THE QING DYNASTY HAREM SYSTEM - IMPERIAL CONCUBINES DOCUMENTARY

[Music] throughout the dynasties the emperors of china from the legendary yellow emperor up to 20th century emperor puyi had concubines why did this system exist while media representations of imperial concubines often display them as romantic distractions to the monarch their role was essentially double firstly it allowed for political alliances to be forged between the imperial clan and powerful noble families but most importantly concubines were expected to bear sons for the emperor to ensure the imperial lineage would not stop in this video i'll explain how that sing dynasty adapted this ancient system and how it worked using examples of emperors and their concubines without further ado let's dive into the qing dynasty's imperial harem system the qing dynasty was the ultimate dynasty of imperial china its leaders were not of han chinese ethnicity but of the conquering manchu people who captured beijing in 1644 overthrowing the ming dynasty at the time that singh leader was officially five-year-old child emperor xun zhu son of qing emperor huang taiji shunju initially reigned under the regency of manchu noble mandorgon who guided him into claiming the mandate of heaven the young emperor would therefore become the first singh leader to rule over china proper also being the first xing emperor to rule from the imperial city of beijing shenzhen defined the main rules that sing dynasty's imperial harem system would have to follow notably it was declared that concubines would be almost exclusively selected from manchu and mongol noble families separating the imperial bloodline from the han chinese and other ethnic groups some emperors would nonetheless choose non-manchu or mongol concubines as the official ching records count nine han and one wiggle concubine emperor shonjur's son emperor kangshi would make the final changes in the harem system which would then remain virtually unchanged until the end of the dynasty [Music] the process of selection of consoles to the emperor was very elaborate every three years noble families from the manchu and mongol eight banners a military and nobility system of the tsing dynasty were ordered to bring their daughters aged around 13 to 16 years old to beijing if a suitable daughter was unable to come to the imperial capital due to logistical health issues she would have to participate in the following year upon the selection day the candidates would enter the forbidden city through the back gate known as gate of divine prowess each girl was accompanied by parents or close relatives and escorted by family and clan leaders as well as officials from their home towns usually about 100 to 300 candidates were brought to the forbidden city every three years an initial inspection was held based on appearance and demeanor after which selected candidates were registered as xiaohnu while the others were allowed to return home more in-depth selections considering other factors such as intellectual skills then took place to distinguish suitable concubines by then the number of candidates was down to a few dozen or less the final selection was held in front of the palace of heavenly purity though at times it also happened elsewhere in the forbidden city the emperor was then free to pick several girls as concubines however they often had to be approved by the empress dowager usually his mother or a previous empress in cases where the emperor was still a minor the empress dowager would guide the selection for him the criteria for this election was based on the girl's beauty health talents and education and family heritage more often than not women were selected mainly on this last aspect in theory the emperor could choose as many concubines as he wanted from the lot one of them could even be immediately selected as empress if their position was vacant however only five of 28 empresses during that sing dynasty directly entered the palace with this rank girls who were not selected by the emperor could then be chosen as wives or concubines by the imperial princes lesser princes or other men in the royalty the basis of the harem system which was not exactly a rank was the position of palace made palace maids were selected once every year to act as servants to concubines in the forbidden city they were chosen from lesser noble families these servants were expected to devote their lives inside the forbidden city to servicing their mistress staying by her side at all times palace maids usually remained in service in the fibin city until they are 25 after which they could leave if they wish to however some appreciated maids were asked to keep serving until up to 35 years old it was not unusual for the emperor to catch a knife or a palace maid in this situation she could be bestowed with the title of lady in waiting granting her authority over other maids although she remained a servant ladies in waiting could then be promoted to a concubine rank if she won the emperor's favor a famous example is that of empress xiao yutrin the only hand empress of the ting dynasty during her life she was able to rise through the ranks from lady in waiting to imperial noble consult and was postimately promoted as empress she was also the mother of yong-yen due to emperor jyatsing the lowest of the official eight ranks was that of tayyim or second-class female attendant the emperor could select as many girls as he wanted to this position they would each be granted two palace maids to serve them as part of the harem they enjoyed better conditions than maids although they had little authority much like the second class female attendant there was an unlimited number of chiang dai or first class female attendants these were however served by three palace maids they had slightly more authority than the previous rank but were also lesser concubines the next position in the system named gwyrun or noble lady could also be awarded to as many girls as the emperors will fit noble ladies would each be served by four palace mates the women bestowed of the three previous titles all lived together in the same quarters of the forbidden city while those holding the upcoming titles had dedicated quarters or even palaces the next rank called pin translated as imperial concubines was limited to the number of six at a time and each would be served by six palace mates these usually had direct authority over previous ranks acting as intermediary between the harems mistresses and low-rank concubines above the imperial concubines were the consorts or fey the emperor could only select a maximum of four consorts at a time this was a powerful position as consoles officially had authority over eunuchs in the forbidden city the next rank was that of noble consort or gwyfe that each had eight palace mates at her service there could only be a maximum of two noble consults for the emperor next there was only one imperial noble consult or juan gueve she had the same number of servants as regular noble consorts but considerably more influence only submitting to the empress in the imperial harem the position of imperial noble consort was however rarely bestowed reasons that the emperor would promote a concubine to this rank were usually either to maintain order in the harem if there was no empress or if she was unable to fulfill this role and or as an intermediate promotion in the prospect of making her the empress finally there was only one empress she was technically the only wife of the emperor often empresses started as lower ranked concubines and were gradually promoted in cases where the emperor had already been married as a prince his wife would automatically become the empress she was usually not the monarch's favorite in the imperial harem but rather chosen for her family heritage and intellectual skills in many cases the emperors actually spent as little time as they could with her only respecting the mandatory one day per month together nonetheless the empress's ceremonial role was extremely important she was expected to lead an exemplary life according to confucian morals and manchu customs many empresses took a passive or even active part in state affairs officially the empress acted as the mother of all the empress children even if they were not her actual biological offspring these eight ranks were the official positions of concubines within the imperial harem there was however another even more powerful rank within the forbidden city which could not be obtained by promotion empress dowager if the concubine's son became the next emperor after his father died that woman would be promoted as empress dowager simultaneously as the official wife of the late emperor was symbolically the mother of all his children she would also be the facto promoters empress dowager a distinction however existed between biological and symbolical empress dowager for example after the death of empress jianfeng both his wife empress jun and concubony the mother of his successor tong jr were promoted as empresses dowager if by chance the empress dowager was still alive when her grandson ascended the throne she would become grand empress dowager such was the case for grand empress dowager xiaokongjong emperor kangshi's grandmother who raised him and guided him into reclaiming imperial power from his regions at 15 years old the emperor was technically free to promote any concubine at will nonetheless a rapid ascension from a low position was often frowned upon by the imperial entourage especially by rival concubines giving birth to a son was the best way to ensure strong and stable promotion or even potential ascension as empress dowager if that son was to become the next emperor this was exactly the case for empress dowager tsaisi after she gave birth to zaitun future emperor tong zhu his father and presianfang promoted her from concubini to consort yi once tongju ascended the throne she became empress dowager similarly concubines could also be demoted for mistakes and bad behavior a famous example is that of chen long's consortium who ordered the palace made to be severely beaten for a small mistake as the palace mate died from this punishment chien long demoted consort don't concubine [Music] the imperial concubines were all housed together in the six eastern and six western palaces of the forbidden city as explained earlier lower ranked concubines lived together in quarters while the higher ones could have up to a whole palace for themselves daily life for concubines especially for those who the emperor paid little to no attention was particularly boring as they essentially lived in a gilded prison the main distractions were playing board games appreciating the many works of art within the forbidden city and enjoying its gardens concubines could also find entertainment in pets such as cats and dogs the vast majority were never allowed to leave the forbidden city however high ranked and favored ladies occasionally accompanied the emperor on outings emperor chen long regularly took his favorite concubines with him during his southern tours according to morals and customs concubines could not remarry after the emperor's passing as his successor would have his own set of girls to select however the widowed concubines were not allowed to return home either they were instead moved to other quarters within the forbidden city these were the palace of compassion and tranquility or tsuningong for regular concubines and palace of longevity and good health or shaol for empress's dowager widow concubines could still be promoted or demoted by emperors of the next generations both during their lifetimes and [Music] posthumously after that sing dynasty was overthrown in 1912 the forbidden city kept functioning as normal for another 12 years although emperor puji and the courts no longer ruled the country which was now republic in 1922 when puyi was 16 years old he selected girls based on photographs and was soon married to empress one wrong and took one show as console true the system was however bound to come to an end after warlord vong yushang seized beijing amidst the raging civil war in 1924 he ordered the evacuation of the forbidden city launched into an unfamiliar world emperor puji and his two wives emperors won wrong and one show found refuge in the japanese concession in qinjin a few years later in 1931 when sho asked for and was granted a divorce symbolically marking the end of that sing dynasty's harem system i want a divorce spanning over nearly three centuries that sing imperial harem system was marked by political schemes personal rivalries love and jealousy it still fascinates to this day as many modern television shows are based entirely on palace intrigue often romanticizing the harsh reality [Music] thank you for watching my video i hope you enjoyed it if so please leave a like and subscribe to the channel if you have any questions or requests feel free to leave them in the comment section below

Channel: History of China

Views: 94,055

Rating: 4.9636016 out of 5

Keywords: qing dynasty, history of china, history of china documentary, qing dynasty harem system, qing dynasty concubines, qing dynasty concubine, chinese history, chinese culture, consort, noble consort, imperial noble consort, empress dowager documentary, imperial concubine, imperial consort, imperial concubines, qing dynasty imperial harem, chinese imperial harem system, chinese harem system, chinese harem documentary

Id: RlCtb_7zGeg

Length: 13min 48sec (828 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 16 2020