How did the "three thousand beauties" in the harem come from the people?

The choice of concubines by ancient emperors is not only related to the emperor's personal lifelong happiness, not only to the emperor's personal family affairs, but also to the country and clan.

Some people think that "three thousand" among the three thousand harem beauties is an imaginary number, which is only used to describe the happiness index enjoyed by the emperor as an unusual man when choosing a spouse, but if you understand the ancient concubine selection procedures and systems, you will suddenly realize that, oh, three thousand is really not an exaggeration.

The Origin of Choosing Concubine System in Qing Dynasty

The emperor shunzhi was the first emperor in Qing Dynasty to choose a concubine from the people, although he was a very loyal person. After Shunzhi came of age, the whole country promulgated a system: women in the Eight Banners family aged 65,438+04-65,438+06, except those who are sick, disabled and ugly, must participate in the emperor's draft every three years, and those who fail to get married.

The meaning is clear. All women born in the Eight Banners have the right, opportunity and obligation to participate in the emperor's concubine selection activities. All the men in the Eight Banners wanted to get married only after the emperor picked out the leftovers. This is a system that must be observed. Dare to disobey, just don't give the emperor face.

During the Qianlong period, the son of Depei, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the daughter of Matai were congenial and vowed to be stronger than gold. Worried that the beautiful daughter-in-law would never come back once she took part in the draft, Depei played trembling to Qianlong, which roughly meant asking the emperor to allow them to get married. Qianlong was furious at that time and denounced the lack of discipline and fragmentation.

The Ministry of Household Registration launches a recruitment campaign every three years. After the emperor agreed, the Ministry of Housing assigned tasks to the local government of the Eight Banners, and then the grass-roots government of the Eight Banners organized the door-to-door registration of the names and numbers of school-age women and compiled them into a book. After the emperor chose an auspicious day, women entered the palace to hold elections.

Princess selection procedure

On the day of departure, the family prepared a mule cart with double lights hanging on it, indicating that the daughters of a certain flag leader should be sorted according to official rank. At dusk and sunset, mules pull people in and put them outside the imperial gate. The woman got off the bus and went into the palace. The mule cart continued around the huge courtyard and returned to the Shenwumen. It was the next day, at the end of the first round of court screening.

The concubines of the emperor, empress dowager and empress in the palace are the imperial advisers, and the female practitioners follow the eunuchs to enter through Shunzhen Gate and queue up to arrive at the audition site. Then, Empress Dowager Cixi asked some questions about women's virtue, knowledge and family affairs, or dropped the cards or advanced to the next round of semi-finals.

Entering the semi-finals does not necessarily mean that they will become the emperor's women. At this stage, female practitioners faced three fates, namely, being chosen as the emperor's concubine, being given by the emperor as an important family member, and being abandoned.

If you become a candidate for the imperial concubine, you need to stay in the palace and then take part in more rigorous re-election. This round of inspection is more detailed. First, the ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs carry out hardware screening, facial features, skin, manners, manners and so on. Be as detailed as possible.

However, appearance or form is only one of the criteria for selection. The marriage of ancient emperors was also mixed with many political factors. Family background and moral character are often more important than beauty. Whoever goes to find Queen Liu needs careful consideration.

After the first three rounds, the woman who stayed in the palace was doomed to failure. I am destined to spend my life in the Forbidden City. Next, wait for the emperor's good luck, give the title, give the house and go shopping. The lowest rank is commitment, followed by frequency, nobility and jealousy. Strict grades and standardized etiquette system. Women who are emperors should be divided into three grades.

According to historical records, a queen can get a salary of 1000 taels a year, while she promises only 50 taels, which is pitifully humble. No wonder beautiful and wise queens rushed up. Moreover, some women with underground family background and outstanding talents may never see the emperor and die alone in the palace. As a result, all kinds of wonderful palace fights were staged in turn. Compared with the smoke of party power above the imperial court, the harem is another battlefield.