Preface
In ancient times, especially in wealthy and prominent families, there was a unique set of rules for life, and the nurse system was one of them. Even a woman with a good life, especially a woman born in a high-ranking official family, will choose to invite a nurse after giving birth, and she can breastfeed herself, but she still has to ask a nurse, why is this?
The huge palace, the corner of Zhu Youxiao
In the winter of 1605, a young baby's cry broke the quiet and peaceful Forbidden City. This is the later "carpenter emperor" - Zhu Youxiao, the eldest son of Zhu Changluo of Mingguangzong.
Zhu Youxiao was born in the most humble and comfortable place in the Forbidden City. Although his father Zhu Changluo was the crown prince, he was neglected, and he and Wang Guifei had to live in this inconspicuous corner. Here, it is possible that Zhu Youxiaoan was born. Once attention is aroused, the position of the crown prince is even more precarious.
Fortunately, Zhu Youxiao was frail and sick when he was young, and he didn't cry or make trouble, which made Zhu Changluo and Wang Guifei breathe a sigh of relief. They are trying to find a good way to make it possible for them to successfully ascend to the throne and pave the way for Zhu Youxiao. The family of three lived a cautious life, and Zhu Youxiao grew up under the care of his parents.
Fate is fickle, and Zhu Youxiao relies on the sky
In 1620 AD, Zhu Changluo was finally crowned emperor as he wished, and it was for Mingguangzong. Wang Guifei was also crowned queen. The family turned over and became the master, thinking that the hard days would eventually pass.
How do you know that Guangzong ascended the throne for just over a month, but he was killed by the eunuch Li Kezhuo and died of poison. At just 38 years old, he didn't have time to fulfill his ambitions, and a palace coup took his life.
15-year-old Zhu Youxiao attacked his father's identity overnight and succeeded to the throne. As a young man, he had just lost his father's shadow and had to bear the burden of a dynasty. Warmth and comfort are needed even more at this moment. According to convention, the moment the new emperor ascended the throne, the fate of his biological mother, the empress, was about to fall.
For a while, there was a wail in the harem. Zhu Youxiao, who was at a loss, locked himself in the dormitory and cried, he held the queen's clothes and refused to let go, and he didn't sleep all night.
Fortunately, the courtiers loved the lonely boy and agreed to his pleas to allow the queen to survive. This saved Zhu Youxiao's only relative. However, the queen was able to save her life, and her strong motherly status has already existed in name only.
Ill-fated, the nurse is dearest
At this time, Zhu Youxiao happened to be the age when he needed to be a nursing mother. According to the Ming law, the government should send young girls to serve as nursing mothers, and be fully responsible for taking care of the eldest son of the emperor who has been simplified by the emperor.
This is the opportunity for the 18-year-old Hebei peasant girl to enter the imperial court. She was selected by the Tsuzi Mansion and had the honor of serving as the emperor's nurse, responsible for feeding the young son who was born in the Yuan Xue of the Son of Heaven.
The Hakka family is kind by nature and regards Zhu Youxiao as his own. She was aware of the young man's fragile and sensitive inner world, and poured all her love and patience into it.
The shadow of Zhu Youxiao's loss of parents gradually faded under her warm and considerate care. He even regarded the Hakka family as his biological mother, and the two were inseparable. Since then, Zhu Youxiao has had such a close relative on the road of life - a poor woman, but she has to play the role of the emperor's mother.
Bongsheng Lady Xiuwei
In 1627, the 22-year-old Zhu Youxiao aimed to hold a banquet in the Qianqing Palace, and hundreds of officials came to congratulate the Holy Birthday. During the banquet, he mentioned the winter seven years ago - a woman carried a newborn baby in the humble dormitory to breastfeed him.
There was silence at the feast. A woman from the end of the world has now become the mother of a country. Zhu Youxiao announced that the 25-year-old Hakka was named Mrs. Fengsheng. Immediately, a team of sedan chairs carried her into the palace gate, which caused an uproar in the audience.
was originally a woman of unknown origin, but she was able to join the royal family and be in a high position. From this day on, the Hakka family called the hostess in the harem, and the favor was infinite. Hundreds of people hug her every day when she goes in and out, and the pomp is no less than that of the Son of Heaven.
Even the queen's motherly status has to be borne by her. For a time, the entire harem was firmly controlled by her. Empress Zhang was emaciated by the difficulties of Mrs. Fengsheng. She washed her face with tears all day long, and she had long lost the prestige of a hostess.
Woe to you, no one in the deep palace dares to speak
In the winter of 1629, the news of the empress's miscarriage spread out of the Forbidden City. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is clearly the masterpiece of Madame Bongsheng. She sent people to attack the queen's pulp washing room, which was extremely cruel.
Empress Zhang no longer had any hope of becoming pregnant, and she could only spend the rest of her life in the palace where medicinal stones burned incense. The once beautiful and moving face has also faded in time and fear. At that time, everyone turned their anger into sighs for Zhu Youxiao's favorite concubine - this has become a heart disease of the heavenly family, but no one dares to say it.
In 1631 AD, Concubine Yu's cry woke up a faint palace. Zhu Youxiao stared expressionlessly at the concubine he had never met, and let her die in front of him. At that time, Concubine Yu was the new concubine who was not on good terms with Mrs. Fengsheng. She was sentenced to death in the house, and her last relic was a piece of incense ash.
In this way, the cruelty and bloodlust of the Holy Lady became worse and worse. It was as if she was paying tribute to some kind of terrible devil, constantly destroying human lives with the orders of the Son of Heaven. The morality and humanity of the harem seem to be collapsing, but there is nothing else but silence.
Vicious and murderous
During Zhu Youxiao's 7 years of reign, the harem gave birth to 3 sons and 2 daughters for him. However, these 5 princes and princesses were all killed by traitors in their infancy.
People don't dare to think about what kind of vicious means can make children die frequently under the heavy guard of the whole palace. However, the day of the truth finally came in 1637 - the government and the opposition were furious, and the crimes of Madame Bongsheng were exposed.
It turned out that this unscrupulous woman had already finalized a plan to kill people and seize power at the beginning of her ascension to the throne: she sent eight young women to lurk in the palace and get close to the Son of Heaven.
If those women can give birth to a prince, she will be able to cultivate her own agents and thus control the government for a long time. For this reason, he did not hesitate to kill all the bloodlines of the imperial family, wouldn't the ancestral society be in danger? Such a vicious conspiracy finally made Emperor Chongzhen angry. The man who was supposed to protect his family and defend the country became a spy who caused chaos in the government!
Careerist, died unexpectedly
Chongzhen personally issued the Hakka edict, and the woman who was the grace of the nursing mother was finally Ling Chi to death in the Huanyi Bureau, and her bones were gone. Her son was also beheaded on the execution ground.
A woman who entered the court with her bare hands, who only needed to complete her mission and retire, dared to try to control the imperial power, and finally ended up with ashes. Such a poor harvest made all the officials present sigh.
Imperial Nanny 虽高贵,命运多舛
So, why did the rich and noble families in ancient times ask people to nurse their children? There is a lot of article about this. As early as the time of Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty, it was stipulated that the prince must be raised by a nursing mother, and the biological mother could not intervene in political affairs, which was to prevent the biological mother from interfering in court affairs. If the Hakka family had not been arrogant, he would have retired.
Wealthy families also hire nurses, which is a symbol of glory and shows their noble status. At that time, most girls married and had children in their teens, and their physical development was insufficient to breastfeed themselves.
It can be said that the fate of the royal nurse was unlucky. Some just have no contact with each other after completing the breastfeeding mission, and some have soared because they have won the royal favor. But more nurses, after completing their historical mission, left silently, allowing the years to dilute the memories of the princes they had participated in feeding.
As recorded in the history books, the Shanyang Jun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, she raised Liu Bao, the Emperor of Han Shun, until he was 7 years old and quietly disappeared. After Liu Bao ascended the throne, he recalled his kindness, and he was not met by several envoys. Shanyangjun has spent a short period of glory and has come to naught in the long river of history.
Court women, joys and sorrows
So, what is the fate of these court ladies who have become nurses? In the face of imperial power, they are really just individuals who can be easily destroyed. After completing the nurse mission, they will be sent back to their hometowns to marry like other women.
Just like the nurse Li of Princess Liu of Ningyuan in the Han Dynasty, she was sent home to get married after completing the task of raising the princess. The Li family never stepped into the imperial city again, and Liu Concubine became the concubine of Emperor Huan of Han as she wished.
However, there are also a very small number of women who enter the royal family by chance and gain glory and wealth. Princess Lijing of the Tang Dynasty's nursing mother, Yu, gave birth to Li Ji because of the emperor's luck, and she received the title of "Enping Jun". But after the harem hostess was no longer beautiful, she was killed in the dramatic palace change, which affected her son's life.
It is undeniable that becoming a royal nurse makes it easy for the scales of fate to swing between glory and misery. Among them, the most thrilling ups and downs are the Ming Dynasty, a woman who does not know the height of the sky - the Hakka family.
She could have retired like any other nurse and lived out her old age in peace. Who knew that she tried in vain to enter the royal family, and also intended to seize power through the lack of royal inheritance. In the end, she repaid the price of not knowing what to do, and her vicious methods and miserable death have also become a lesson for adulterous nurses in ancient and modern times.
The history of the rise and fall of feudal etiquette
The helplessness of the fate that women had to endure in ancient China also reflected the strict side of feudal hierarchy. The need for nursing mothers in the royal family, and the families of the rich and noble should follow suit, which became the fashion of the time. However, feng shui took turns, and by the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Chinese society began to change. The feudal dynasty also came to an end. The thousand-year-old ritual law also fell apart.
Now that we look back at ancient times, we may inevitably regret the fate of those women. They were born at the wrong time, and they were not allowed to feed their flesh and blood themselves, and some of them had to bear criticism. Among them, it has brought endless horror to many court women.
Fortunately, history will fade into oblivion, and mothers will eventually regain their sacred right to nurture their offspring. This human norm has become the mainstream of this era.
Nowadays, "motherhood" is no longer just about completing the task of reproduction, and the emotional connection between mothers and children is infinitely magnified. They are no longer passers-by who have to leave the scene after completing their duties as nursing mothers, but mentors on the road of their children's growth. This is undoubtedly a step forward, but we must not belittle the ancients. After all, within the framework of that era, most women were also powerless to decide their own destiny.
The position of nursing mother in the court is essentially only a concrete manifestation of their obedience to etiquette, and does not mean that there is any lack of motherhood in themselves. On the contrary, it was the stereotyped definition of women's status in that era that led to their helpless fate.
epilogue
In today's world, it is common for mothers to raise their offspring themselves. We don't need to lament what happened to women in ancient times, and we don't need to be particularly critical of a particular passage in history.
In the final analysis, everything is the inevitability of historical progress. It is hoped that one day in the future, human society will no longer be divided into superior and inferior according to gender, and will no longer be unable to choose its own destiny due to the constraints of conditions.
At that time, mothers will be completely restored to the most sacred and inviolable position in the family, and there will be no external force that can prevent them from taking care of their own flesh and blood. This is the greatest microcosm of the progress of human civilization.