In ancient times, being an emperor was the happiest thing for men. Being an emperor is accompanied by "blood spilling". In addition to the supreme power of "the world is the best, the land of the monarch is the first, and the land of the monarch is the second", "seventy concubines in three palaces and six hospitals" and "three thousand beauties" will also bring great "sexual happiness" to the emperor. So, how did the emperor choose his concubine? Is it a story in TV series like Princess Zhu Huan and the Empress of the Harem? In fact, many facts have been misled by writers and directors.
Ancient beauty
The aesthetic standards of emperors in different dynasties are different.
People describe beautiful women as "sinking fish and falling geese, closing the moon and being ashamed of flowers". Modern aesthetic standards are actually different from those in ancient times. The enchanting beauty image on TV may not be suitable for all dynasties. Because the historical environment is different, it will create different aesthetic standards. The standards of different dynasties and generations sometimes vary greatly. Although there is not much data to prove the aesthetic standards of Chinese emperors in the past five thousand years, some idioms or stories can predict the aesthetic situation at that time.
"Clear water produces hibiscus, and carving is natural." Monarchs in the pre-Qin period took natural beauty as beauty, and heavy makeup was not seen; "The king of Chu had a thin waist, and many people starved to death in the palace" refers to the beautiful thin waist of the king of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the modern "thin waist" picture was probably handed down from that time. A woman with a big waist and a round waist, how beautiful her face is, will be eliminated in the king of Chu. "Apricot face, peach cheeks, Emei phoenix eyes, body like a spring willow, stepping out of the lotus" is the standard of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States, which is not much different from modern aesthetics; "Fat and thin" refers to the beauty of fullness in the Tang Dynasty, and Yang Guifei is typical. In the Han Dynasty, thinness was the beauty, and Zhao and Zhao Hede were the models. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Chen Houzhu Li Yu's favorite was "Three-inch Golden Lotus", so women rushed to foot-bind, and those women with big feet would be eliminated at the first level; "Han Shoujiao, Tang Fat Demon, Yuan Gao Sao." The emperor of the Yuan Dynasty loved tall people, and those exquisite Jiangnan women could not pass the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.
In ancient books, women in different dynasties are described by different aesthetic words, which is actually the "trend" and "fashion" of that era. Qin and Han dynasties were dignified, Wei and Jin dynasties were elegant and peerless, Ming dynasty had both ability and political integrity, and Qing dynasty came from a noble family, each with its own characteristics of the times. It is worth noting that the emperor's beauty standard will greatly affect the fashion trend at that time.
When the imperial concubine's "five customs and six generals"
The emperor's eyes are very picky. It's no exaggeration to describe an ordinary folk woman who was elected as an imperial concubine by "going through five customs and beheading six generals". According to historical records, Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty sent Chun Wu, a female official, to Liang Shang, a general, and gave her daughter Liang Ying a "naked examination" from the aspects of figure, walking posture, moles, virgins, hemorrhoids and even hidden places such as navel, vagina and anus. Of course, Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty was a bad king, but it can be inferred from this record that the selection of concubines in the palace at that time was harsh.
Ancient beauty image
Age is also a hard requirement for women. Different dynasties have different generations. The Eastern Han Dynasty was thirteen to twenty years old, the Three Kingdoms was fifteen or sixteen years old, and the Northern Qi Dynasty was fourteen to twenty years old. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang asked to be fifteen to twenty years old, but all other emperors changed, and the youngest was eleven years old. Ancient books recorded in detail the situation of choosing concubines in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
During the apocalypse of the Ming Dynasty, the empress zhangyan was an ordinary Henan scholar. At that time, there were 5,000 scholars who participated in the "election", aged between thirteen and sixteen, and Zhang Yan was fifteen. The first level is eunuch selection, eliminating 1000 people; The second level of five senses, eunuch selection, brushed away two thousand; The third level is the proportion of body, eliminating 1000 people; The fourth level naked inspection, female officer selection, 700 people eliminated; In the fifth class, 50 people were chosen as concubines ... From the primary election, re-election and final, zhangyan actually passed the "eight passes", and finally defeated all her opponents with her beauty of "beautiful as Guanyin, eyes like eyes, lips like fear, nose like teeth" and was elected as the Queen of Zhu Youxiao.
The Qing dynasty was more strict in choosing concubines. In addition to enforcing the strictest standards of beauty pageant as in the Ming Dynasty, the Qing people also paid attention to their lineages, giving priority to Manchu and Mongolian lineages over Han women. Not just appearance, figure, voice, skin color, etc. All of them are required, and it is necessary to "try all the skills of embroidering brocade with brooms to see if its manners are good". In addition, it is necessary to look beautiful, have good character and have high moral character, which can be described as "perfect". It can be seen that it is not easy to be a imperial concubine. However, such a strict selection system sometimes makes mistakes. Isn't Empress Dowager Cixi one in a thousand?
The emperor fell in love at first sight but broke all the rules.
Of course, the system belongs to the system, and the emperor still has supreme power. The emperor fell in love at first sight, for one reason or another, or he decided that the woman he wanted was a concubine. The world is big, is it the land of kings, not to mention the women in the land of kings?
Ancient beauty image
So we have seen many special cases in history, so we don't have to bother to choose them. Shang Zhouwang's favorite concubine, da ji, was brought back when she conquered the Su tribe. It was love at first sight. Fu Cha's favorite concubine was a gift from Gou Jian, the King of Yue, and he didn't have to take part in the selection. Li Longji of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty took a fancy to the daughter-in-law of Li Mao, the son of Shouwang, and forced her daughter-in-law into the palace regardless of human relations. She is Yang Guifei; Cao Cao and his son xelloss took a fancy to a woman, and finally xelloss succeeded, which made Cao Cao angry enough. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was more normal for Mongols to rob marriage. The woman the emperor likes is a concubine, so he doesn't have to choose. In ancient times, fathers and sons fought for wives and brothers for a woman everywhere, which shows the effectiveness of power. Love is blind. As long as you first see it, all rules are not rules.
Concubines are not necessarily so beautiful.
In our minds, concubines must be extremely beautiful after such strict screening. But in fact, this is not the case. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, the nearest dynasty to us, some portraits and photos were left in the world. From our modern eyes, these appointed concubines are not beautiful at all. What's going on here?
Maybe the truth will overturn our thoughts. In addition to paying attention to bloodline, the Qing Dynasty also paid attention to choosing concubines by virtue. You must also wear a flag suit when choosing a concubine, and fashion is strictly prohibited. So we saw some selected concubines, but they looked average. Maybe some of them were eliminated because the pictures were too enchanting. If a woman dresses as coquettish as in TV series, she may not be popular in Qing Dynasty, she will be regarded as a "femme fatale" type and be eliminated, while a woman with ordinary appearance but reasonable and noble birth will take the upper position.
The Tongzhi emperor of the Qing Dynasty guarded the harem for 3,000, preferring to go out for whorehouse through secret passages, and even died in the end. What is the reason? One of the possible reasons is that he doesn't like any of the chosen concubines, and he is not as sweet as the brothel woman outside.
The so-called "virtue" is the standard of the Qing Dynasty. With a clever and inflexible woman, I was not interested in Tongzhi Emperor, so I had to sneak out to play. For example, Song Huizong, the romantic emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, stayed in the palace and six courtyards, but secretly went to Li Shishi and eventually died. We don't know what kind of concubines were chosen in Song Dynasty, but they certainly couldn't attract Song Huizong, so fireworks women like Li Shishi robbed the emperor of his love.
It seems that every family has a difficult experience, even the royal family has a difficult experience, but outsiders don't know it.