According to the "Biography of the Later Concubines" in the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", the harem of the Nurhaci period was "roughly created, and the palace did not have a title"; after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, "five palaces were built together, the title was clear, and so on"; after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the Shunzhi Emperor briefly used the female official system to manage the harem concubines; until the Kangxi Emperor ascended the throne, he created the "Empress Juzhong Palace; the Imperial Concubine One, the Noble Concubine II, the Concubine IV, the Concubine Six, the Noble, the Constant Presence, the Promise Indefinite, and the East and West Twelve Palaces" Were strictly hierarchical. A system of concubinage with clear dignity and inferiority.
After the establishment of the harem hierarchy, the terms "Fujin" and "Gege", which were originally used to call the emperor's concubines, disappeared into the harem and became the special titles for the wives and concubines of the royal family.
Qing Dynasty princes and concubines
Fujin, or "the sound of the word lady", is a noun made up of Manchu translations into Chinese. Fujin ( 福晋 ) was a title in the Qing Dynasty that referred to the titles of the wives and concubines of members of the imperial family such as crown princes , princes , county princes , and shizi . However, Fujin also has the distinction of concubine Fujin (正 wife), side Fujin (side room), and 庶福晋 (concubine); and under Fujin, there is also the title of "female gege" (female grid) at the bottom level.
That is to say, the wives and concubines of the members of the Qing Dynasty royal family can be roughly divided into four classes: Concubine Fujin, Side Fujin, Shu Fujin, and Envoy Gege.
Because the promotion, derogation or favorability of harem concubines could affect the political situation of the former dynasty, the power of foreign relatives, and even directly affect the stability of the ruling foundation, the Kangxi Emperor created a harem concubine hierarchy. However, the main responsibility of the wives and concubines of the royal family members is more to open up and breed heirs for the Ai Xinjue Luo clan, and the political influence is obviously weak or even negligible.
Qing Dynasty harem concubine image
If this is the case, why should the wives and concubines of the members of the Imperial Family of the Qing Dynasty be classified into such a rank like the harem concubines?
1. Inheritance of titles
For the feudal imperial society, the division of titles can effectively protect the fundamental interests of the ruling class, fully demonstrate the superiority and uniqueness of the ruling class, and fundamentally guarantee the absolute stability of the imperial power. In the division of titles in the Qing Dynasty, the "Clan Jue Luo Shijue" who was "only granted to the Ai Xinjue Luo clan" occupied the most important position. Imperial power is passed down from generation to generation, and the title of clan naturally has to be inherited from generation to generation.
In the Qing Dynasty, there were two ways of inheriting the title of clan: hereditary succession and descending hereditary succession. In the "hereditary succession" title, concubines are given priority to inheritance; in the "descended hereditary" titles, "the prince concubine is crowned as a son, and the prince is later inherited; and the concubines below the county king are all demoted to the first class and crowned", and the concubine has a more obvious inheritance advantage. Regardless of the way the title is inherited, the "concubines" other than the heirs can only "be enfeoffed as a general of the auxiliary state, and the county king will be demoted below the same".
Even after the Kangxi Emperor changed the method of inheriting the title of emperor to "the prince, regardless of his sons and sons, cannot be enfeoffed as an eight-point auxiliary duke, and the county king is examined for the purpose of reducing the rank, translating, horse, and rifle shooting are all excellent, and then granting his own post, otherwise he will be demoted to the rank of knight", the concubine still has a clear advantage, and the possibility of being given the inheritance of the father is greater.
That is to say, in the process of inheriting the title of the Qing Dynasty, the difference between concubines and concubines is crucial. Since this is the case, the wives and concubines of the qing dynasty princes naturally have to be divided into concubines, and it is clear whether the status is high or low, and the dignity and inferiority are superior and inferior. During the Qing Dynasty, which practiced the "monogamous and polygamous" marriage system, members of the imperial family in the ruling class naturally carried forward this system and implemented it to the end. There are many wives and concubines, and they must distinguish between honor and inferiority, and there is a difference between concubines, and naturally there is a rank like a harem concubine.
A group of Qing people with wives and concubines
2. Eligibility to enter the palace
In the records of the official documents of the Qing Dynasty, it is often seen that such as "four people from Fu Jin, leading the female officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ask the empress to dress up", "The empress leads the concubines, the lord of the inner court, the princess, the fujin, the concubine, the empress dowager, the emperor before the ceremony", "the kings Fujin, the first to enter the first time and the time of the time", "the princess, the Fujin, the Gege and the relatives of foreign relatives, when the age is given, enter the inner thanksgiving" these imperial fu jin must participate in the palace activities.
That is to say, the imperial wives and concubines during the Qing Dynasty needed to play an important role in many matters such as the emperor's wedding, post-sealing ceremony, longevity celebration, and even sacrifice and silkworm kissing. There were already many members of the Imperial Family of the Qing Dynasty, and their wives and concubines were even larger, so naturally no one could enter the palace to participate in the activities.
In this context, the Qing Dynasty could only formulate a clear hierarchy and narrow the scope of imperial wives and concubines who had the power to enter the palace. Concubine Fujin and Lateral Fujin, who were given custom crowns by the imperial court by the imperial court, also became people within the scope; and Shu Fujin, who were not crowned by the imperial court or even recognized by the imperial family, made the female gege like concubines who could not participate in family affairs, were naturally excluded.
That is to say, the Qing Dynasty demonstrated the majesty of the imperial palace and the sacredness of imperial power by clarifying the rank of imperial wives and concubines and giving them corresponding privileges such as "qualification to enter the palace".
Imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty - Forbidden City
3. The writing of the royal family jade
Qing Dynasty Jade, that is, the family tree that records the genealogy of the descendants of ai xinjue Luoshi. According to the current Qing Dynasty Jade, it records the order of the members of the imperial family, changes in titles, promotions to official positions, children born, and some wives and concubines. Let's take Yin Xiang, the thirteenth son of the Kangxi Emperor, as an example to illustrate this.
The thirteenth son of the Emperor, Yin Xiang, was recorded as having concubines as the Concubine Fujin Zhaojia clan, the Lateral Fujin Fucha Clan, the Lateral Fujin Wusu Clan, the Lateral Fujin Guarjia Clan, the Shufujin Sujia Clan, and the Shufujin Nala Clan, and the only thing they all had in common was that they all had children. The number of wives and concubines that Yin Xiang shared in his lifetime was far more than the above, that is to say, in addition to Concubine Fujin and Lateral Fujin, only Shu Fujin and Envoy Gege who had given birth were eligible to be entered into the Jade Tablet.
In addition to the fact that Consort Fujin must be recorded first, the lateral Fujin, Shufujin, and The Envoy Gege will also be recorded sequentially according to the gender of the heirs. That is to say, the hierarchical division of imperial wives and concubines in the Qing Dynasty, together with the fertility of the concubines and the gender of the children born, determined her record information in the jade. With the requirements of yu mu writing, the royal wives and concubines naturally had to clarify the rank and determine the dignity and inferiority.
Qing Dynasty jade
postscript
Like the harem concubine hierarchy, the hierarchical division of imperial wives and concubines in the Qing Dynasty had a decisive influence on the inheritance of titles, the division of privileges, and the compilation of jade. Although the hierarchical division of imperial wives and concubines cannot directly affect the political affairs and the state of the previous dynasty, it can directly highlight the "feudal hierarchy" that is enshrined in the feudal imperial society. In such a historical context, both harem concubines and royal wives and concubines were nothing more than political tools used by the ruling class to consolidate imperial power and divide hierarchies.
References: "Qing History Manuscripts, Later Concubines", "Qing Barnyard Banknotes", "Imperial Palace Affairs", "Ai Xin Jue Luo Genealogy"