In recent years, Qing Palace drama has been loved by many people, of which "The Biography of Zhen Huan" is considered to be the best work of word of mouth. In the play, there is a villain that people love and hate, that is, Princess Hua. Concubine Hua was beautiful in appearance and had a prominent family, but she had a vicious heart and often mutilated her concubines, making many people grit their teeth in hatred. But in fact, the prototype of this role is a young concubine in the Yongzheng harem, not a real "Hua Concubine" in Qing history.
Stills of Concubine Hua in "The Biography of Zhen Huan"
In the history of the Qing Dynasty, the person who really had the title of "Concubine Hua" was another woman, who was the concubine of the Jiaqing Emperor, Hou Jiashi, that is, the son of the Qianlong Emperor, and should be called Qianlong "Gonggong" according to the generations. This woman's life is also extremely legendary, her father was originally the emperor's groom, but she became the first concubine of the Jiaqing Emperor with her beautiful appearance. During her lifetime, the emperor personally changed her title, and after her death, she was honored.
Princess Hua was born in the Qianlong period, her family lineage is very ordinary, although her father also has an official and a half-position in the court, but his job is only to raise horses for the emperor, that is, a groom in the palace. Compared with other women in the palace, her life was really not worth mentioning, so she did not have the opportunity to enter the palace at that time to become the emperor's concubine.
Stills of Princess Hua Hou Jia
In the 43rd year of Qianlong, the emperor ordered her to marry the crown prince Yu Yan (later The Jiaqing Emperor) as an official woman. She is beautiful and has a very gentle personality, and has always been very favored after marrying Ying Yan, but because her birth is too humble, so after entering the palace, she is not qualified to be a Fujin, nor does she have the opportunity to become a side Fujin, and can only be a small concubine, known as "Gege" by the next person.
When she got married, her life did not get much better, because she was at the lowest level of the wives and concubines in the palace, and she was cautious when she saw everyone, and she did not even dare to speak loudly. For women at that time, the most convenient and effective way to get a high position was to have children, but she was particularly blessed.
Since she entered the palace, she has not been pregnant, and after waiting for 10 years, she finally gave birth to a daughter. But the child unfortunately contracted smallpox and died early. At the time, smallpox was an incurable disease that was highly contagious and frightening. Generally speaking, when her daughter dies of smallpox, she is likely to fall out of favor, but She has always been very fond of her.
When Emperor Yan ascended the throne as the Jiaqing Emperor, he ordered her to be crowned "Concubine Ying". Compared with the previous emperors, the Jiaqing Emperor had very few harem personnel, so there were also very few concubines who won high positions. In the Qianlong period, the "concubine" position was not worth mentioning among the concubines, but when Jiaqing ascended the throne, the "concubine" position was also a rare position, so it can be seen that the emperor was very fond of her.
Later, a year later, the emperor ordered her to be promoted to "Concubine Hua". Originally, when the Ministry of Internal Affairs was about to seal her title, it planned to use "Jing" as her title, but the emperor felt that this word was not compatible with her, so he personally changed her title to "Hua". The word "Hua" is rich and beautiful, and she is the only one in the entire Qing Dynasty who has such a title, and looking at the history of China's harem, in addition to her, there is only one "Hua Concubine" in the harem of Tang Xuanzong. It can be seen that she has great weight in the emperor's heart.
It is worth noting that in the harem of the Jiaqing Emperor at that time, in addition to the empress, there were only 3 high-ranking concubines, and the positions of "imperial concubine" and "noble concubine" had been vacant, so she became a veritable "first concubine". Such a result was unexpected by everyone, she was originally from a humble background, and could only be a concubine in the royal palace, but later became the first concubine in the harem, such a counterattack is amazing.
According to such a favor, she must have enjoyed the rest of her life, but at this time an accident occurred, she suddenly fell seriously ill, and the imperial doctors could not make her better after exhausting all means, so she died soon after, and according to the regulations, her coffin was parked in a partial temple.
Generally speaking, after the death of a concubine, the emperor will not visit, not to mention the side hall where the coffin is parked, and the emperor will not set foot in it. But after her death, the emperor was so sad that he went to worship her himself. For the deceased concubine, it was a privilege to shine the whole family, and her charm could also be seen from this.
Her life is very legendary, and the "Yuying" in the hit "Golden Branch Desire" many years ago is the character created based on her. However, in that play, this woman is also a "villain" role, and she has spent all her life without getting the emperor's sincerity, but the real she was favored by the emperor for a lifetime, and after her death, she was also remembered by the emperor, which was touching.
Reference: "Kiyoshi's Article"