From the linguistic point of view, the word Gege has a wide range of meanings, including "girl", "girl" and so on. In addition, it is the meaning of "gege" that people have mentioned for the longest time.
Influenced by TV series such as Princess Zhu Huan, many people think that Princess Zhu Huan is the title of Princess of Qing Dynasty, which is actually inaccurate.
However, this problem is divided into two periods. Just before the Qing Dynasty changed its title (formerly known as Jin), there was not a very formal and complete etiquette system, but some customs of the Jurchen nationality were preserved. During this period, the meaning of the word "Gege" was vague. Aside from the original meaning of Manchu, it is actually a general term for women (including women of all ages).
Later, after Nurhachi established the Jurchen State, the definition of Gege was narrowed, mainly referring to aristocratic women. For example, Nurhachi's eldest daughter was called Dongguo Gege, her second daughter was called Nenzhegege, her third daughter Hadagege and her adopted daughter Bertege.
It should be said that this period is the most blurred period between "Gege" and "Princess". As far as the above-mentioned Gege is concerned, they actually have other titles, such as Dongguo Gege, also known as Princess Dongguo, Nenzhegege, also known as Princess zhanhe and Princess Hadagege. From this perspective, Princess and Gege are indeed interchangeable at this time.
However, we also see that during this period, the ritual system of conferring imperial women was gradually improved. For example, Nurhachi's four daughters, eight daughters, adopted daughters and adopted daughters were all officially named "Princess Heshuo", that is to say, from then on, Gege and Princess were gradually different.
The second period was the beginning of Huang Taiji's establishment of the Qing Dynasty. While improving the country, Huang taiji established a relatively complete harem system according to the court etiquette of the Han nationality (which is also the embryonic form of the harem etiquette of the Qing Dynasty), including the titles of princesses and aristocratic women. This is not difficult to see from the titles of Huang Taiji's daughters, such as "Princess Aohan, the eldest daughter of Huang Taiji, princess royal, the second daughter, and princess royal, the third daughter".
What needs to be explained here is that the emblems of princesses such as "Wen Zhuang" and "Yong Mu" were established after a period of development. For a familiar example, Huang Taiji had a daughter who married Wu Sangui's son Wu, who was Princess Channing in Jin Yong's novels. She is the youngest daughter of Huang taiji. At first, she was called Princess Channing and later changed to Princess Kechun. There are four women, from Gulun Xingping to princess royal, and then to Gulun's eternal mother princess royal; Three women changed from Gulen Yanqing princess royal to Gulen Duanjing princess royal and so on. This is an important reflection of Manchu rulers' acceptance of Chinese culture, that is, they began to choose more exquisite and formal characters in the use of Chinese characters, and the emblem was the most respectful.
On the other hand, that is to say, from Huang Taiji, Gege was no longer called the emperor's daughter and officially separated from the princess. However, Manchu people still have some reservations about the word Gege, such as Gege in Heshuo (county), Gege in Duoluo (county), Gege in Gushan (county) and Gege (township) mentioned in "LWDHWOOO73 1" above. At the same time, as mentioned above, Gege has since become an informal title for aristocratic women (Dagege, Ergege, etc.). But it doesn't need to be reminded that this can't be called by anyone, because the word Gege means a girl or a girl. Therefore, the address of this space space can only be the address of elders and peers. As for maids, eunuchs or foreign ministers, you can't call them that.
It should also be mentioned that Gege is not only the name of a royal woman, but also the name of a royal concubine. Generally, it refers to wives and concubines who have no formal status, such as Fujin or Side Fujin. A typical example is that when Xiao Sheng, the biological mother of Emperor Qianlong, was a prince in Yongzheng, she was named Gege in Yong Wang Fu.
To sum up, to answer the landlord's question: Gege, a unique title in the Qing Dynasty, has a wide range of meanings. How to explain it depends on the actual situation. But one thing is certain, that is, after Shunzhi, Gege must never address the emperor's daughter, even in informal occasions. For example, in Jade Death and Record of the Holy Father, the daughter of Emperor Kangxi was clearly called big princess, Second Princess and so on before being officially titled.
In addition, in fact, if we transliterate in Manchu strictly, the word "Gege" should be translated into ge3ge 1, and the first sound is three sounds, but I don't know how Chinese became like this later.