The emperor brought so many concubines for only two reasons. On the one hand, it is to let the children of the royal family continue, on the other hand, it is to satisfy the emperor's selfish desires as the supreme of the Ninth Five-Year Plan.
However, there are exceptions. In the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, the princess of the monarch had to take care of the royal family's productive labor, such as sericulture, weaving and making clothes, before she was awarded the title of emperor.
After all, it seems that those concubines who entered the feudal society enjoyed life more. After all, they don't have to do any work, and there are servants to serve them. They are busy planning all day and fighting for love.
According to historical records, Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, didn't know who to sleep because there were too many concubines in the harem, so he asked his servant to prepare a sheep cart and let the sheep pull him around the harem. When the sheep cart was tired, he stopped in front of the concubine and spent the night there.
Of course, there are also a few emperors who have few concubines in the harem, such as Qin Yuan, the second emperor of the Western Wei Dynasty, Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty and Zhu Shitang of the Ming Dynasty. But whether these emperors are a minority, I won't elaborate on them one by one.
So for thousands of years, what is the real life state of the palace concubines who are known as "the beauty of the six palaces in the harem"?
Different grades, different daily expenses. Since ancient times, the harem has been the king's own "comfort zone", but in the face of so many concubines, it is natural to have a set of restrictive systems. Otherwise, if these concubines are left unattended, it will not be chaotic. The greatest power of the harem is the queen, of course, some dynasties are the empress dowager and the empress dowager.
So what are the systems in the harem? As a matter of fact, like officials in feudal dynasties, it was divided into status and rank, and gradually formed an effective management system.
That is, the largest is the queen, who is in the position of wife, followed by the fourth lady, including the imperial concubine, the shufei, the virtuous concubine and the virtuous concubine; Then, nine people are positive second products, and then nine people are positive third products.
Further down, there are nine people who are four beautiful; Nine talents in five categories, twenty-seven in six categories, twenty-seven in seven categories and twenty-seven in eight categories. Besides, there are those who have no products.
For example, in the Qing dynasty, from the empress dowager to the nobles, constant attendants, infinite and so on. With different grades, the quantity and variety of grain, meat and vegetables supplied every day are different, and even the tableware for serving rice is different, such as silks and satins, mink, rice flour, charcoal wax, etc., decreasing according to grades.
Empress Dowager Cixi was the owner of the highest power in the late Qing Dynasty. Fresh vegetables, mutton and venison are all kinds of delicious food in season, and all kinds of delicious food are available. When she was in Manchu, she always gave a banquet, and even the tableware was made of exquisite gold and silver porcelain, which was very luxurious.
As the saying goes, once you enter the palace, the concubines who live in the palace are as deep as the sea, and even if you leave the palace, it is a luxury. However, those scenes in film and television dramas that can easily run out of the palace rarely happen in real history.
As the women of the supreme emperor in the world, these concubines are often a lot of slaves. It can be said that most of them are pampered and lack of exercise all the year round, which leads to poor health.
These concubines are weak and favored, but at least they will feel much better. People who are not loved can only be lonely and sad, and even some concubines are sick and even insane because they can't resist the invasion of loneliness. This is extremely normal.
Therefore, most of the concubines in the palace were weak, and some even fell ill for a long time and eventually passed away.
At the exhibition of concubines' life in Qing Dynasty held by Yonghe Palace in the former Palace Museum, the secret recipe of health care and treatment related to concubines in the harem was revealed for the first time, including benefiting qi and promoting blood circulation, preventing miscarriage and strengthening the spleen. These are the favorite prescriptions of harem concubines. After all, a good figure can better compete for favor.
It can be seen that the concubines living in the harem are not as beautiful as we imagined. At least some concubines have experienced bitterness and pain that is unimaginable, and the more miserable concubines in the palace fights staged in the film and television are just a microcosm.
In the TV series we often watch, especially some extremely wonderful palace dramas, the emperor and his concubines are all kinds of affairs. They have made great achievements and even lived a life envied by countless people.
There are many contacts between concubines in the harem, and even the emperor will hold various activities and performances for concubines. In short, there are endless things, endless things, and of course endless fun, but I just want to say that they are all fake. The real harem doesn't even have the most basic love.
Some concubines have been left out in the cold since they entered the palace, and they have never even seen the emperor until their death, and there are not many entertainment activities that are really used to pass the time. According to "Miscellanies of Xijing", there are many rabbits in Yuan Di, which are not common, which makes the painter's drawing and case design very lucky.
Therefore, many concubines can only be confined to the moon for a long time, or they are powder-filled, or they wear needles. The belief that supports them is that if the emperor meets them one day, they may be promoted step by step and enjoy all the splendor.
Conclusion: What are the real living conditions of the harem concubines known as "Pink Six Palaces"? In fact, they are not as happy as we saw in the movies. Some of them are even lonely and miserable, and no one can understand them yet.
There are 3,000 beauties in the harem, but few can be pampered. Most concubines live a lonely life in the flower season, and year after year, their daily expenses will be different because of different grades. Due to the long-term lack of exercise, their physical fitness is not very good, and some even get sick for a long time.
In addition, we must always be vigilant. If the emperor is not careful to favor the dragon son, the hostility of other concubines is inevitable. If the queen has a son, that's fine, but if there is no son, then these pregnant concubines will be walking on thin ice all day, and one careless one may lose two lives.
As Liu Yuxi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said in his poem "Ci of Spring": Under the new makeup of Zhu Lou, the first hospital in spring is deeply worried. You can count flowers when you go to the atrium, and dragonflies fly around scratching their heads.
Who can understand the bitterness of seemingly noble concubines? After all, they are just victims of the supremacy of imperial power.