Text/Bureau of Knowledge of Everything
All of the information stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information and is detailed at the end of the article
In various TV series of the Qing Dynasty, I saw that the mothers of each palace in it were all as beautiful as flowers, whether it was from their makeup or clothing, they were extremely exquisite.
So if you travel back to the Qing Dynasty, is the Niangniang at that time really the same as in the TV series?
Presumably the answer is different, after all, it is to win the viewer's ratings.
We know that in the Qing Dynasty, especially at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the corruption of the government, coupled with the invasion of foreign forces, had already made the Qing Dynasty's rule shaky, coupled with the defeat of the Opium War, all kinds of reparations, so that the Qing government was simply unable to repay.
In the late Qing Dynasty, due to the invasion of China by foreign powers, China had already become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
What did the real late Qing Dynasty look like? Let's find your answer from these old photos!
The following photo is the city of Beijing at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and it can be seen from the photo that although the prosperity of the time can still be vaguely seen, it is unable to repair and maintain it because the Qing government has no money.
Although the following photo was taken by a foreigner, it is a stark attack on the incompetence of the Qing government.
The two young children in the photo, in order to make a living, have to help their parents go up the mountain to chop wood.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the people's lives were miserable, especially the people at the bottom of the society, who were often unclothed and hungry, and even some people, because they had no food all year round, finally starved to death on the street, and this situation was also a very common situation at that time.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the landlords were not as we imagined, completely living a comfortable life, worry-free about food and clothing.
The old man in the photo below, at first glance, thought he was an ordinary farmer, but in fact, this is a real landlord, from his appearance, it seems that there is a small belly on his belly, and his face is round and full.
Compared with ordinary farmers, it is true that he is better off than them, but in order to hire fewer people and pay less, he must also participate in the necessary farm work, and at the same time he can better understand the situation of crop cultivation.
And there are some differences between these and those played in the TV series, and they don't just let go of everything.
The photo below is of a young lady and her roommate.
In that era, her status was the lowest, and when the hostess married the man, the mother's family would equip her girl with a maid and follow her, and this maid was the maid.
Girls can wait with them when they are in the same room, so in most cases, they may also have a relationship with their male host, but even so, they will not have any status, therefore, they are very pitiful.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the rich lived in extreme luxury, while the poor lived a very poor life, and that kind of pity may be placed now, you can't even imagine.
The following photo is a poor people's usual home, judging from its appearance, it is a triangular house built with some thatch.
From many TV dramas of the Qing Dynasty, in addition to seeing the palace concubines intriguing every day, we can also see that those eunuchs are also worried every day in order to meet the requirements of their masters.
Sometimes I wonder why I went into the palace, and didn't I feel comfortable outside?
At that time, the people had no financial resources to live in, and on the contrary, if they could enter the palace, although they said that they had no freedom and were worried, at least they were an iron rice bowl, and they could still receive money every month.
In those days, for ordinary people, eating and drinking might have been a luxury.
In the late Qing Dynasty, there was a huge difference between the rich and the poor, and walking on the street, you could see a rich lady wearing gorgeous clothes.
You can also see the uncle wearing straw sandals and no clothes, and this huge difference will also cause a certain amount of resistance in society, making the society more unstable.
Although in 1840, the Qing government carried out a large-scale anti-smoking campaign, but this situation was still like a cancer in the Qing government, which could not be eliminated.
The influx of opium led to a large outflow of real money, and over time, opium eventually spread to the entire country, both rich and poor, who were smoking opium.
Opium smoking not only makes people mentally lethargic, but it also makes people skinny.
The person in the photo below became in a trance after smoking opium, and a seven-foot man became a sick man.
In addition to opium smoking, there was also a cancer in the late Qing Dynasty, that is, the binding of women's feet.
In order to satisfy men's desires, they have to wrap women's feet from a small foot.
We know that as girls grow older, their feet will grow as they grow, and this kind of cloth restricts the growth of their feet, and how much pain they have to endure.
A girl begins to bind her feet from a few years old, until she becomes an adult, the feet will slowly set, and during this period, women have to endure this pain, and after the stereotype, the feet will also have serious deformities, this custom, it can be said that it is not only harmful to the female body, but also to the soul.
In the Qing Dynasty, in order to maintain its own rule, the Qing government invented a lot of punishments, and in TV dramas, it was often seen that the battle punishment, although it seemed to be very cruel, but at that time, it was a relatively light punishment. When it comes to the most cruel punishment, it is Ling Chi.
The following photo is a picture of a prisoner about to cross the chi, only to see several men next to him, tying the prisoner to a stick, at this time the prisoner has also taken off his shirt and is ready to face the criminal law.
I don't know what kind of crime this strong man has committed and has to face such a cruel punishment.
The following photo was taken in a photo studio, which was generally set up in the concession of the treaty port in the late Qing Dynasty, and most of the people who were able to take pictures were those who were wealthy, that is, those who were either rich or noble.
At that time, only a very small number of people were willing to take pictures, because in their minds, they always felt that the camera was a lock to people's souls, so the two women in the photos were not only from wealthy and noble families, but also open-minded women.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, official corruption was very serious, so for a period of time, the Qing government's treasury also had an emergency.
In order to stop this situation, Emperor Yongzheng also implemented a policy of raising incorruptible silver, but the final effect was minimal, because the phenomenon of corruption had reached an irreversible point at this time.
The photo above is the family of a Qing Dynasty official, and as you can see from the photo, in addition to his wife, there are several concubines around.
In the Qing Dynasty, although the wives and concubines were all wives, their status was very different, in addition, judging from the furnishings in the house, the family was still relatively rich, and perhaps this official usually had a lot of money.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, foreigners could often be seen on the streets, and the person in the picture was a man from the Americas who came to visit Cixi.
She wondered what was going on with China's self-esteem as a big country in the eyes of the world, but now its means of transportation are very backward? But when she entered the Summer Palace, she was attracted by the cultural landscape inside and praised it again and again.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the lives of the common people could be described as miserable, and the Qing government had to pay high debts due to the defeat of the Opium War.
In order to maintain its own extravagant life, the Qing government increased the excesses and miscellaneous taxes of the common people in all aspects, and as a result, the lives of the common people became more and more difficult day by day.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, in order to live on their own, some people left their hometowns to go to other places, while others started small businesses outside where they could.
For example, in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it was common to see stalls selling wontons, although it was said that small businesses did not make much money, but it was still possible to maintain a basic life.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the life of the common people was not easy, and some families could only sell their daughters to Qinglou in order to make a living, although in the eyes of our people now, it was a very cruel thing, but in the past, as long as this was done, the family could survive.
Among them, prostitutes and turtle slaves are products of that period. We know that women have to bind their feet when they are young, so when they grow up, they go to brothels, and it is inconvenient to go out, and when the prostitutes go out, the turtle slaves will carry them on their backs and deliver them safely to the customer's home.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, China had entered a period of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, with the invasion of foreign powers, the economy that had been dominated by agriculture began to disintegrate, and at the same time, with the rise of the Westernization Movement, China's national capitalism began to appear.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing government did attempt political reforms, but in the end they failed due to conservative forces and the corruption of the Qing government.
If a country wants to develop, first of all, it must be strong, especially corruption, which is the biggest poisonous insect, and secondly, if a country does not develop and always closes itself off, it will lose its competitiveness sooner or later.