I. Residence
When we visited the Palace Museum today, one of the main attractions on the West Road was Palace of Gathered Elegance. At the end of the Qing dynasty, this was the heart of the Qing regime? The residence of Lafayette Cixi.
The whole building in Palace of Gathered Elegance is divided into two parts. Tiaohe Hall is in the south, where Cixi eats. Palace of Gathered Elegance lives in the north. He lives there.
Palace of Gathered Elegance is divided into two darkrooms in Sanming. The westernmost darkroom is Cixi's bedroom and dressing room. There is a kang on the north wall of the room, which is the bed of Cixi, and it is covered with different bedding according to the season. In the southeast corner is her dresser. The most distinctive feature of this room is that there is a large transparent glass at the bedside of Cixi, and you can observe the outdoor situation through the reflection on the kang.
Three Ming rooms are the main daily activities of Cixi, and the one connecting the west of the bedroom is the outer room of the bedroom, which is used as a cloakroom. There is a throne in the middle room, which is only used when courtiers sacrifice on holidays, and it is rarely used on weekdays. The East Hall is a place for Cixi to relax. She often sits on the kang by the window in the room, drinking tea, smoking and meeting the dignitaries in the palace.
The easternmost darkroom was called the quiet room by imperial secretary, where Cixi read the paper. There is also the only Buddha statue in Palace of Gathered Elegance? Master Guanyin, Cixi thinks she is the reincarnation of Guanyin.
The Hall of Body and Harmony is symmetrical with Palace of Gathered Elegance and is also divided into five rooms. The easternmost place is the sacrificial table, and the second is Cixi's restaurant. One of them is a Taoist, the second is an after-dinner lounge, and the westernmost is a storage room.
There is always a special sweet fruit in Palace of Gathered Elegance. That's because Cixi likes the smell of incense, but she doesn't like incense. In order to please Lafayette, the Ministry of Internal Affairs put five or six jars in each hall, filled with southern fruits for burning incense. Every time they enter the hall, they always smell the fragrance. Eunuchs change new fruits and leave incense on the second and sixteenth day of each month, and those who change them are rewarded to the ladies-in-waiting to show the majesty of the emperor.
Second, sleep.
But the nights in spring are short, the sun rises too fast, and the king never goes to court earlier? This is China people's general imagination of the emperor's life. However, the real emperor is often? I didn't sleep when I went to bed first, but I got up before I got up. I had a very difficult time.
The Qing palace was particularly strict about the length of residence.
It is absolutely forbidden to stay up late and get up late in the palace. Every day from 9: 00 to 10 at the latest, the royal family in the palace begins to go to bed, ensuring that they spend their childhood in a deep sleep (23: 00-01:00); Take a nap at noon (11:00-13: 00). Is this a nap? Meridian sleep? Health care methods. Get up early in the morning, whether in winter or summer, get up between five and six, and get dressed before seven. This set of life time was used by the Qing emperor, and several generations of male masters such as Kangxi and Yongzheng used it to ensure their energy. Cixi also persisted for decades, usually getting up before five o'clock and never slacking off.
Behind the emperor's regular life for decades is the hard work of countless imperial secretaries.
At seven o'clock every night, Li's eunuch began to patrol the yard. At eight o'clock, the palace is playing, the door of the palace is locked, and the key is in the responsibility of the respect room. It is not allowed to be used unless there are special circumstances. At nine o'clock, the maid-in-waiting entered Palace of Gathered Elegance to work the night shift. There are usually five maids in the evening. Outside the curtain at the door of the bedroom, two people stood at the door regardless of the cold and heat. A man stood outside the cloakroom listening to the movement in the bedroom, and a man was in charge of the east half at the door of the quiet room. The most important thing is the ladies in the bedroom. The maid-in-waiting can only sit on the ground by the western wall at night and can't sleep all night. She always pays attention to the queen mother's breathing, talking and turning over when she sleeps, and reports to the hospital the next day. Being a room attendant is extremely demanding. She must be the closest imperial secretary of Cixi, and she has become one of the most important deacons in Palace of Gathered Elegance.
From three o'clock to five o'clock in the morning, Cixi will gradually wake up and everyone will be busy. When Cixi woke up, did the maid call her? Are ancestors lucky? As a signal, ladies-in-waiting please kneel down together, and then take care of Nora's appearance and start a new day.
Third, diet.
Cixi's extravagance in diet is often mentioned now.
Since the morning, Cixi's diet has been very meticulous. When she got up to comb her hair, an old eunuch presented a white fungus with rock sugar cooked at night in a silver bowl? In order to prevent poisoning, the tableware in the palace is made of silver? According to legend, eating tremella every day is the magic prescription of Cixi beauty beauty.
Three meals are prepared by the longevity room in the palace. Shoushan House is a little far from the palace. It is divided into two rows of houses, one for Manchu and the other for Muslim chefs. Shoushan Hotel has more than 100 cooktops, which are arranged in strict accordance with the number. Each cooktop is equipped with one person to cook, side dish and do odd jobs. The ingredients handed over to Shoushan Restaurant are first selected by handymen, and then handed over to the side dishes after passing the inspection by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (called junior officials); After the side dishes are cut and the seasonings are prepared, it is considered qualified to give them to another pen-paste person to check according to the recipe. Wait until the queen sends word? Pass the rice? Cook the dishes in turn according to the dispatcher's order, put them into silver tableware (to prevent poisoning), and then wrap them in bright yellow moire satin by eunuchs. In this series of processes, the personnel on duty in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Shoushan Office should supervise the whole process and make a clear record of who completed each task so as to implement rewards and punishments in the future. After the eunuch got the baggage, he sent it to the table in turn and never opened it before meals.
Cixi has three meals a day, plus three meals a day.
In the morning, after the imperial secretary served and cleaned up, Shoushan Room delivered breakfast. Breakfast was packed in a big box wrapped in yellow silk, which was opened by Li in front of the Queen Mother. It was not allowed to be opened without permission. The queen mother sat on the kang of Palace of Gathered Elegance, and put a rosewood tea table on the ground as a dining table. Breakfast is very rich, some people grandma tea, as well as more than a dozen porridge that Cixi used to drink. There are more than 20 kinds of snacks, such as sesame cakes, sugar packets and inby, as well as braised chicken breast and braised chicken feet. After breakfast, Cixi will go to the Golden Palace to go to court, and will meet Palace of Gathered Elegance around 9 o'clock. This is the first time that the pastry shop provides extra meals, all of which are newly made Manchu snacks.
Lunch and dinner are much more grand. Every day at lunch and dinner, two round tables are placed on the east side of the north-south topic and hall, with a dining table in the middle. Empress Dowager Cixi sat facing east and west. Behind her stood four eunuchs with higher positions, and an old eunuch served food specially. When the food was served, the old eunuch shouted? Have dinner together Then ask Cixi to sit down.
There are many rules for dining in Qing palace. First of all, the Queen Mother can't express her preference for food, so as not to be poisoned by the wicked, so every meal should be accompanied by 120 dishes and fresh food, so that the emperor can choose at will; Cixi's meals are even more varied, and the dishes she eats every day are different, trying to make people unpredictable. Secondly, you can't eat more than two spoonfuls of the same dish. When eating, which dish Cixi wants to eat, as long as she glances at it with her eyes, the eunuch who arranges the dishes will put a spoonful into the dish with a spoon; What if Rumsfeld says he's finished? This dish is good? The old eunuch installed it again, and then removed the food. If Cixi eats for the third time, will the four eunuchs behind her be the first to shout? Withdraw? Forcibly withdraw the dish, and this dish will also be placed in the freezer and will not appear again in a short time. Thirdly, the serving eunuch can only observe the expression of Empress Dowager Cixi, never asking questions, and never politely advising Empress Dowager Cixi which dish to eat. If you violate this taboo, a slap is definitely inevitable.
Cixi (1835165438+1October 29th? 1908165438+10/0/5)
After Cixi eats, leftovers will be given to eunuchs. Of course, most of them were abandoned.
Zhang Yungu, a famous minister in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in Dabao Town:? The sage was ordered to save Heng Tun from drowning, and he was to blame himself and be kind to the people. Daming is impartial. Therefore, rule the world with one person, not serve one person in the world. Rites are forbidden to be extravagant, and joy is to prevent its loss. ? The son of heaven is rich in wealth and wealth, and the most important thing to watch out for is arrogance, extravagance, and abuse of power. At the end of the Qing dynasty, the country encountered a once-in-a-lifetime change. Cixi, who holds the highest power, does not think about innovation and enjoys the cream of the people all day. How can the Qing Dynasty not die?