When we watch film and television dramas, we occasionally hear the empress dowager or the king admonishing concubines: "The harem must not interfere in politics!" "However, at certain times in the history of the mainland, the harem can interfere in politics. Moreover, in that period, the functions of concubines, female officials, and palace ladies were actually overlapping.
Before reading the main text, we must first clarify a few definitions that we generally accept in modern times: female official, concubine, and palace maid.
Female officials, in modern times, are usually considered to be high-ranking palace women who manage the affairs of the palace for the royal family, and their status is lower than that of concubines and higher than ordinary palace women. He was usually in charge of royal chores such as harem etiquette, clothing, and food, and shared the worries of kings and concubines.
Concubines, the wives and concubines of kings, after being canonized, will enjoy different ranks and titles, and their status and rights are far above that of female officials and palace women.
The palace maids, the slaves in the royal palace, those who served the concubines and the king, were usually considered to have a duty to serve them.
In the historical periods we are about to mention, the definitions of female officials, concubines, and court ladies were very different from those recognized by modern people.
1. Concubines are also female officials, and female officials are also concubines
01． In the Spring and Autumn period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, female officials originated from concubines, and the two were silly and unclear
During the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn Warring States periods, the boundaries and functional distinctions between concubines, female officials, and female slaves in the royal palace were not so clear. Although it is written in the Book of Rites that "the ancient Heavenly Son established the six palaces, the third lady, the ninth funeral, the second and seventh wives, and the eighty-one imperial wives to listen to the inner rule of the world and to make the women obedient", this is still not enough to prove that a clear system of concubines was formed at that time.
According to historical records, it can be judged that during this period, the words "concubine" and "lady" referred to the proper wives of the princes, which was equivalent to the queen of the Son of Heaven, which was far from the definition of later generations; "funeral" and "ru lady" referred to female officials in the palace, but they also had the nature of concubines and were ready to serve the heavenly son; and "concubines" referred to female slaves, that is, palace women.
In that era, it was equivalent to saying that as long as you were in the palace, either you were the woman of the Son of Heaven, or you were the woman who was "always ready" to become the Son of Heaven. In other words, even if you have never even seen the face of the Son of Heaven in this life, you must never betray the Son of Heaven and other people for a lifetime. If there is a disobedience, it is a great rebellion and a filthy palace.
02. In the qin and Han dynasty concubine system, "all women below the wife are female officials"
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the titles of concubines were more numerous than in the pre-Qin period. We all know that "empress dowager" is an honorific title for the king's mother, but in fact, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was no title of "empress dowager", when the king's mother was given the title of the previous king, such as the queen of the King of Chuwei was called "Wei Queen". It was not until the time of King Zhaoxiang of Qin that his mother was called "Empress Xuan", and since then it has set a precedent for the mother of the king to be honored as "Empress Dowager".
In the Qin Dynasty, the emperor's palace had empresses, wives, beauties, good people and other concubines, and the lowest rank was the junior envoy, which was inherited from the Qin state in the Warring States period.
According to legend, the mother of King Zhaoxiang of Qin during the Warring States period, that is, the "Empress Xuan" we mentioned, was the "eighth son" of King Yingsi of Qin Huiwen. The "Eight Sons" are actually not high or low, and there is a difference of three levels from the "Lady", and it is also three levels higher than the lowest level of the Junior Envoy. During that period, the female relatives below the lady, the young envoys were all female officials, and they were also the concubines of the emperor.
In the Han Dynasty, the Han inherited the Qin system, so the concubine system did not change much and was still immature. In addition to the king's mother, the empress dowager, and the empress dowager, most of the concubines were called ladies, such as Han Gaozu's "son is the king, mother is the prisoner" Lady Qi, which is a vivid example.
03. After the Three Kingdoms, the female officials were separated under the concubines
This ambiguity in the functions of concubines and female officials took a turn after the Three Kingdoms, with concubines and female officials gradually separating and making a clear distinction, and female officials having the same fixed rank as the officials of the previous dynasty.
During the reign of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, there was a "female Shangshu" to manage the clerical affairs in the palace, and the official zhi Sanpin was an important "clerk position" in the imperial palace. The female Shangshu can help the king to sort out the documents and approve the chapter on behalf of the king, which is equivalent to the secretary position of modern society.
In the Sui Dynasty, the post-concubine system was further improved on the basis of the two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the female officials had clearer and more specific responsibilities, and some of them were responsible for the "Xi Female Teaching", such as the Nine Funerals, which were female officials responsible for teaching the "four virtues" of the women in the palace, and they would teach the women in the palace how to be solemn and heavy in front of the people, calm and courteous, generous and decent.
The other part of the people are responsible for the sacrifice, funeral, banqueting, etc., which overlaps with the responsibilities of the "ceremonial department" in later generations.
Through these studies, we have learned that with the change of dynasties, the duties of female officials and concubines in ancient times gradually separated, so how exactly did these female officials "take their place"? How do they "seek their own government"?
Second, from the perspective of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the harem can intervene in politics and appreciate the professional style of different female officials
01. Concubines participate in the management of the inner court, and female administrative officials have high authority
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the concubines of Zhou Tianzi were high and powerful, and they were both the women of Tianzi and the officials of the inner court. For example, the queen, at least in terms of managing the affairs of the inner court, she can be regarded as the "second chair" in the palace "under the Son of Heaven and above ten thousand people".
The affairs of the inner court are basically decided by her, and even the position of "Si BaiGong" must obey her orders. The inscription of Ji Ji Fangzun records: "Only in early August Ji Gengchen, the king ordered Zai Mang to give Fu Ji Ji a vassal in the empty wood... Give the field ten and five horses, the cattle sixty and nine dun, the sheep three hundred and eighty and five, and the two hes. "From this, we can see that the queen can decide on the rewards in the palace, and she can also send officials of all sizes in the inner court at will, and the administrative power is still very large.
02. Female officials such as the Imperial Guard and the Security Officer coordinate the inner court
In addition to concubines who can control the inner court, female officials such as concubines and security officials can also participate in the management of the affairs of the inner court.
The wives of the Qing Masters and scholars, who are called "Lady of Destiny", are often also honored as "Lady of commandments", which is a type of female official. Their rank of appointment usually depended on their husbands' official positions in the imperial court, and most of them were of high status, almost second only to the concubines in the palace.
The Zhou Li once recorded: "All the clothes of the sacrifices and guests, and the queens: and the nine concubines, the wives of the world, and the wives of the world, share their clothes." "The description is that the wives and concubines work together to take care of the affairs of the inner court such as sacrifices and banquets for guests.
Baoguan, that is, nanny, but this kind of official position is not exclusive to women, and there is a kind of water vessel that comes from the Baoguan - Bao Kan Mother Pot. The pot has an inscription of three lines and fourteen characters, describing the reward of the zhou royal queen to foreign wives.
In addition, there are also some female officials in the palace who "specialize in art", some of them are responsible for the purchase and cutting of clothes in the palace, as well as the custody of valuable jewelry, known as "inner clothes", which is equivalent to the "Shangyi Bureau" in later generations; some are in charge of the palace diet, and some are in charge of the palace furnishings... They are all important presences in the overall court.
03. Female officials of the outer court are resourceful and run for the imperial court
"Mencius Teng Wen Gongxia" once described a type of person as follows: "When angry and the princes are afraid, they live in peace and the world is extinguished." Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi once relied on three inches of uncorrupted tongue to "surrender without fighting", which is the charm of diplomats.
Although the female officials of the Western Zhou Dynasty's foreign court did not allow them to shave their eyebrows, although they could not personally lead their troops to kill the enemy, they were famous models in history in terms of diplomacy.
The concubine of the ancestor of the Zhou Dynasty, Gu Gonggong," who we know as king Wen of Zhou's grandmother, Tai Jiang, was an excellent "foreign ministry spokesman."
She often followed the King of Zhou to participate in foreign court affairs, which can be described as "the harem can interfere in politics". King Zhou did not think that Tai Jiang was disrupting political affairs, on the contrary, he thought that Tai Jiang was his right-hand man and his right and left arm. He trusted Tai Jiang very much and entrusted her with a heavy responsibility, and it was true that Tai Jiang did not live up to the king's trust.
She was resourceful, and she received the envoys calmly and calmly, and answered them like a stream; she was dignified and steady, and she held the royal family's sacrifice celebrations in an orderly and easy manner; she was a courtesy corporal, and she could treat her courtiers with grace and grace, so that her heart was happy and loyal to the royal family. Such a charismatic and talented female official, running for the imperial court and contributing to the society, how can it be said to "interfere in politics"?
epilogue
In ancient times, if a woman interfered in politics, it was a very rebellious act of transgression, but if we look at the female officials in the Western Zhou Dynasty, we will find that the term "interfering in politics" is really biased in their application.
With the change of dynasties, the female official system also continued to develop, from the initial vague functions of female officials and concubines, and gradually developed to female officials with clear positions and clear responsibilities, just like the officials of the imperial court who could "seek their own government in their positions". Although most of the female officials lived in the palace, they were not forced to become the "concubine candidates" of the king, and when they were old enough, they could leave the palace to marry themselves.
At the height of the feudal dynasty, the female official system also developed into an independent system, such as the Liushang Bureau, which was in charge of the palace's food, clothing, housing, and daily life. During this period, many famous female officials also emerged, such as Shangguan Wan'er of the Tang Dynasty, Song Ruoxin, Song Ruozhao and other five sisters of the Song clan.
The ancient female official system on the mainland played an extraordinary role in the long river of China's historical development. Women "have officials to do" and there are servants to take, which to some extent reflects the promotion of women's status, but in the final analysis, the female official system is still a product of the male society serving the ruling class.