Secrets of the Forbidden City: The Dark Reality of Chinese Concubinage

In the Forbidden City, all females were meticulously secluded within the imperial quarters deep within the palace. They were confined to the inner court with strict prohibitions against venturing into the northern section. While the majority of women within the Forbidden City served as maids-in-attendance, a select few were designated as concubines tasked with the duty of bearing as many children as the emperor desired. The enigmatic realm of ancient China has long captivated the curiosity of historians and adventurers alike. Welcome to our channel today. We venture through the chilling history of Chinese concubinage, revealing the shocking norms of the past. If you are ready to uncover the eerie secrets of history, hit that subscribe button and let's get started while Haram culture existed in various parts of the East and beyond Chinese harem were notable for their unique customs and practices, although some of these traditions and ways of life may appear peculiar and even disturbing, they were considered commonplace by the Chinese concubines of that era today. On flip side of history, we delve into the world of untamed Chinese concubines and the norms that prevailed during the time first and foremost within the harem. A striking characteristic was the unwavering adherence to the laws and hierarchical traditions. Transgressions were met with severe consequences of the possibility of death each concubine in the Chinese harem had a clear understanding of her designated place in the hierarchy while an emperor could have up to four official wives. The highest position was held by the Empress who possessed the most formidable influence however the number of concubines could reach a staggering figure hundreds possibly even thousands following the Empress and the hierarchy where the supplementary wives restricted to a maximum of four each bearing her own title Guffy meaning precious Shufei meaning virtuous thief meaning moral and Xianfei meaning talented sequent to these primary female. Favorites were the nine senior concubines trailed by 27. Junior concubines known as Shifu. A junior concubines were further categorized each corresponding to a distinct rank on the hierarchy chart at the pinnacle where the nine maidens followed by the nine beauties and the nine talents below them in the concubine hierarchy were the 81 and a single one more categorized into three grades precious timbers imperial women and female collectors while some emperors may have made slight modifications to this arrangement. The fundamental structure remained largely intact in Chinese culture. There exists a saying daughter of the 15th concubine which suggests a distant hypothetical relationship this saying originates from the traditions of the Chinese harem where concubine serial number or rank determined her status with higher numbers indicating lower status. It is worth noting that based on their status each concubine was entitled to an entourage of servants ranging from 1 to 12 as well as a unit consequently the Emperor's harem community could comprise as many as 40,000 individuals access to the Emperors presence and the privilege of spending the night with the revered ruler necessitated a meticulous ritual interestingly the first wife and those ranked just below her were permitted to share the Emperor's bed only once a month it was believed that women possessing the most potential energy should not disturb the Emperor more frequently as doing so could adversely affect not only the Emperor's health but also the entire kingdom as a result on other nights the Emperor had the liberty to choose from among his concubines leading to a complex and ever-changing dynamic within the harem the process of selecting a concubine was to say the least rather intriguing firstly the Emperor maintained an album containing portraits of all potential concubines which he would periodically browse each concubine was identified by nameplate featuring a number in her name as the Emperor flipped through the pages of the album he would choose the ones that caught his fancy for the day those chosen names were placed into a jade jug and then a customary lottery with commands when fortune smiles upon a woman selected by a random chance the Emperor would then strike a gong summoning the eunuchs were then responsible for overseeing the subsequent preparations they would attend to the woman arranging her hair and conducting any necessary procedures prior to entering the chamber they would disrobe her entirely to ensure she carried no weapons that could pose any threat to the Emperor it is also worth noting that the method of selecting concubines could very Emperor Wujin for instance renowned for his distinctive approach of selecting a concubine prohibited any marriage in his realm until he had chosen one he devised an unconventional method for determining his nocturnal companion all eligible women would line up along the palace walls as he leisurely traversed the road in a cart drawn by goats the goats roamed freely without any direction when one of the animals halted the woman who had caused the car to stop become the Emperor's chosen companion for the night it's important to emphasize that remaining a virgin was considered a grave transgression in this context so it's unsurprising that every woman sought to enter the imperial chambers at least once consequently the stakes for gaining entry were exceedingly high to the point where concubines would go great lengths to portray their rivals as undesirable to the Emperor preventing their names for entering the selection bowl intimacy with the Emperor a situation that now elicit sympathy for both the Emperor and the concubine did not occur in complete privacy firstly either the mother senior figures or trusted maids and sometimes even senior wives had to be present during the process their presence was primarily to offer guidance should it be needed additionally a unique carefully documented all proceedings on papyrus using red ink which later contributed to the association of the color red with intimacy however that's not the entirety of the story there were eunuchs stationed outside the door who tracked the duration of the Emperor's time spent in bed when the allotted time was up they would inform the Emperor that it was time to conclude the encounter occasionally signaling with a gong in essence if the Emperor ran out of time there was no leniency tradition had to be held finally after the intimate encounter the Emperor was obligated to inform the eunuch whether the intimacy had occurred or not and this information was duly recorded in a special logbook moreover the Emperor had to specify whether a seat was to be reserved for the concubine during future encounters in cases where the Emperor's response was negative the concubine was subjected to a procedure in which pressure was applied to her abdomen to facilitate the expulsion of semen and this event was duly recorded consequently if a woman unexpectedly became pregnant she faced the grim accusation of treason resulting in severe punishments even though her role was often negligible remarkably even the principal wife of the Emperor was not exempt from this documentation procedure this practice was implemented to eliminate any potential for treason which was not uncommon and also to ensure that the Emperor did not unwittingly father a child who was not his own with fierce competition among concubines it's important to note that many remained unfulfilled to cope with this Chinese harem's relied on various toys and inventions for self-satisfaction the bonds of affection between women within the harem were also acknowledged and even encouraged by the Chinese society however there were other traditions that could elicit genuine sorrow and disgust frequently after the Emperor's passing all concubines were interred alive with him to ensure that he would not be lonely even in the afterlife concubines could be subjected to extremely violent punishments including the death penalty for the slightest transgression concubines themselves entangled in palace intrigues were not averse to acts of murder and poisoning against their rivals sometimes resorting to concoctions designed to induce miscarriages and pregnant competitors furthermore many women worn down by prolonged abstinence sought fulfillment elsewhere leading to a common practice of abortions within Chinese harems it's not worthy that despite the privileges and favoritism afforded to concubines some parents intentionally handicapped their daughters to dissuade the Emperor's interest and thus prevent their daughters from entering the harem apart from the Emperor the opportunity to maintain harem extended to nearly anyone in Chinese society depending on significant challenge unable to sustain themselves impoverished families often entrusted their daughters to other families harems as early as eight years old these young girls were compelled to obey the commands of their new husbands and masters thank you for watching if you enjoyed this dive into history hit the like button subscribe for more and keep exploring the mysteries of the past until next time stay curious