In ancient Chinese history, there have been many dynasties, and in these many dynasties, there are not a few dynasties that have left a deep impact, but the dynasties in unfavorable situations will be even more impressive, because during that time, the humiliation experienced by this is indelible, and the Qing Dynasty, as the last dynasty in feudal history, cannot be forgotten. In the late Qing Dynasty, due to the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government, people's lives were in dire straits. During that time, due to the implementation of the closed-door policy, our country was derailed from the world and fell into a state of poverty and backwardness, and the Western countries expanded their territory in order to obtain greater benefits, and finally set their sights on our country.
For a long time after that, our country can be said to have suffered humiliation, and the series of treaties signed to humiliate the country have caused us to lose many lands and suffer huge losses. In that stage, the common people were living a difficult life, and the aristocrats, in stark contrast, lived a life of luxury and did not know anything about frugality. From here, we can see that the late Qing Dynasty has actually entered a period of accelerated decline. So what were the specific aspects of the luxurious life of the aristocrats in the late Qing Dynasty at that time? Let's take a closer look.
A lavish feast for the nobles of the late Qing Dynasty
Usually the life of the aristocracy is very luxurious, even beyond our imagination. During the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, there was a very serious famine, and the common people who did not have food could only be starved to death, and even developed into a situation where people eat people, and everyone can imagine how terrible this situation was. In the face of such natural disasters, many people were deeply tortured and survived. However, in the face of such a situation, the imperial court should find a way to solve the problem, but after listening to the report of the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government on the disaster, Emperor Hui of Jin was very confused, since everyone had no food to eat, why didn't they eat meat? From this we can see the extravagance of the lives of the upper leaders, who have no understanding of the difficult life of the poor people. In the late Qing Dynasty, the life of the nobles was even more luxurious, just to say that in terms of eating, the Manchu Han whole table was still enough to shock everyone, and the Manchu Han whole table had many famous dishes and delicacies from various provinces, and the rarity was even more astonishing.
Such a luxurious gourmet feast, ordinary people may not have seen it in their lives, let alone tasted, in addition to eating, the tableware they use to eat is also very exquisite, in addition to their eating environment is also very good, most of them are in the gorgeous Accord and the house. Even when the situation in the country is at a disadvantage, they are still immersed in pleasure, they have no idea how the poor people live, and even if the common people are in the misery of hunger and poverty, they will not restrain themselves. In addition to eating, these many nobles also have the habit of smoking, and it was very popular at that time, whether they were old or young, they would put their minds on big cigarettes, their own family bottom was ruined, and they could even sell their children and daughters in order to smoke big cigarettes.
Gorgeous costumes
In addition to eating, they also have a big difference in clothing. At that time, the clothes worn by people represented their social status and identity, so they were very particular about this. During the Qing Dynasty, they were ruled by the Manchus, who grew up on horseback, so one of the characteristics of their costumes was the horseshoe sleeves. As a people who fought on horseback, their costumes were simple and their sleeves were narrower. But in the cold winter, such clothes are not convenient for heating, so they will sew a piece of cloth on the sleeve for heating, which looks like a horseshoe from a distance, so it is called horseshoe sleeves, in fact, this can be seen in some ancient film and television drama works. In addition, the emperor, who had the highest power and status, wore extravagant clothing, and the clothes he wore in each season were different, and he would make clothes from rare animal furs in winter.
In addition, those feudal nobles wore gorgeous silk silk, while those ordinary people could only wear coarse cloth and linen, and even some people were dressed to the point of being tattered and unclothed. The nobles did not understand the lives of ordinary people, let alone help these inferior people. In addition to clothes, the nobles also decorated very luxuriously, women often carry a variety of gold and silver pearls, jade jewelry, men will always carry precious beads, no matter what it is, it is not available to ordinary people. From here, we can see that the life of the nobles and ordinary people is simply a heaven and an earth.
The nobles lived in luxurious mansions
In the late Qing Dynasty, most of the people lived in very dilapidated houses, and even some were made of old wooden planks and thatch. If it rains, these houses have no way to shelter themselves. The nobility, on the other hand, was different, and had strict requirements for housing due to their different statuses. At that time, most of the nobles lived in large-scale houses, the style and arrangement inside were very exquisite, but such a luxurious and magnificent house was obtained by squeezing the common people, as long as they lived well, they would not care about the lives of ordinary people. The luxury of the house can be seen in the architecture that has been preserved to this day.
How to get around
In the late Qing Dynasty, most of the nobles traveled by palanquins, in addition, there were many military generals who liked to ride horses, to say that the luxury of the palanquin represented a person's status, often the more people who carried the palanquin, the more luxurious the status and the more respected. In any case, this reflected the position of the feudal aristocracy in the society at that time, but the Qing Dynasty slowly went to extinction after that, and this mode of travel eventually ceased to exist.
Extravagant tombs
We all know that in ancient times, the funeral system was more popular, and at that time, the tomb of the princely general was very luxurious, filled with all kinds of precious treasures, and the scale was much larger than that of ordinary civilians. In addition, they are very particular about the location of the tomb, not only to consider the feng shui, but also to consider the safety and anti-theft of the tomb. What was different from the nobles was that these ordinary people might not even be able to buy a coffin after death, and could only be buried on a straw mat, and even exposed to the wilderness.
Not to mention the emperors, whose tombs were spectacular and luxurious, and had attracted many tomb robbers. To say that the most attractive thing about the tomb is those cultural relics and treasures with research value, from the body of cultural relics, you can not only see the social characteristics and customs of the time, but also see the superb level of people. From the above aspects, we can clearly understand the life of the nobles, but I wonder if you have any other views on this