As an indispensable element in film and television dramas, "maid" must be familiar to everyone. So have you ever wondered what the life of a maid in ancient times was like, was it really just responsible for serving the master's chores like in film and television dramas, or was she involved in the master's private life, and even needed to sleep?
In the classic novel "Dream of Red Mansions", the character of Raider is a typical maid. She is loyal to her master and hardworking, but her fate is complicated by the part of the bed. So, in the real historical background, is the fate of the maids as tortuous as hers?
In ancient times, did all maids have to sleep?
As a special group in ancient society, the fate of maids is often closely linked to the joys, sorrows and sorrows of their owners. On the question of whether maids need to sleep, there have always been different opinions and controversies.
But in fact, not all maids need to take on the duties of bedtime, which can be explained in "Dream of Red Mansions". There are countless maids in this book, if you pay attention to their different status and responsibilities, you will find that in fact, maids also have a very strict hierarchy, and not all maids can have the opportunity to sleep.
In the hierarchical mansion of Jiafu, the girls in the room are the most prominent existences, they belong to a kind of concubines, and they are often the high-ranking girls who are fortunate enough to be favored by the master and can sleep, and they are the lowest-level concubines, but they are one level lower than the real concubines.
The girls of the Jia family, such as Ping'er and Qiu Tong, and the raiders who were later promoted to concubines by Mrs. Wang, are all representatives of this rank.
And the first-class girls are often elites who specialize in serving elders such as wives and wives. Their status is noble, with a monthly allowance of one or two pieces of silver, and because they serve the elders in power, their status also rises with the master. For example, Mandarin Duck, Amber and other girls who serve Jia's mother, their status can even be equal to Wang Xifeng, Jia Baoyu, etc., and there is no need to be taboo when speaking.
As for the second-class girls, in fact, there is not much difference in essence from the first-class girls, but due to some specific reasons, such as the order of order or the transfer of ownership, etc., their status is different.
If you want to say that the lowest level of Jiafu exists, it must be the rough girl and the little girl. The rough girl is mainly responsible for rough work such as sprinkling and sweeping, and her status is low and often neglected. Although the little girls seem to have the lowest status, in fact, they are too young to learn to do things with the big girls. Therefore, they all have the opportunity to be promoted to second-class girls, or even candidates for first-class girls when they grow up.
Assault - the dual identity of half slave and half wife
Among the maids in Jiafu, Raider is undoubtedly one of the most impressive characters, and one of the few characters in "Dream of Red Mansions" that has a beginning and an end. The original name was Flower Pearl, because Jia Baoyu thought of "flowers attacking people and knowing the warmth of the day", so he changed his name to attack people.
Raider's family was poor since she was a child, and her parents had no choice but to send her to Jiafu as a maid. However, fate does not seem to be unfair to her, because she was favored by Jia's mother and became Jia's mother's personal maid. Later, after serving Shi Xiangyun for a few years, because of Jia's mother's discernment, she turned around and became the chief maid in Jia Baoyu's room.
Gentle and steady, pure-hearted, and conscientious, she is a good maid in the typical sense of ancient times, and Cao Xueqin also praised it as "virtuous attacker" and "flower interpretation" in the chapter. And her motives in all aspects of speaking, acting, etc., are really single-minded, the original text says that she "When serving Jia's mother, there was only one Jia's mother in her heart, and now she is serving Baoyu, and there is only one Baoyu in her heart."
It is precisely because she is dedicated to the main thing, so when Jia Baoyu makes sexual requests, she will not spit away like other maids, but "I know that Jia's mother has already put herself and Baoyu's, and now it is not polite to do so, so I secretly tried it with Baoyu." However, this sneaking taste of the forbidden fruit brought her to a more awkward position and became a half-slave half-wife maid.
And the best ending of the maid in the room can only be to become a quasi-aunt, so in the thirty-fourth episode, she suggested to Mrs. Wang that Jia Baoyu be removed from the Grand View Garden, and began to enjoy the treatment of a quasi-aunt. Since then, she has changed from a maid to Jia Baoyu's official "wife".
From this point of view, she seems to be lucky, and it seems that the road to the first half of her life without choice seems to be unhindered. However, judging from the ending of the verdict "You are envious and blessed, who knows that the son has no chance", she is unlucky.
After the first trial of Yunyu, her relationship with Jia Baoyu is no longer a pure master-servant relationship, she persuaded Baoyu to study like a sister and a mother, and took the opportunity to transform Jia Baoyu, not only for the prosperity of her husband's family, but also because she loved Baoyu in her heart, and sincerely hoped that he could be better.
Before leaving, the sentence "I want to keep the musk moon" is not only reluctance to Rongguofu and Baoyu, but also reluctance to the first half of life. Because she also knows in her heart that in a feudal society where women can only rely on men and rely on their families to survive, the rest of her life will only be more difficult to change from the aunt of Rongguofu to the wife of a ninth-rate actor.
The maids in "Dream of Red Mansions" have different fates
is also a maid in Jia Baoyu's room, Qingwen is different from the gentle and obedient attacker, but she is too proud of herself, a low-status maid life, but she has a rebellious spirit that vainly tries to pursue equality, which is also doomed to her fate at the hands of the ruling class.
Qingwen has a "water snake waist, shaved shoulders, and eyebrows and eyes that are a little like Sister Lin", she is recognized as a great beauty, and her temperament is also very similar to Lin Daiyu, but she does not have the identity of a young lady like Lin Daiyu to protect herself.
Therefore, this beauty was still accused of seducing Jia Baoyu to rebel by Mrs. Wang, and was brutally suppressed by Mrs. Wang as Lin Daiyu's shadow, expelled from the house, and finally died of Xiangxiaoyu.
Without a good identity, finding a good backer may also be a way out. Just like in the forty-sixth chapter of the book, Jia Yu fell in love with the mandarin duck in Jia's mother's room and sent Mrs. Xing to make peace, but the fierce and loyal mandarin duck insisted on refusing, so he was listed as one of the four martyrs in "Dream of Red Mansions".
Although she was able to resist the success of marriage to a large extent because of Jia's mother, Mandarin Duck knew in her heart that it seemed that it was because she chose a good backer, but in fact, Jia's mother was profitable in this matter on the one hand, and on the other hand, she was old and needed a suitable maid to take care of her old age. As soon as Jia's mother left, she had no choice, Jia Yu would never let her go, so she could only commit suicide by hanging herself.
Si Qi, who is also one of the four martyrs, committed suicide by hitting the wall after being expelled from the Grand View Garden because he chose to have a free love with Pan You'an. She and Mandarin Duck have a very similar point, it seems that it is their own choice, but after all, they can't escape the teasing of fate.
epilogue
There is a saying in Part C of the Book of Datong: "There are also people who sell people, and they are collected as slaves and maids for the use of the rich and noble", which shows that the maids are not born slaves. Most of them came from poor backgrounds, and because their families could not afford to live on their expenses, they were forced to sell them into slavery to wealthy families. In the process, they lose their freedom, lose their dignity, and become the private property of their masters.
Therefore, in the ancient feudal society, the life of the maids was full of helplessness and pain. As low-level minions, they can't choose their own fate, and can only survive under the control of their masters. Although the bedding is a part of their lives, what is even more terrible is the tragic fate that they cannot escape.