"Man's wife, Rong Deweiyi." In ancient times, people's marriages were about the fate of their parents, and the matchmaker said that due to the low status of women, a man could only marry one wife, but he could marry multiple concubines. In the patriarchal system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, parents decided on the marriage match of their offspring, but because there was a difference between concubines, both men and women had to have different marriages. Due to the constraints of various marriage systems, if a woman marries a husband who is married, she is usually a full wife and has a higher status. For some women, they are not only of low status, they can only be maids or concubines, and they will also become playthings at the mercy of people.
There has always been a saying in history that the most ruthless imperial family, because the emperor has great power, the lives of the people in the world are controlled by him, so he can also accept concubines. If there is anyone in history who can handle the Jiangshan Society and emotions properly, it is the Qianlong Emperor. As the longest-reigning emperor, he did not have serious civil strife at home and no serious troubles abroad, so during the Qianlong period, the world presented a prosperous scene.
As an emperor, the Qianlong Emperor is also a harem beauty of three thousand, but since the Zhou Dynasty, whether it is the imperial family or the dignitaries or the cloth house, people have followed the monogamous system, but in ancient times, men could only marry a proper wife, but they could fill their own "harem" according to their status. And the Qianlong Emperor had three empresses in his lifetime, who was his favorite? What was their end?
Qianlong's first empress, Empress Xiaoxianchun, was also his original wife. Empress Xiaoxianchun was born into a famous noble family since childhood, and because her ancestors were the heroes of the founding of the country, her family has been a magnate in the imperial court for generations. Therefore, for Empress Xiaoxianchun, her illustrious family lineage allowed her to receive a good education from an early age, which can be said to be proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and she was also very familiar with etiquette.
When Empress Xiaoxianchun was 16 years old, she went to participate in the draft of the Qing Dynasty. The reigning is the Yongzheng Emperor, the purpose of holding this draft is to choose a spouse for his sons, Empress Xiaoxianchun won the appreciation of the Yongzheng Emperor with a graceful posture and noble demeanor, he believed that this woman could afford the great responsibility of the harem, so he promised her to Hongli, and Hongli had already been designated as the prince, so for the marriage of the two, the Yongzheng Emperor was also personally handled.
After the death of the Yongzheng Emperor, the Qianlong Emperor succeeded to the throne, and Empress Xiaoxianchun naturally became the Middle Palace. As we all know, there are many harem concubines of the emperors of previous dynasties, but only this empress is the favorite person of the Qianlong Emperor, what are the advantages in her? Her manners and posture are among the best in the palace, and although Empress Xiaoxianchun was born noble, she has always advocated frugality in the harem, and whenever a major sacrifice is held, she leads the concubines in the harem to perform sacrifice ceremonies, and she often solves problems for the emperor, so the Qianlong Emperor has more heart to deal with the affairs of the imperial court.
However, her fate was uncertain, and although Empress Xiaoxianchun was an example for the concubines of the harem in terms of virtue, she had no children and grandchildren, and she gave birth to two princes in succession, both of whom died young. After losing her child, her physical condition became worse and worse, and after she improved, she accompanied the Qianlong Emperor on a tour, did not think of the recurrence of the old disease, and finally died on the ship at the age of 37.
The second empress of the Qianlong Emperor was not as noble as Empress Xiaoxianchun, and this successor empress, Uranara, was his side room. However, the Uranara clan has always been unappreciated by the Qianlong Emperor. After the death of Empress Xiaoxian and Gao Jia's noble concubines, the highest position in the harem was vacant, and both the Uranara clan and the pure noble concubines were the most senior in the harem, but the pure noble concubines were Han Chinese, so the Uranara clan almost became the only candidate for the empress. Coupled with the fact that the empress dowager also supported her, she successfully became the empress of the Qianlong Emperor.
In the more than ten years that she took care of the harem, she did her best, although she also gave birth to an emperor for the Qianlong Emperor, but she was still not favored by the emperor. Due to the Qianlong Emperor's long-term snub, there was a big dispute between the two people, and she chose to cut off her hair in protest to express her dissatisfaction. Despite this, the Qianlong Emperor still did not pay attention to her, but snubbed her even more. Even when she died, the Qianlong Emperor did not bury her in the specifications of an empress, and not only that, she did not have her own tomb. Because the Qianlong Emperor did not give her a nickname, people always called her the successor.
The third empress of the Qianlong Emperor, Empress Xiaoyichun, did not have a prominent family lineage, and was only a maid when she first entered the palace, but due to her delicate appearance and soft personality, she soon became the concubine of the Qianlong Emperor. After empress Xiaoxianchun's death, she was made a concubine, and the Qianlong Emperor was very fond of her. Because of Concubine Ling's extremely strong fertility, she bore six children to the Qianlong Emperor and was also given the title of Ning Guifei by the Qianlong Emperor. The reason why the Uranara clan broke their hair was because the Qianlong Emperor wanted to make the noble concubine an imperial concubine.
As we all know, the imperial concubine can perform the power of the empress, and usually only when the position of empress of the harem is vacant will the imperial concubine be crowned, so this shows that the Uranara clan does not pay attention to it, and there is a haircut. After that, the Uranara clan lived in the Cold Palace for a long time, and Concubine Ling became an imperial concubine to assume the duties of empress, and at the time of her death, the Qianlong Emperor posthumously named her Empress Xiaoyichun and made their son crown prince.
Resources:
"Marrying a Wife"