In ancient China, five thousand years of history, the dynasty was constantly changing, producing hundreds of emperors, and although there was no camera at that time to record the appearance of the emperor, the emperor at that time would have a portrait left, and the portrait was basically very close to the emperor himself. So the question is, why are most of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty fat on the portrait, and some are still very fat, but why are the emperors of the Manchu Qing very thin?
Now many TV dramas describe that the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty ate quite well, a meal of hundreds of dishes, and a full Han table at every turn. That's really nutritious and the ultimate food enjoyment. At least it was much better than the Ming Emperor's eating, at least at that time, there was no full Han feast! The reason why the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were very fat was mainly four points.
One is the emperor's food.
The Ming Dynasty was founded by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the sentence he always said was that if there were 2 large cakes to eat every day, he would not rebel. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty began with Zhu Yuanzhang, eating the above is very casual, never paying attention to nutritional collocation, scientific diet. Basically, the emperor likes to eat what he wants, he will do what he wants, and he eats everything, and Zhu Yuanzhang is a typical foodie. His philosophy of life is that the first person who can eat must be able to eat. Therefore, the Ming emperor basically belonged to the nouveau riche, eating and drinking, and finally gaining weight.
The second is not to exercise.
The era of the Ming emperor was very embarrassing, such as before the Tang Dynasty, many dynasties were established by the Han People, but at that time, the style of shangwu was very strong, so the emperor liked to hunt everywhere and fight everywhere. And the Ming Emperor basically did not go out of the capital, and some like the Wanli Emperor and the Jiajing Emperor, that basically did not go to the Dynasty for decades, let alone sports, and did not want to walk more. Therefore, the thinnest ming emperor was the Yongle Emperor, who liked to fight and run around. But his son Zhu Gaozi couldn't do it, he was simply fat to death.
Third, ignore the government and politics.
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was very relaxed, basically there were very few diligent politicians, except for Zhu Yuanzhang and Chongzhen, basically they did not pay much attention to the government, some practiced weaving, some played everywhere, some refined Dan, and some engaged in carpenter work. Therefore, if you love to eat and do not exercise, can you not be fat if you do not work?
Fourth, post-production.
The Han people pay attention to enjoying the blessings of the Qi people, and think that people are fat, which is a manifestation of blessings. Especially the Zhu family, the biggest upstart, this concept is especially strong, an emperor fat, that is also the blessing of the country, if it is very thin, then to receive foreign guests, is it not a shame? Even the emperor could not afford it. Therefore, when painting the emperor, the painter will also consciously paint the big point and paint the blessed point. Therefore, on the whole, the Ming emperors were relatively fat.
But why did the Qing emperor eat well and be so thin? Mainly two points, one is that in order to prevent assassination, the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty has many dietary regulations, and the dishes that the Emperor likes to eat are sandwiched up to twice at a time, and in order to balance nutrition, each dish must be eaten. This makes the emperor not partial to food, nutritionally balanced.
Second, the Qing Dynasty was a descendant of the Jurchens, a nation at once, and very militaristic. Moreover, in order to prevent himself from being hanified and losing his combat effectiveness, the Manchu Emperor would conduct large-scale hunting and military parades every year. The emperor basically had a requirement for exercise every day, so he kept in good shape.
Third, the emperor of the Qing Dynasty was more diligent, and in the Qing Dynasty, the feudal imperial power was further concentrated, and the emperor gathered all the great powers, so his task was also relatively heavy. It is said that the emperor of the Qing Dynasty must get up at 5 o'clock in the morning and go to bed after 12 o'clock at night.