Historians' Tea House (Issue 4, Total) (February 2006)

Author: Wang Zhaocheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The life in the imperial harem has always been a microcosm of ancient political life, especially the operations of central court politics. Almost every aspect of it can be directly or indirectly reflected in the life of the imperial harem. Therefore, the imperial harem has always been an indispensable part of the emperor's power operation under the imperial system. In the political structure of imperial power, the group of empresses and concubines within the nine layers of palace gates played a significant role on the stage of ancient politics. Whether consciously or unconsciously, they enacted a series of tragicomedies in the court politics. Due to such performances, the empresses and concubines, who originally possessed the joys and sorrows of ordinary people, could no longer easily arrange their lives according to the of folk life. Their world was as distant from that of ordinary people as heaven and earth. Even the imperial consort system itself evolved along with the perfection of the emperor system. For example, in the Han Dynasty, there was no system of posthumous titles for empresses after their death; they were simply referred to by the emperor's posthumous title. For instance, the empress Lü of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han, Lü Zhi, was called the "High Empress." After the Eastern Han Dynasty, empresses gradually began to have posthumous titles, but even until the Sui and Tang dynasties, empresses' posthumous titles were usually one or two characters long. During the Zhao Song Dynasty, empresses' posthumous titles increased from two to four characters. When Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty established the dynasty, he "learned from the calamities of women in previous dynasties, established principles and regulations, and first strictly enforced internal education." Initially, the posthumous title of the empress was only two characters, such as Ma Shi, the empress of Zhu Yuanzhang, who was posthumously titled "Filial and Benevolent." However, in the first year of the Yongle era, Ma Empress's posthumous title was increased to 13 characters: "Filial, Benevolent, Illuminating, Constitutional, Most Benevolent, Literary, Virtuous, Inheriting Heaven, and Peaceful High Empress." By the 16th year of the Jiajing era, it was further increased to 15 characters: "Filial, Benevolent, Sincere, Wise, Gentle, Benevolent, Inheriting Heaven, Nurturing Virtue, and Most Virtuous High Empress." Before the Manchus entered the Central Plains, the system was still in its early stages, and the imperial harem had no official titles, but they were commonly referred to as "Fujin." After changing the dynasty to Qing, the five palaces were established, and "rank titles became clear, and social hierarchies gradually differentiated." After entering the Central Plains, they followed the old dynasty's system to establish honorific titles for empresses and concubines. For example, Empress Xiaozhuang, a concubine of Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, was granted the honorific title "Revering, Holy, Kind, Simple, Peaceful, and Auspicious Grand Empress" after Emperor Kangxi suppressed the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, which was as long as 20 characters. After her death, empresses from the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties continued to add posthumous titles, making her title "Filial, Benevolent, Sincere, Constitutional, Gentle, Virtuous, Pure, Auspicious, Nurturing Heaven, Enlightening Virtue, and Most Virtuous High Empress," which was 17 characters long. Even the famous Empress Dowager Cixi at the end of the Qing Dynasty had a 16-character posthumous title: "Revering, Protecting, Nurturing, Illuminating, Gentle, Sincere, Longevity, Gentle, Respectful, and Auspicious Imperial Empress." (For details, see The Annals of the Qing Dynasty: Biographies of Empresses and Concubines).
"A title is a reflection of merit." At first glance, such lengthy titles seem meaningless, but during the imperial era in China, according to the rules of posthumous titles, a title not only represented the evaluation of a person's achievements and conduct by later generations but also reflected the status of empresses and concubines in the imperial power system. This is similar to how emperors have (honorific titles), (posthumous titles), and (temple titles), all intertwined. From this alone, it is clear that the function of the empress and concubine system was far beyond the family and marriage system of the imperial family; its political function was evident.
At the end of the Biographies of Empresses and Concubines in The Annals of the Qing Dynasty, the preface states, "The rise and fall of a dynasty depend on the imperial harem," although the compiler was a Qing loyalist, his remarks are meaningful for understanding the role and status of empresses and concubines in the court politics of the imperial era., people will find an even more interesting fact: once these empresses and concubines became involved in the political life of the imperial court, they seemed to lose control of their own destinies. Formerly gentle and virtuous young ladies suddenly became fierce and ruthless, and those who were already cruel and jealous became even more so. The design of the imperial power political system seems to be peculiar in that it often requires empresses and concubines, who are expected to embody "softness" and "obedience," to display great strength and not yield to men. Whether they "claimed power as regent" or "listened to affairs behind a screen," in either case, they moved from the imperial harem to the core of politics, shifting from "being inherently gentle" to "holding the highest position," using softness to overcome strength (The Old Book of Tang: Biography of Shen Chansi records Shen Jiji opposing the Tang court history's inclusion of Wu Zetian's "Basic Annals" when he said). They personally held court affairs, becoming the supreme figures who influenced or controlled imperial power. P020-021