Preface
In modern society, people pursue loyal love and happy marriages. Everyone longs to find someone who will accompany their emotional resonance for a lifetime, live together, and share the ups and downs. A lifetime and a couple is not only an expression of emotion, but also a pursuit of beautiful love.
In ancient times, up to the officials and nobles, down to the common people, men could have three wives and four concubines. But for the colt, there can only be a princess as a wife.
It's just that on the eve of the Qing Dynasty's horse cave room, there was a palace maid to sleep. This is clearly counterintuitive. The reason is related to a princess in the Ming Dynasty, what is going on?
Distant marriage and kinship
In ancient times, although princesses were the children of the emperor and lived a life of fine clothes and food, their status was far inferior to that of the prince.
From an early age, the princes had to receive education, including but not limited to military, political, diplomatic, and literary, in preparation for the succession to the throne in Japan. And they enjoy a high status and power, even if they are not crowned princes, they can get a fief, be an idle prince, and live a life without food and clothing.
As the daughter of the emperor, the princess has royal blood and status, represents the royal majesty and dignity, and is one of the most noble existences in the aristocratic class.
Moreover, they are also strictly restrained and restricted in their daily lives, and they must learn various etiquette and rules without damaging the royal face.
In addition, they do not have the freedom to marry, they are often the object of consolidation of power, subject to strict control and arrangement, involving the political interests of the State, and more subordinated to the needs of the State and the family.
Therefore, they cannot choose a colt according to their own wishes and emotions, but can only choose to be forced to accept it. Among the princesses in history, everyone is well-known as Princess Wencheng.
Princess Wencheng is not the daughter of Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, but the daughter of the clan surnamed Li. Her family brought the culture, cultivation technology, and medical skills of the Tang Dynasty to the Tibetan people, and promoted the cultural and economic development of Tibet. Songtsen Gampo built the Potala Palace for her, and the Tibetans believed that she was the embodiment of the goddess, and praised the exploits of Princess Wencheng in the form of dramas, folk songs, legends, etc.
For the Tang Dynasty, Princess Wencheng's harmony brought peace and stability and cultural exchanges between the Han and Tibetan ethnic groups. But even so, Princess Wencheng is not as happy as everyone sees. Behind such a glamorous and beautiful is the unspeakable pain of Princess Wencheng.
The price of harmony is that there will be no chance to return to their hometown and not see their longing relatives. And because of the cultural differences between Tibet and the Central Plains, she can't adapt well to the local culture. The sadness in this can only be experienced by Princess Wencheng.
Open choice of son-in-law
Another form of princess marriage is the open choice of a son-in-law, and then the emperor gives the marriage. This method is already the best choice compared to harmony.
But in the Ming Dynasty, Princess Yongning, even so, did not get the happiness she imagined. Mingshenzong loved Princess Yongning very much, he couldn't bear to marry his sister far away, and he didn't disdain to pin the stability of the country on a woman.
When Princess Yongning reached the age of talking about marriage, the selection of the princess's concubine became a problem. The Myojin Sect does not require the concubine to be born in an official family, nor does it consider political influence, but only wants to find a concubine with good character for Princess Yongning.
In order for his sister to marry a lover, Myojinzong decided to openly select a colt for the princess. At that time, the system of selecting a colt for the princess was extremely strict and cumbersome.
First of all, the scope of the colt included not only officials and their sons, but also some commoners of social status. This expands the range of sons-in-law selections and makes them more competitive.
Secondly, the appearance of the colt is also very important. This is not only about the face of the princess and the royal family, but also about the appearance of the next generation of royal children.
Finally, there is the level of education. As a noble daughter, the princess's husband cannot be a commoner, but must be well-versed and talented.
After the screening of the above conditions, only a small number of people can meet the standard, and after training by a special institution, the emperor, empress and even the empress dowager decide the final candidate.
This seems to be a complicated process, but in fact, there are many places where you can cheat, such as Princess Yongning's concubine - Liang Bangrui.
Liang Bangrui's family is well-off, and he fantasizes all day that he can become a colt one day. But he was not in good health and suffered from tuberculosis, which was definitely not able to pass the assessment at that time, in order to become a colt, Liang Bangrui set his goal on the great eunuch Feng Bao.
Feng Bao is the person who grew up with the Mingshen Sect, he is very aware of the emperor's preferences and temperament, and he has a considerable position and power in the palace, and he is also one of the participants in the selection of a son-in-law for the princess this time. If he can get Feng Bao's help, the day when Liang Bangrui will become a colt is just around the corner.
So Liang Bangrui spent a lot of money to bribe Feng Bao, hoping that Feng Bao could help him become a colt. Feng Bao saw that although Liang Bang was suffering from tuberculosis, he was generous, so he agreed to this matter.
With Feng Bao's help, Liang Bangrui successfully became Princess Yongning's concubine. But he died two months after marrying the princess. The Ming Dynasty attached great importance to women's chastity and did not advocate remarriage. Even with the favor of the Mingshen Sect, Princess Yongning could only abide by the etiquette and religion, and she could not remarry, so she could only live her life alone.
In the Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid the recurrence of the tragedy of Princess Yongning, the royal family had a trial marriage. "Trial marriage", as the name suggests, is a woman who tries and tempts the horse.
The trial marriage must be a virgin, taught by the senior old lady in the palace, who is responsible for assessing the horse's conduct, attitude, and body in front of the horse and the princess's cave room, and this work is mainly done through the bed.
If the trial marriage is considered to be qualified, the emperor will allow the princess to marry. This seems to be very fair, but it reflects the shackles and persecution of women in the times.
On the one hand, the trial marriage Gege is mediocre in appearance, and must be absolutely loyal to the princess, and cannot betray the princess, let alone have feelings for the concubine; on the other hand, the "Gege" who have tried to marry have lost their virginity, and they can no longer appear with the concubine after the end of the task, nor can they remarry, and can only be slaves and maidservants in the mansion, but this life.
epilogue
Princesses had a noble status as the emperor's daughter, but in feudal society, their marriages were branded with politics and they were not free to choose their own marriage.
There are no more than two forms of marriage, one is to be married, and the other is to be married by the emperor's son-in-law. Either way, it's up to them to make their own decisions.
Even if there was a trial marriage grid later, to a large extent, the princess's future happy life was guaranteed, but this happiness was exchanged for sacrificing another woman's life, whether it was for the princess or for the trial marriage, it was the feudal society's shackles and oppression of women.