"Jun'en is like water flowing eastward, gaining favor and transferring favor and neglecting." This poem by Li Shangyin is almost a portrayal of the true state of mind of the ancient concubines. The rise and fall of honor and disgrace are all tied to the emperor, the body cannot help itself, the fate cannot help itself, the beautiful face blooms like a flower in the deep palace, and finally in the history books, only a record of the so-and-so clan is left.
Although the history books are stingy with pen and ink for these women, the literati inkers or folk wild history operas are very keen to add branches and leaves to their stories, so there are all kinds of rumors of concubines who are difficult to distinguish between true and false, such as the Zhao sisters who are favored by the Hancheng Emperor, and the zhengshi does not record that their names are Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede, and these two names are from the "Feiyan Wai Biography"; for example, in the harem of the Qianlong Emperor, there is no "fragrant concubine".
But why is "Xiangfei" so well known in the folk? All kinds of Qing Palace film and television dramas always have her figure, and various folk wild history legends have also added mystery to her life? In fact, the reason is very simple, first, the history of this woman does have its archetype, and second, these beautiful women live in the deep palace, people have no way of knowing their real life, can only rely on imagination...
The Qianlong Emperor had 42 concubines, and in some film and television drama adaptations, "Xiangfei" is Shun concubine, but in real history, "Xiangfei" and Shunfei are completely two people. "Xiangfei" is actually Rongfei, born in 1734, Huibu Uyghur woman, in "Huan Zhu Gege" she and Qianlong stand together when the age difference is obvious, similar to the father and daughter, in fact, Rongfei is indeed 23 years younger than Qianlong.
This has to be put aside in modern times, and Concubine Rong may not be interested in Qianlong, a man who is nearly two rounds older than herself, but that is ancient times, whether Concubine Rong is willing to enter the palace or not, it does not matter at all. Princess Rong was the daughter of Huibu Aili and Zhuo, and married Xiaohe Zhuo Huo Jizhan in her early years, but was later abandoned, and her father and brother did not want to go with Da, Xiao and Zhuo Mu to oppose the Qing, but actively cooperated with the Qing army to suppress the rebellion.
In the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong, when the rebellion was put down, the Qianlong Emperor thought of giving some rewards to these meritorious and outstanding people, but if this reward was not good, it might bring some new disasters -- so Qianlong summoned these northwest nobles to live in the capital in the name of rewards, called rewards, which were actually surveillance, and the Rongfei family knew everything about it, and the capital was at the feet of the Son of Heaven, and everything had to be careful, otherwise there would be a great disaster.
In order to ensure the safety of the family, the Rongfei family came up with the old way to sacrifice their daughter to the Qianlong Emperor as a marriage, and the Qianlong Emperor also gladly accepted, so Rongfei's initial entry into the palace was a complete political arrangement, even if she had been married before, even if she was 27 years old when she entered the palace, what was the point? Qianlong valued her identity, and her father and brother valued that she could bring benefits to the family.
Concubine Rong was very aware of her position, and in order to survive in that frightening palace, she had to curry favor with the Qianlong Emperor, be careful in her words and deeds, and not have any place to exceed the rules. With this mentality, Concubine Rong got Qianlong's blue eyes, and as soon as she entered the palace, she was named a nobleman, and after 2 years, she was promoted to a higher rank, and was given the title of "Rong"; 5 years later, she was promoted again, and Rong Concubine became Rong Concubine.
According to this look, Qianlong should still be very fond of Concubine Rong, and at that time there was a royal chef in the palace named Nunimat who specialized in halal cuisine, because Concubine Rong was born in Huibu, and Qianlong took special care of her national customs and did not force her to "follow the customs of the countryside". When qianlong passed through Shandong during the southern tour, Qianlong gave Concubine Rong a "sheep and other products", and the other concubines were pork products.
But the concubines that Qianlong liked had to meet one requirement: every word and deed was in line with the rules, could not lose his temper, could not have any unique personality, obedient, and said that it was like a beautiful plastic flower, and he was at ease as a wooden person. When Concubine Rong was made a concubine, the book reads:
"The pot is dignified, the courtesy is pleasant, and the deep and strict extension is pavilion."
What does that mean? That is to say, Rong Fei has a good personality, treats people and things gently, does things according to the rules, is dignified and virtuous, Rong Fei grew up in the wind and sand of the western region, loves freedom, but when she enters the palace, there is no difference between those noble women in the capital, which shows how much this deep palace restricts human nature, and the warm and loose true flowers are turned into fake flowers with rules and regulations.
But in the folk wild history rumors, Rong Fei was favored not because of how obedient she was, but because she was more special, beautiful and beautiful, and she also had a good smell on her body. The portrait of Rong Fei (Xiang Fei) that has been preserved to this day is also marked: "Xiang Fei, born with a different fragrance", so is Xiang Fei really born with its own fragrance? Where does this fragrance come from?
In fact, at the end of the 70s of the last century, archaeologists cleaned up the "Rongfei Tomb" in the Qianlong Yuling Concubine Garden, miraculously, when opening the coffin, it did smell a burst of aroma, and also found opals and other funerary products that can only be possessed by concubines, after confirming the identity of the female corpse in the coffin, archaeologists can't help but wonder, is Rongfei's strange fragrance born or "made the day after tomorrow"?
It is understood that the mystery of Rong Fei's "strange fragrance" is not so complicated. What was born with a body fragrance is a rumor, the real history of Rong Fei was born in the Northwest Hui, there is a habit of wearing a sachet made of sand jujube flowers, Qianlong transplanted sand jujube flowers for her to the capital, so that she can continue to wear, Rong Fei is always filled with if there is no fragrance, which has attracted the imagination of many people to play.
The real "Xiangfei" did not leave the palace to gain freedom as in the TV series "Huan Zhu Gege", she was bound in the palace all her life, melancholy and depressed, childless, and died at the age of only 54, just like most of Qianlong's concubines. She received her favor by suppressing her own nature, and did not dare to do anything other than "rules", because the family's honor and disgrace were tied to her.
The fate of the "Xiangfei" is also the fate of countless concubines in Chinese history. Masashi likes to write about male princes and generals, women who give birth to princes, but the light is completely covered. There is only one copy of the "Complete Biography of the Chinese Queen Concubines", which collects more than 400 stories of the queen concubines in history and collects them into a collection, so that the Red Face Epic is also known, with an online discount of 48.8. They are not evil waters, they are living people; they are not male vassals, they have their own wonderfulness; their minds and wisdom are equally worth learning.