Know all about the secrets of the harem

Chapter 6 How deep is the secluded harem (5)
At that time, Li Lianying offended many people. After the death of Cixi, he reported to the Queen Mother Longyu at the end of the first month of the first year of Xuantong (1909), quietly left the Forbidden City, and finally died in the first month of the third year of Xuantong. Those who died from dysentery were said to have been killed by others. During the "Cultural Revolution", his tomb buried in Sijizhuang, Haidian District was dug up. There was only a human head, but no body. His body was decapitated in a different place. The possibility of being killed by someone is even greater, and the ending is quite miserable!Later, Xiao Dezhang followed Li Lianying's example, in order to curry favor with Cixi, and at the same time, conspired with Empress Guangxu's later Empress Dowager Longyu, and finally climbed to the position of chief executive.His property is also immeasurable. He has real estate in Jinghai County, Hebei Province and Nanyuan, Gyeonggi Province. He once owned 12 buildings in the British Concession of Tianjin. There is his magnificent mansion in Yongkang Hutong in Beijing. In addition, there are pawnshops and silk shops. Wait.However, there were also many low-level eunuchs in the Forbidden City who worked hard all day long and left the palace in their twilight years without ever seeing the emperor. Eunuchs were insulted, injured or even tortured to death from time to time.For example, the eunuch Kou Liancai, who was sent by Cixi to Guangxu's side in the court of the late Qing Dynasty, boldly violated the law and sent a total of ten memorials to Cixi because of his deep understanding of righteousness.In the end, Cixi used the Qing Dynasty as a rule of "beheading anyone who has something to say in the inner prison", and sent it to the Ministry of Punishment to order him to be beheaded.It is said that Kou Liancai was calm and composed when he asked to be killed, and he died without regret.

The beating of eunuchs in the Forbidden City happened frequently. As long as they had slight "irregularities" or occasional "mistakes", Cixi would order them to be beaten and punished at every turn.The cruelty of the punishment cannot be increased, it is really appalling, and some even implicate others.In the last years of Guangxu, Cixi used the punishment of "qi death" to kill more than 20 eunuchs in Zhenfei Palace, which caused a great tragedy of persecution of eunuchs.The so-called "qi death" is to seal the mouth, nose and ears of the prisoner after dipping seven layers of white cotton paper in water, and then beat him to death with a stick.In addition, once those low-level eunuchs lose their ability to serve, they will be expelled from the Forbidden City.Many eunuchs lived in temples in their later years.According to investigations, there are more than [-] eunuch temples in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the suburbs of Beijing.

The Revolution of [-] overthrew the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty, especially after the Manchu Qing court was expelled from the Forbidden City, the unreasonable system of eunuchs was finally abolished completely.

The Miserable Life of the Ancient Lady

Youth is very precious in life, everyone wants to bloom their most beautiful youth, but for some people, blooming youth will be such a luxury!When those years of fluttering white clothes have to end in a gloomy and claustrophobic way, what will it mean to a person's life?

In Chinese history, apart from the eunuchs, there was also a group of poor people in the court, that is, the maids.Maid of honor, a product of the ancient imperial system, refers to women who serve in the palace.

Most of the early court ladies came from female slaves, female captives and criminals' wives.

Since then, some of the court ladies in the past dynasties began to be selected from folk "beauty pageants" and "picking girls". "Beauty pageants" are like imperial examinations, with a set of strict rules.Candidate women must be from good families, that is, non-doctors, non-witches, non-merchants and workers. Women from these families are called good families.It is stipulated in the past dynasties that the maids of honor are from good families.

The number of ancient court ladies began in the Han Dynasty and continued to increase with the replacement of dynasties.In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, there were only a dozen court ladies.During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the number of court ladies exceeded one thousand.During the time of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were as many as 6000 beauties gathered in the harem.Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty Sima Yan broke the number of court ladies to over 40.During the Tang Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, the number of post-officials jumped to [-].By the Ming Dynasty, the number of court ladies was nine thousand.The palace spends only [-] taels of silver every year on cosmetics.Historically, it has been a regular job for all dynasties to select court ladies from the people.

The Ming system of the Qing Dynasty basically followed the court lady system of the Ming Dynasty, but there were great reforms in the scope and method of selection.In comparison, it is stricter.

There were two types of women in the selection palace in the Qing Dynasty, one was Xiunv and the other was court lady. There was no strict boundary in the early Qing Dynasty, and it was not until the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661) that Xiunv and court lady were separated.Xiunu is the daughter of an official of the Eight Banners, who can be selected as a concubine or assigned to the children of the clan, princes and ministers.The maid is a woman under the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with a low status, who is used by the inner court.In the Qing Dynasty, the selection of court ladies was limited to the daughters of families below the upper three banners (Zhenghuang, Xianghuang, and Zhengbai) who belonged to the assistant leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.In the early stage, the selection of palace ladies was done twice a year, in February and August each year. After Shunzhi 18 years later, it was changed to once a year, on the second day of February.Anyone over the age of 13 will make a book and send it to the Accounting Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for selection.Enter the official the night before the election, and the eunuch in the respect room will take it to the emperor or empress or the empress dowager at dawn the next day.Six people form a row, and each person hangs a wooden sign with the flag and name written on it. Those who are selected will be called out to the row.If there are sisters or relatives of concubines, another row will be selected.If a candidate has been selected this time, but is outside the selected quota, the Accounting Department will be ordered to register, that is, "named palace lady", and the registered person will be selected first in the next election.If the parents marry him off before the next selection after the name is registered, it is a rebellion.

The identities of the palace maids are also different, the upper ranks are court ladies, and the lower ranks are ordinary servants.For female officials, in addition to age, body, and conduct and other conditions, they must also master the skills of female workers.According to historical records: "The court year-old draft girl, whoever is selected, enters the palace to test all skills of brocade embroidery and holding a broom, and sees whether her manners are up to date. Those who fail to pass are ordered to make up for the next one, and then the best ones are selected. Teach them the rules of Ye Ting, and write and read for one hour each day. After writing and reading, the palace officials will be ordered to take the school exam the next day, and the six methods will be taught a year later." The more outstanding of these court ladies became the female officials in the palace.According to historical records: "Qianqing officials have one wife, ranked first; one Shuyi, ranked second; six gentle servants, ranked third; 12 gentlemen, 20 Fangwan, all ranked fourth." They each perform their duties. , some are in charge of serving concubines (Shang Gong); some are in charge of rituals (Shang Yi); , guarding, and everything in the daily life of the emperor, empress, concubine, and concubine, so the female official's control is useless.

Some of the selected maids were assigned to serve in the palaces of the emperor, empress, concubine, princess, elder brother, etc.

The number of palace maids assigned to people of different ranks is also different. In the canonical books of the Qing Dynasty, the Kangxi Dynasty stipulated that there should be twelve court ladies for the empress dowager, ten empresses, eight imperial concubines, eight imperial concubines, six concubines, and four nobles. First name, often in three, promised two.The rest are assigned to serve in various bureaus.

The first thing for a palace lady official is to shave her head and take a bath, and then she can grow her hair when she is a little older.The young maids who have just entered the palace have to be taught various etiquette and grooming skills by the nanny (old maid). The nanny is generally very strict and beats and scolds at every turn.If you are smart and dexterous, you can start serving in the military in half a year, and you can get a monthly salary (salary).The monthly money of the maids is not customized, the lowest is four taels, and the highest can be as high as 20 taels. Meals, clothes, rouge and gouache are provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In fact, their main income is the rewards from the palaces on weekdays.If you get the favor of the queen or queen mother, you can also win wealth for your parents, but the life of most court ladies is miserable.From the first day they were selected to be officials, they were like entering a prison and lost their personal freedom. They were not allowed to marry outside the palace until they were 25 or even 30 years old.Those who leave the palace early due to illness, stupidity or other reasons must be checked and heard by the chief eunuch before leaving the palace.Some court ladies remained in office for ten years because "the empress must use them", and they became spinsters after they were released from office, and it was difficult for them to get married normally.There are also exceptions, that is, those who are favored by the emperor and promoted to concubines and concubines will stay in the palace forever, but these are very few.In view of the fact that there were too many officials and officials after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi restricted the number of concubines and court ladies.By the 49th year of Kangxi (1710), there were about 500 people, but gradually increased after the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties.

Compared with eunuchs, court ladies are normal people, but only because they are normal people, they have endured more depression and pain than eunuchs.In the ancient courts, except for the Qing Dynasty, which partially implemented the retirement system for court ladies, the court ladies of other dynasties were employed for life.The court ladies were elected to the palace at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and they faced cumbersome etiquette, strict rules, occasional insults and endless loneliness.They can't get married or start a family. They can only serve in the service for life, and then die in the palace.

The poem "Shangyang White-haired Man" by Bai Juyi, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, vividly describes the resentment and helplessness of the palace maids locked in the deep palace and the passing of youth:

People from Shangyang, with dark complexion, old white hair and new hair.

The green-clothed emissary guards the official gate, and when it is closed, there will be many springs.

Xuanzong was selected at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. He was sixteen and sixty today.

At the same time, more than a hundred people were selected, and the body was crippled in the middle of the year.

Reminiscing about the past, Tun sadly said goodbye to relatives, helped them into the car and didn't teach them to cry.

When Jieyun enters, he accepts kindness, his face is like a lotus, and his chest is like jade.

Before the king could meet, Concubine Yang looked sideways at her.

Jealousy makes Qian marry the Yang Palace, and spends his whole life in an empty house.

Sleeping in an empty room, the autumn night is long, the night is long and sleepless, and the sky is unknown.

The shadow of Geng Geng and the lamp behind the wall, the sound of Xiao Xiao's dark rain hitting the window.

It's late in spring, and it's hard to sit alone in the sky late in the day.

Gong Ying is tired of hearing all the singing, and Liang Yan's double dwelling is always jealous.

The warblers return to the swallows and grow quietly, and the spring and autumn do not remember the years.

Only looking at the bright moon in the deep palace, the east and west circles four or five hundred circles.

Today is the oldest in the palace, and everyone bestows the Shangshu number from afar.

Small-toed shoes and narrow clothes, Qingdai's eyebrows are slender.

Outsiders should laugh when they don't see it, Tianbao made up in the last years of his life.

Shangyang people suffer the most.

Young is also suffering, old is also suffering, how about being young and old?
Don't you see, in the past Lu Xiangmei Fu Fu,
Again.Today, Shangyang Bai sent a song!

Some palace ladies entered the officialdom at the age of 16. It was the age of cardamom when "the face looks like a lotus and the chest looks like jade". How can it be?

For court ladies, it is sad not to be favored by the emperor, but it may not be gratifying to get it.Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, was a famous emperor in history, but his five males and two females were all heirs, which was extremely rare in the imperial era.She never allowed Yang Jian to fall in love with other women. Once she learned that Yang Jian liked a court lady and asked her to serve wine, she became jealous and tortured the court lady to death.Similar to it is Li Fengniang, the queen of Emperor Guangzong of the Southern Song Dynasty.Once, a court lady waited for Guangzong to take a bath. Seeing that the maid's hands were white, tender and slender, Guangzong touched the maid's hand and praised it.When Empress Li knew about it, she chopped off the maid's hands and put the bloody food in a food box for Guangzong, who was so frightened that he fainted on the spot.Not only could court ladies be killed because of the jealousy of concubines, but also because of the emperor's whim.According to "Tang Yulin" records, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty received a consecrated court lady, who was very doted on, and there was no reward within a few days.One day Xuanzong suddenly said sullenly: "Emperor Xuanzong only has one Concubine Yang, and the world has not been peaceful so far, how dare I forget it?"

So the court lady was summoned and said: "You should stay but not." The left and right hurriedly persuaded that the girl could be released.Xuanzong said:
"I will think about it if I let it go, but I can give you a cup of poison." The poor maid was poisoned to death just like that.

The more deplorable fate of court ladies is to guard the mausoleum or even be buried for the emperor and concubines.After Qin Shihuang's death, all the women in the harem who had not given birth were buried with him.During the Han and Song Dynasties, after the death of an emperor, most of his concubines and court ladies were sent to guard the tomb.During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was also a system in which concubines and maids became nuns.At that time, Wu Zetian went to Ganye Temple to become a nun because of the death of Tang Taizong, but she was lucky to be favored by Li Zhi, so she was able to return to the palace, which is very rare in history.After the emperor's favorite concubine died, the emperor would let the concubine be served in the underworld, and the maids who served her during her lifetime sometimes could not escape the fate of being buried with her.The life of a court lady has never been in her own hands.

Some court ladies in the claustrophobic palace have endured perverted and cruel abuses (including physical abuse, hard labor, corporal punishment, sexual abuse, etc.) by the emperors for a long time, but they can only bear it. .In October of the 21st year of Jiajing (1542), more than a dozen court ladies who were tortured and on the verge of extinction did a major event that had never been seen in ancient and modern China and foreign countries-strangled Emperor Jiajing. It is called "Renyin Palace Change".At that time, Emperor Jiajing was not strangled to death due to the inexperienced court ladies who tied the knot by mistake.Later, the dozen or so court ladies were all executed by Ling Chi.The so-called "Lingchi".It is the torture that people often call "cut by a thousand cuts".

The status of the court ladies is low, and their names are never recorded in the literature, only in this case there is a detailed list of the court ladies who were murdered.According to the records of "Ming Shilu", they are Yang Jinying, Ji Chuanyao, Yang Yuxiang, Xing Cuilian, Yao Shucui, Yang Cuiying, Guan Meixiu, Liu Miaolian, Chen Juhua, Wang Xiulan, Zhang Jinlian, Xu Qiuhua, Deng Jinxiang, Zhang Chunjing, Huang Yulian.

In ancient times, as long as a woman became a court lady, once she entered the palace, it was as deep as the sea, and it was very difficult to turn back.In the inner courtyard of the ancient imperial palace, an emperor had three thousand beauties, and the number of maids who served and served them was even more numerous.Once they were selected into the palace, they lost their freedom, had little food and clothing, lived in shabby houses, and served as lowly servants.On weekdays, not only can't parents see each other, even if they are sick, they can't get normal medical treatment, let alone someone to take care of them.In this unbearable loneliness, it should be entirely possible for the court ladies and the equally lonely eunuch to take care of and comfort each other.Moreover, in most cases, the interaction between court ladies and eunuchs will not be blamed by concubines, but even encouraged.

The reason for this phenomenon is that on the one hand, the court ladies are actually potential concubines. Once they are lucky by the emperor, they may be promoted, so the close contact between the court ladies and eunuchs reduces their own threats accordingly; On the one hand, whether the concubine can be blessed by the emperor depends to a large extent on the eunuch in charge.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the eunuchs in the respect room were usually responsible for the emperor's sex life.Whenever the emperor finished his dinner, the eunuch in charge would bring in a silver plate and present it to the emperor, with the "green head card" of the concubine on it, for the emperor to choose the concubine who will serve him that night.During this process, eunuchs may exert influence on the emperor, such as "a certain concubine is not in good health recently", "a certain concubine looks radiant recently", etc., are all suggestions in disguise.Under the premise that the emperor was indecisive, these suggestions would often play a decisive role.Therefore, the concubines not only do not want to offend the eunuch, but sometimes they will curry favor with the eunuch.It is undoubtedly one of the options to keep the court ladies around them in a relationship with the eunuchs with status.

Eunuchs have no wives and court ladies have no husbands, and the two form temporary companions to comfort the loneliness of deep officials. This relationship is called "opposite food."Anticipating food was first seen in the Han Dynasty. From the analysis of the name itself, it may be that eunuchs and court ladies eat together, and it does not mean sleeping together.The "Official Ci" of the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties said: Don't blame the palace people for boasting about food, and most of the clothes are champions.This roughly reflects that there is also a phenomenon of opposite food in the palace at this time.Up to the Ming Dynasty, it was quite common for eunuchs and court ladies to become lovers because of comforting each other. Even a court lady who had been in the palace for a long time without a lover would be ridiculed by her companions as "abandoned".Once the eunuch and the maid are in love, there are enthusiastic and willing matchmakers to match them.The reason is that the low-level eunuchs in the palace are unable to marry wives and concubines, and the court ladies rarely have the opportunity to be blessed by the emperor, so the eunuchs and court ladies can only seek comfort by themselves. , come up with this trick.”

The partnership between eunuchs and court ladies in the Ming Dynasty was also known as "vegetable household".From the analysis of historical data, there is a difference between vegetable households and corresponding food.The opposite food can be between eunuchs, court ladies, or between the same sex, and most of them are temporary; and the court ladies and eunuchs who can be called "vegetable households" mostly live together, like husband and wife, with considerable stability.In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang hated this kind of behavior between eunuchs and maids of honor and strictly banned it. Eunuchs who married wives and started families were severely punished by skinning.However, since Yongle, the status of eunuchs has risen, and this prohibition has disappeared. According to historical records: "Palace people who have no children, each chooses an inner eunuch as a couple, which is called a vegetable household. Their property is like a family, and they love each other like a couple. Below, there are quite a few of them, even though the Son of Heaven does not forbid them, but for his eunuchs, he does not dislike them." Roughly similar historical materials are also found in Unofficial History.According to "Wanli Ye Huo Bian", at the beginning, due to the frequent contact between the eunuch on duty and the maid of honor, feelings gradually developed.Based on this, eunuchs often take the initiative to purchase food, clothing, jewelry and daily sundries for court ladies to express their admiration.If the court ladies fall in love with this eunuch, they can form a partner, which is called a vegetable household.Caihu was openly allowed in the palace of the Ming Dynasty. Even the emperor and empress would sometimes ask the eunuch: "Who are you Caihu?" The eunuch can only answer truthfully.

After eunuchs and maids became "vegetable households", they sang and went back and forth, just like husband and wife.Although the eunuch is willing to work hard for the maid he loves, if he is driven, the maid will feel sorry for the eunuch, and will not let him do too much work, but send other eunuchs to do it.Some low-status, ugly and older eunuchs in the palace knew that they could not be favored by the maids, so they willingly served as servants of vegetable households, cooking, carrying, and washing for them. The maids paid them a certain amount every month. Silver taels.In this case, some eunuchs who are good at cooking become the targets of pursuit, and they get more rewards. At most, they can earn four or five taels of silver a month.These eunuchs wore dusty and oil-stained clothes, carried vegetable baskets, and went in and out of the palace to buy all the sundries they needed.

(End of this chapter)