son of heaven marrying twelve daughters", which refers to the Xia system. According to the Shang Dynasty, the emperor could marry thirty-nine wives and concubines, and his holiness was a concubine. The Zhou Dynasty took the Zhou Dynasty as the etiquette system of "the three palaces, the three wives, the nine concubines, the twenty-seventh wives, and the eighty-one imperial wives" in the Zhou rites, and the imperial wives and concubines totaled one hundred and twenty-one, and the wives were the empresses, who were the lords of the harem, and the rest were divided into wives, concubines, concubines, and female imperial five in order of honor and inferiority, corresponding to the six officials system of the foreign dynasty: "the three wives" were the same as the three dukes and princes; the "nine concubines" were the same as the nine secretaries, the "twenty-seventh wife" was the same as the twenty-seventh doctor, and the "eighty-one imperial wives" were the same as the eighty-one yuanshi.
The empress dowager's harem concubines are like the emperor's position in the imperial court, so the stories that have appeared in the harems over the generations because of the competition for the position of empress are also particularly rich. "The lady sits on the women's ceremony; the nine concubines teach the four virtues; the worldly women are mourned, sacrificed, and guests; and the female imperial order is in the bed of the king's swallow", the concubines of different ranks have different responsibilities, the ranks are clear, and the division of labor is clear. The ritual system contained in the history books has increased or decreased specifically to different emperors, and it is not entirely in accordance with the ritual system. History is far away, many facts have been lost in the ancient years, and the variety of harem ranks is often dazzling, and we only borrow a scale and a half claw text to have some preliminary understanding of this.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the system of concubines was roughly equivalent. The Qin Dynasty died two generations ago, and the harem system was not yet perfect. The Han Dynasty Qin system was more perfect than that of Qin, basically establishing the framework of the feudal dynasty concubine system, and the later dynastic concubine system increased or decreased on the basis of the Han system.
At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, there were wives, beauties, good people, eight sons, seven sons, long envoys, and young envoys below the empress dowager. Lady Qi, the favorite concubine of Han Gaozu Liu Bang, was second only to Lü Hou by name, only one level apart, but her power was vastly different, and Lü Hou had the power to let her go to Gangmi to do rough work and even abuse her to death. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there were jieyu under the empress, and when the Han Yuan Emperor Zhaoyi was second only to the empress, and the jieyi was under Zhaoyi, the rest of the names were also changed to varying degrees.
Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was frugal in nature, in view of the shortcomings of the Eastern Han Dynasty's foreign relations monopoly and harem competition for favors, he reduced the rank of concubines and lowered the rank of concubines, and the concubines were only divided into empresses, nobles, beauties, palace people, and women. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the political powers overlapped, and the ranks of concubines in each dynasty were based on the Han system, and there were different increases and decreases.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the rank of concubines changed completely. Under the empress are the noble concubines, lady concubines, and concubines, which are the three ladies, who enjoy one pin of feng lu; Zhaoyi, Zhaorong, Zhaoyuan, Xiuyi, Xiuyi, Xiurong, Xiuyuan, Chongyi, Chongrong, Chongyuan, Chongyi, Chongrong, Chongyuan, this is the nine concubines, enjoy the two pins of the concubines; the nine concubines, the beauties, and the talents are nine generations of the twenty-seventh wife, the three wives of the concubines, the three pins of the beauties, and the four pins of the talents; the baolin, the imperial daughters, and the cainu are twenty-seven each, and the eighty-one imperial wives, respectively, enjoy the five pins, six pins, and seven pins of the concubines, and the female officials are responsible for the chores in the palace. In the prosperous tang dynasty, the wives and concubines of the emperor enjoyed the glory of the world, and the rank of the concubines was detailed and complete.
The Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties referred to the harem system of the Tang Dynasty, but each had its own profits and losses. For example, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was born poor, and at the beginning of the founding of the country, luxury was prohibited, so the number of harem wives and concubines and the number of female officials were correspondingly reduced, so the harem of the Ming Dynasty was only set up to concubines, and the concubines were cancelled, and the palace women could be promoted to concubines after they got the royal revival. The Qing Dynasty set up one imperial concubine, two noble concubines, four concubines, and six concubines under the empress; the number of nobles, constant presence, and promises below the concubines was uncertain.
Before entering the customs, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty had no rules to follow when marrying concubines. For political reasons, many Mongol princesses married the emperor and used marriage to maintain the alliance between the two ethnic groups. This is the case with Empress Xiaozhuang (formerly known as Bumubutai), whom we are all familiar with. According to historical records, there were successive women who married Emperor Taiji, so that after Emperor Taiji ascended the throne, he was crowned as the queen concubine of the Five Palaces of Chongde, also known as the Five Great Blessings. Among them, the empress ranked first in the Middle Palace Qingning Palace; the Eastern Palace Concubine Juguanju Palace, known as the Eastern Great Fu Jin, ranked second; the Western Palace Concubine Ju Lin toe Palace, called the West Great Fujin, ranked third; the Second Eastern Palace Concubine Ju Yanqing Palace, known as the East Side Fujin, ranked fourth; the Second Western Palace Concubine Zhuang Ju Yongfu Palace, called the West Side Fujin, ranked fifth. This concubine is also Bumubutai. It can be seen that the titles with relatively high status in the Imperial Taiji harem are only empresses and concubines, and there are no other titles.
After entering the Central Plains, many of the qing systems originated from the Ming Dynasty, including the concubine system. During the Shunzhi period, the officials of the Ministry of Rites summarized and refined the Ming Dynasty's concubine system and formulated the Qing Dynasty's concubine system. Although the Shunzhi Emperor approved of this system, it could not be promoted for various reasons. During the Reign of the Kangxi Emperor, the rank of concubines was reformulated, and the empress was required to reside in the Middle Palace. Below the empress, there is one imperial concubine, two noble concubines, four concubines, and eight concubines. In addition, there are also a variable number of nobles, permanent presence, promise and other low-level palace women. The concubines lived in the East and West Palaces, respectively.
In addition to these, the Qing Dynasty also had its own original system of draft women, which guaranteed the source of the emperor's concubines. Every three years, all healthy women aged thirteen to sixteen in the flag must register with the relevant departments to participate in the showgirl activities. Women who have reached the age of thirteen are called "over-the-years", and those over the age of sixteen are called "over-aged". Women who are over the age of 10 generally no longer participate in the draft, but if they miss it for one reason or another at the right age, they must participate in the next session, otherwise the imperial court will punish them. Women who are old enough to marry before they have participated in the draft are also punished. Even if a woman with physical problems is not suitable for election, she must be reported layer by layer until the emperor approves it, and can not be exempted from election.
Each time a woman is selected, the ministry chooses a date and asks the emperor to play it, and after approval, the preparation begins. One of the draft girls in the Daoguang years was carried out like this: two flags were selected every day, and they were distributed according to the number of people. The day before the draft women, the two flag leaders who are running for the draft must line up first. For example, if you want to choose a show girl with two yellow flags, then the staff leader must divide the show girl of the flag into three groups according to the differences between Manchu, Mongolian and Han, and each group is lined up according to the age size, and then the show girl's car can leave. Manchus are in the front, followed by Mongolians, and Han Chinese in the last. Two lanterns hung on the car to identify the showgirl. In the evening, the car can only start, and at night, when it reaches the Shenwu Gate of the Forbidden City, the show girls get off the car and enter the palace.
The relevant personnel led the show girls to wait outside the Shunzhen Gate, where there were household officials to organize. Officials divided them into groups of five, and eunuchs were introduced into the palace in groups. Once inside, the showgirls stood in a row without having to kneel. The emperor and the empress dowager looked at each other one by one, and left the name plate of the show girl in their favor, which was called the brand. The show girl who left the sign will be looked at again, and if the second time the emperor and the empress dowager do not take a fancy, it is called a brand. The sign bears the name, flag and ethnicity of the showgirl's father.
The car that the show girls took from Shenwumen to Donghuamen, passed through Chongwenmen Street to The North Street Market, and then circled back to Shenwumen, at this time it was noon the next day, and the draft girls were almost over. After participating, the participants boarded the car and left the palace in order to go home. Although there were more than a thousand cars, they were orderly.
Any showgirl who has won the title of emperor will dedicate her life to the palace, and she will not be able to leave the palace to marry another woman until she dies. Some showgirls have the honor of becoming empresses, but also need to go through a big marriage and enter the Kunning Palace (the palace where the empress lives). Showgirls who carry signs do not need to enter the palace, and are generally assigned to the prince or the prince's descendants.
Nor do women enter the palace enter heaven. The harem struggle is complex and fierce, and if you are not careful, you will fall into the trap set by others. Favored today, tomorrow may be beaten into the cold palace, desolate and lonely for the rest of their lives. What's more, it is not enough to punish yourself, and it will also affect your family. Later, when the draft girl system developed, rich families often bribed relevant departments with money to conceal their daughters' ages, or bought poor daughters to replace their daughters. Magistrates also used this to extort and extort, to commit misdeeds, and to create chaos in society.
The Xiangqilou Anthology records the story of a show girl who scolded the emperor while waiting to be elected. In the winter of the ninth year of Xianfeng (1859), the show girls entered the palace early in the morning and waited under the steps. The Xianfeng Emperor did not come out for a long time, the weather was cold, and a girl from a poor family and thin clothes could not stand it, and asked for instructions several times, wanting to leave the palace first. The official in charge blamed her loudly and forcibly left her behind. The girl had a long grudge in her heart, and couldn't help but say loudly: "The imperial court established this system because it was a peaceful and prosperous world at that time." Now there are great enemies outside the territory, bandits are everywhere inside, and the people in the city have no food, clothing, and precariousness. However, the imperial court did not recruit sages and select talents, but instead chose concubines today and women tomorrow, which is not something that only a daoist emperor did..." The people present were all stunned. The Xianfeng Emperor dumbly whisked his sleeves away, and this draft girl's good drama was stirred into yellow soup!