In the Qing Dynasty, the status of women was very low, especially palace women. The palace ladies of the Qing Dynasty all entered the palace at about the age of fourteen or fifteen, and if they could be favored by the emperor, they could fly up the branches and become phoenixes, but this was a very rare minority. Most of them are unseen palace women, and they usually leave the palace at the age of 25.
There are mostly two kinds of palace women's life after leaving the palace:
One is poverty.
One is to accumulate some savings to live a rich life. But no matter what the life of the women after leaving the palace, their marriages are very unhappy, and even the tramps are reluctant to marry them, mainly for the following two reasons.
First, because the palace ladies are not willing to "bow their knees.".
The palace ladies who have entered the palace have all received etiquette education, they have behaved elegantly, and they have seen the world, the tramp does not want to marry them, they probably do not want to marry the tramp, and the rich merchants naturally do not want to marry the former palace women.
Second, the palace women are basically infertile, which is also the most important reason.
As soon as the palace women entered the palace, they lost their freedom, their clothing, food and residence were very simple, the strict hierarchy and cumbersome etiquette also made them tired, everyone should have seen "Huan Zhu Ge Ge", but the real situation of the palace women is completely different from "Huan Zhu Ge Ge", they are not glamorous, but the body and mind are under great pressure. Under this tremendous pressure, many palace women suffered from blood depression.
The symptoms of blood depression are physical weakness and mental depression, which is caused by physical overwork. Although this is only a small problem that can be well maintained as long as there is a good rest, but at that time, it needed to spend a lot of silver to treat, and most of the palace women's savings could not afford this cost, so naturally there was no way to treat it. Over time, this disease will have huge consequences.
Cixi's former female official Yu Deling had followed Cixi and spent several years in the palace, and after leaving the palace, she published several works about what she saw and heard in the Qing Palace, and she mentioned that the palace women in the Qing Dynasty basically suffered from blood depression, and it was difficult for women with this disease to have children. In ancient times, reproduction was a great concern, and if the palace women could not have children, then even the tramps did not want to marry them, because they also wanted to pass on the generations.
The marriages of the palace women after leaving the palace are very unfortunate, they have no one to marry, even if they are married, they may be suspended because they cannot have children, so some palace women will choose to go to Qingqing after their savings are spent and their lives are hopeless. Lou spent the rest of his life. There are also some palace ladies who may be rewarded as objects to some ministers, but in any case, they cannot choose the people who accompany them for the rest of their lives, which is really unfortunate.
The palace system of the Qing Dynasty lasted for a long time, but fortunately disappeared later. Nowadays, the status of women is gradually improving, and equality between men and women is also receiving more and more attention.