Which two kinds of women benefited the most when the Qing emperor married his son? Why?

In the feudal society of China, where arranged marriages prevailed, the eldest brother of the Qing Dynasty was not free to choose a formal spouse. According to the court system, after they reached the age of fifteen, the emperor "decided" which girl to marry for them as "Fujin", which was called "finger marriage" or "tied marriage". Therefore, the prince's marriage is called "order marriage".

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of people who are "pointed" to the prince as a wife: one is from a "female teacher" who is selected from the school-age girls sent by the Eight Banners every three years. The "main candidates" are usually the emperor and empress dowager. Some of the selected people became the wives of the emperor's concubines, while others were "pointed" to the emperor or the imperial clan of the county. The other is that the emperor or empress dowager directly assigned the daughter of a Mongolian prince or an official of the Manchu, Mongolian and Han Eight Banners to a prince as his wife. The chosen person may come from a noble family married to the royal family, or from a family of court officials who are deeply loved by the emperor. However, due to the restriction that the flag bearer in Qing Dynasty was not allowed to marry the people, Prince Fujin rarely came from a non-flag family.

The prince's wedding is a grand ceremony next to the emperor's wedding, which goes through several procedures:

The first procedure: refers to marriage.

After the emperor or empress dowager preliminarily determines the Fujin candidate of a certain prince, a formal wedding ceremony will be held. As usual, Qin chose the auspicious day of the ecliptic, and the minister who was ordered to help the prince get married would come forward and lead the father of the woman who was chosen as the prince Fujin, wearing embroidered robes and sewing clothes, to the east side of the palace gate. The father of Fujin, with his back to the north and his back to the south, knelt down in the direction of the imperial palace, and the minister stood facing the west and read the imperial edict. After listening to the announcement, Fujin's father thanked him, bowed three times and kowtowed nine times, then got up and left the palace with the minister, and then officially entered the wedding preparation stage.

The second procedure: visit your daughter's home.

That is, the married prince went to his daughter's house to visit Fujin's parents. In Manchu folk, the purpose of this etiquette is to show the future parents-in-law the character of the son-in-law, and it is also the man's intention to go to the woman's house to thank Xu Qin. Although the status of the prince's brother is extremely noble, this important link cannot be omitted. On auspicious days, the prince will wear gorgeous and colorful clothes and go to the woman's house accompanied by the minister of the interior and the guards. Fujin's parents naturally have to dress neatly and stand outside their own gate to meet the "Tian Jia Jia Ke". When the prince arrived, he accompanied him into the purlin of his home and made three obeisances to his parents. The other party did not dare to sit up and accept it, but also respectfully replied to the prince. After the ceremony, the prince and his party left, and Fu Fujin's parents saw him to the door.

The third procedure: making gifts.

There are "small gifts" and "big gifts" for royal children to get married, and the ceremony is prepared by the General Administration of Internal Affairs. Gifts for Prince Fujin are all in accordance with the clothing grade stipulated by the code system. Although the articles have the meaning of "gift", they are all given to Fujin and his parents in the name of royal "reward", mainly for their families to make clothes and bedding for married women and wear them when sending them to officials. Although there is a hierarchy between the royal system and the folk system. Because there is no "matchmaker" at the wedding ceremony of the prince, and his elders can't go because of their supreme status, only the minister in charge of the internal affairs office is responsible for the affairs, and all the items given are carried to the woman's house and placed in the newly renovated spot color pavilion.

The fourth procedure: send makeup to get married.

The marriage custom of Manchu in the early Qing Dynasty was generally "three-day marriage", that is, the first day the woman gave a dowry, the second day she got married and the third day she thanked her. Later, they gradually combined in one day. Early that morning, the married prince wore embroidered robes and dragon robes to salute the queen mother, emperor and queen. If the prince is born to a concubine, he will also salute his biological mother, which is considered as thanking his parents for their support when he is about to get married.

Fujin's family is busy. The whole government gathered in the hall and outside in colorful clothes, ready to send women to get married, and the wedding sedan chair stopped in the hall. When the auspicious time arrived, the deacon announced that he would "promote jade" and the bride got into the sedan chair. After the sedan chair was lifted, her mother led her family to the yard, and her father led the children to the gate. Along the way, female officials sent by officials rode behind the sedan chair, and officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Guards guided and guarded the sedan chair. Outside the Forbidden City, everyone dismounted and walked, and the sedan chair was carried to the front of the Prince's residence. Fujin got off the sedan chair and was led in by a female official.

The fifth process: ceremony.

This is the core ceremony in China's ancient weddings. A gourd is divided into two spoonfuls, and the bride and groom each take a spoonful to drink, which is called "tying the knot". After the wedding, when it is auspicious, the married woman who presided over the ceremony holds a "wedding banquet", and the prince and Fujin drink and eat "wedding banquet", usually a small amount of noodles (symbolizing long-term happiness) or "children's treasure" (similar to boys, symbolizing a full house of children and grandchildren). These ceremonies are auspicious meanings of taking the beauty of husband and wife and growing old together.

The sixth procedure: worship relatives.

People call it "recognizing relatives" or "filial piety". That is, the new wife visits her husband's house. On the second day after the wedding, the newly married Prince Yan 'er and Fujin were all dressed up in royal robes in the morning, led by two wives in charge of the internal affairs office who attended the wedding and saluted the empress dowager, the emperor and the queen respectively. The prince kneels three times and knocks nine times, and Fujin kneels three times and worships three times. If the prince is not born to the queen, they will also salute the concubines of their biological mother, but the ceremony is better than meeting each other. On this day, a "unpacking" ceremony will be held according to the custom, that is, Prince Fujin presents clothes and purses made before marriage to his in-laws. Originally, nine sets of clothes were given to the emperor and queen, but in order to advocate "luxury and sincerity", Daoguang later abolished this system.

The seventh process: parenting.

People call it "back to the door". On the ninth day after the wedding, the prince took Fujin to his mother's house. Fujin's parents greeted your husband respectfully as usual and hosted a banquet. According to Manchu folk custom, newcomers who return to the door must return to their husband's family before sunset that day, and so does the custom in the palace. The provincial relatives Prince and Fujin should leave before noon and return to their posts. This taboo is very popular among the people now.