What was the family life like in the ancient emperor's house? Well, for the ancient emperors, their families were actually harems. With the popularity of palace fighting dramas in recent years, many people think that the ancient harem is very chaotic, how chaotic is that? For example, it was common for concubines to quarrel between concubines, and a noble concubine could use a red medal at will to kill a palace maid, or even a low-level concubine, and so on. Was the ancient harem really so chaotic? Let's take the harem of the Qing Dynasty as an example, from the institutional level, let's talk about the ancient harem life, what is it like?
The Qing Dynasty, the last dynasty of the imperial era, summed up the lessons of the previous dynasties, the rise and fall of chaos, and the internal and external systems are still quite perfect. As far as China's traditional authoritarian society is concerned, the degree of institutional perfection and social control of the Qing Dynasty has reached the peak of the dynasties. It can be described as the most complete imperial dynasty. This is also reflected in the harem system, unlike the Ming Dynasty, which was stacked by the court cases, and the harem system of the Qing Dynasty was running in an orderly manner from beginning to end. The concubines of the Qing Dynasty lived in the Six Palaces of the East and West, and the rank of concubines or above could stand on their own and become the lord of the one palace. Even so, they are not alone in the same house. According to the harem organization of the Qing Dynasty, there is one empress, one imperial concubine, two noble concubines, four concubines, six concubines, and there is no quota for nobles, constant presence, and promises. One person and one palace is definitely not enough, therefore, everyone is living together, one palace, just like a large courtyard, the main hall, that is for the main concubine to live, below the concubines, most of them live in the side hall of the side room. Therefore, only the empress and the main imperial concubine can call themselves the main palace, and everyone else is not qualified. The rules of the harem of the Qing Dynasty are actually very many, every morning at five o'clock, there will be palace women to ask the concubines to get up, want to sleep lazily, it is absolutely impossible. After getting up, you have to dress up, at six o'clock you have to go to the queen, the empress dowager please Ann, you can have breakfast after you come back, when you ask for peace, the harem can meet each other, but after meeting, they are all polite greetings, they will not chat about gossip, and it is impossible to tease each other. On weekdays, the concubines could only move in their own palaces, at most chatting with the sisters of the same palace, and if they wanted to visit other palaces, they had to ask for instructions in advance.
For most of the day, the concubines could only be, eating and sleeping in a daze, day after day, year after year, empty and lonely and cold. It is no wonder that the Jing Concubine in the TV series Zhen Huan's biography can count the three hundred and sixty-two bricks in the Qing Palace. In film and television dramas, there are often scenes of emperors and pet concubines, eating at the same table, and some concubines will even prepare dishes that the emperor loves to eat, in order to compete for favors, in fact, the Qing Dynasty harem system does not allow the emperor and harem concubines to eat together. The empress is no exception, even if it is a special holiday meal, it is also a table for the emperor and another table for concubines. When the emperor ate, there were many dishes. But the same dish can only be eaten in three bites at most, and no matter how much you like, you can't eat more, which is to ensure the safety of the emperor.
What dishes the emperor liked to eat were all top secret, and the concubines could not know, unless the emperor revealed it to them privately, and it was almost impossible for the Qing harem to have cheated. Because, the only men who could be seen were the emperor and the eunuchs. It is difficult for the prince and the concubine to meet, even if they participate in the festival banquet, it is held separately between men and women, and the emperor and his little mothers cannot meet casually. Xiao Ma was the concubine of the former emperor, and according to the Qing history manuscript, the later concubines recorded that the concubines of the emperor and the former emperor must be at least fifty years old to meet each other. Like Tang Gaozong's unrequited love affair with his little mother Wu Zetian, in the Qing Dynasty, it was absolutely impossible to happen, unless two people waited until after the age of fifty.
When the concubine is sick, a male doctor will come to treat her. In this case, will a derailment event occur? In the TV series Zhen Huan's biography, there is a Tai Doctor, who uses this gap to fornicate with the concubine. But in reality, this is also impossible. According to the Qing Dynasty's Tai Hospital diagnosis and treatment system, when going to the harem for diagnosis and treatment, there must be at least two Tai Doctors to accompany, and there must be a eunuch of the Imperial Pharmacy to lead, in full view of everyone, there is no chance at all, and in the diagnosis and treatment, the Tai Doctor and the concubine are not allowed to have physical contact, there is a legend of the Tai Doctor hanging silk pulse diagnosis, but the actual situation is not so exaggerated at all, in order to avoid suspicion, the Tai Doctor will put a handkerchief at the wrist of the concubine, across the handkerchief for the concubine to diagnose the pulse, in addition, the two Tai Doctors will also take turns to diagnose the pulse, To prevent mistakes or cheating, the passage of high-ranking concubines and the execution of low-ranking concubines is also inconsistent with historical truth. Although the ranks of different concubines are huge, but in terms of identity, they are all the emperor's women, except for the emperor or the empress, no one can beat and scold them at will, even the palace women, concubines can not be punished arbitrarily.
In the Qing history manuscript, it is recorded that when Qianlong was sixty years old, he once favored the young concubine and loved the ten princesses she gave birth to. This ten princesses, who later broke the rules and were awarded the title of Princess of Gulun and Filial Piety, were very famous. Later, married to the son of the favored courtier and Yan, Concubine Huan thought that she was deeply favored by Qianlong, so she killed a palace maid. When Qianlong learned of this, he was furious and wrote an edict of more than a thousand words to deal with the matter. It is written in the edict that there has never been a concubine, and the pros and cons of the female monopoly will be directed. If this love of the present concubine is not handled by the crowd, it is not allowed to be peaceful in the love law. Qianlong said to himself in his edict that even if he was provoked by the palace eunuchs, he was only twenty, and there were very many, but only forty. Qianlong thought that the crime of concubine was serious, and even if the name was abolished, it would not be too much, but remembering that he gave birth to a princess, he was given a lenient punishment and demoted to a concubine. The other eunuchs involved in the case were dismissed from their posts and fined for two years. In addition, the family members of the dead palace women were also given a hundred taels of silver as civil compensation, and in the harem of the Qing Dynasty, the life of the palace women was also a life.