The queen is the owner of the harem. There were many palaces in the ancient palace. As long as the owner of the palace can call himself "the palace", for example, the prince is called "the East Palace" and can call himself "the palace", which many people don't know. The queen can call herself my palace. Some people, such as princesses, can call themselves "my palace" if they have official titles, otherwise they can only be my princesses.

Strictly speaking, only the palace master can claim to be so, and the correct meaning of the palace master, such as the ruler of the East Palace and the West Palace, can be famous, which does not mean that everyone living in the palace can claim to be so.

However, the Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager generally do not call themselves "my maid-in-waiting", but "my family's funeral" or "old woman". "Old woman" is a modest self-assertion, mostly addressed to princesses and princes, and never heard of saying this to concubines. Show respect and modesty. In ancient China, status was clearly divided.

Historical exploration

The queen, the emperor's wife. "Historical Records Filial Piety": "In March, a company asked for a queen. The emperor said,' princes have the same surname, and the prince and mother are queens.' "Ode to Arbitrary Volume:" The Emperor calls the imperial concubine the queen. "Song Shi Ren Zong Ji Er:" The first year of Jing You was ugly in November, and Cao Shili was the queen. "

"The Romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties": "Emperor Taizong and the Empress sit on the same case, and Xu Huifei sits next to the Empress." Liu Chengyu's poem "Chronicle of Hong Xian" (179) said: "It is better to send a message to the deaf queen of Japan than to defeat Xu Fei." . ?

In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the word "Hou" is at the lower left and the hand is raised at the upper right, but this usage has been used ever since the font was turned into a mirror image and the hand was raised at the upper left. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" is uploaded: After that, it follows the wind of the monarch, resembling the shape of a human being, and the one who tells the quartet and issues the number is the monarch.

Because in ancient clan tribes, the authority of women is the general commander, so "Hou" means an authoritative female elder. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions, "Hou" is usually used to refer to the female leader of a clan. So it also extended to the meaning of the emperor's wife.