The harem of Qin Shi Huang has always been a mystery. How many concubines there were in the harem, who they were, and what the names of these concubines were, were not recorded in the "Records of History".
Don't say the name of the empress, that is, who the empress of Qin Shi Huang is, it is not clear. Many people say that Qin Shi Huang did not make an empress. Even if there is no empress, the wife should have one. Or rather, the first wife he married was always certain, why is it still unclear?
(Qin Shi Huang stills)
In that era, the concept of concubines was very strong, even if because of the relationship between his mother Zhao Ji, Qin Shi Huang was very wary of women, but he could not fail to consider concubines. I think it is very likely that Qin Shi Huang had an empress, but the "Records of History" did not record it.
One more thing to prove. It is not recorded who the harem of Qin II was, and who the empress of Qin II was. Qin Shi Huang did not make an empress because of his mother's relationship. Why didn't Qin II make an empress? These are obviously not very well-behaved. Therefore, I think that the actual situation is probably because Sima Qian did not get the relevant historical materials (Xiang Yu burned out the fire), and the situation was not clear, so it was not recorded.
What is certain is that the number of people in the harem of Qin Shi Huang is relatively large. Because at that time, after Qin Shi Huang destroyed the Six Kingdoms, he took the women in the harem of the Six Kingdoms captive to Xianyang and enriched them into his own harem.
After Qin Shi Huang's death, how did those concubines of Qin Shi Huang deal with it? It is not recorded in history.
However, judging from the situation of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum excavated now, a large part of the concubines were martyred. That is to say, after the death of Qin Shi Huang, these women were pulled into the grave together.
Of course, it is not possible to be completely martyred. Although the ancients had the wind of martyrdom, the number of martyrdoms also had to pay attention to the rules. At that time, Qin Mugong was martyred because the number of people was relatively large, and it also included some virtuous ministers, which also caused discussion and criticism in later generations. After the death of Qin Shi Huang, the ministers in charge of qin shi huang's tomb would not fail to understand this rule.
(Zhao Ji stills)
Therefore, there must be many concubines of Qin Shi Huang who survived. How were these concubines placed? Obviously, it is impossible to exile them to the people. How could the emperor's women be exiled to the people and let them marry at will? How can the emperor bear this! It was also impossible for them to go to temples and become nuns or Taoists, because there was no religion in China at that time.
Therefore, I think it is very likely that these concubines were hidden in some cold palace. Give them food, give them clothes, and wait until they die of old age. After all, at that time, the Qin Dynasty was building a huge Afang Palace, and there were so many houses to house these women.
After the outbreak of the peasant revolt at the end of Qin, Liu Bang was the first to attack Xianyang City. After Liu Bang entered Xianyang City, the first thing he did was to run into the harem of Qin Shi Huang and Qin II to fool around. Later, at the strong request of Zhang Liang and Fan Duo, Liu Bang finally came out of the harem. And to do not take a penny, a woman does not bring, and at the same time with the people in Guanzhong "about the three chapters of the law".
However, the fact that Liu Bang first entered Xianyang made Xiang Yu very dissatisfied. He questioned Liu Bangxing and set up a feast at the Hongmen Gate to deal with Liu Bang. Yin and yang, in the end did not deal with it.
However, after that, Xiang Yu rushed into Xianyang and took control of the harem of Qin Shi Huang and Qin II. So how did Xiang Yu treat the harem of Qin Shi Huang and Qin II?
(Xiang Yu stills)
There is such a passage in the "Records of History": "After a few days, Xiang Yu led troops to slaughter Xianyang in the west, killed the prince and baby of Qin, burned the Qin Palace, and the room fire was not extinguished for three months, and the women who received their goods and treasures went east." ”
That is to say, Xiang Yu burned down the imperial palace of the Qin Dynasty, and at the same time robbed all the treasures and women in the Imperial Palace of the Qin Dynasty and transported them to Pengcheng, his imperial palace in the east.
Originally, someone told Xiang Yu that Xianyang had a kingly atmosphere, and it was most appropriate to put the capital here. However, Xiang Yu felt that if people were rich and noble, they would not "return to their hometowns", such as "jinyi night travel", so he would put the capital city in his hometown of Pengcheng, and the women and treasures were also plundered to Pengcheng.
However, there is no record in history that Xiang Yu's concubine had some situations, and only said one Yu Ji. Where is this Yu Ji from? Whether it will be Qin Shi Huang or the concubine in the imperial palace of Qin II, there is no explanation in history. In fact, Xiang Yu did not have many opportunities to obtain beautiful women in his lifetime, except for the beautiful women in the palaces of Qin Shi Huang and Qin II, there was no place to get them. From this point of view, it is likely that Yu Ji is from the Xianyang Palace.
However, later, Xiang Yu's Pengcheng was taken up by Liu Bang. Liu Bang spent a lot of time in Pengcheng, and then Liu Bang was thrown out of Pengcheng by Xiang Yu. However, xiang yu was soon surrounded by Han Xin, Peng Yue, Yingbu and others, and eventually Xiang Yu killed himself on the edge of the Wu River. At this time, only Yu Ji was a concubine with him, and Yu Ji also killed herself.
Where did those concubines in Xiang Yu Peng City end up? It is not recorded in history. Among these beauties, about some filled Liu Bang's harem, and some were captured by Liu Bang's generals and ministers. The rest may have gone into exile or been killed in the war.
Ancient women had no place in themselves, so how could history remember them?
(Reference: Chronicle of History)