The Chinese imperial court in the Middle Ages consisted of thousands of officials, eunuchs, guardsmen, harem concubines, imperial relatives and wives, and constituted a small state within a state with its own administration and laws. Eunuchs are men who have dedicated themselves to serving the emperor, sacrificing their main manhood.

Every year, up to 40 castrated boys were delivered to the imperial court. Eunuchs for the most part came from poor families and did not get into the palace from a good life - poor parents who did not have a livelihood often sold their sons. Boys for this role were traditionally chosen mainly from the Hejiang region of Hebei province. In the palace, they were made apprentices to old eunuchs and paid them a small salary.

The emperor of the Middle Kingdom could have up to 3 thousand eunuchs, princes and princesses - up to 30 eunuchs each, younger children and nephews - up to 20, their cousins ​​- up to 10. Little eunuchs, somewhere from the age of five, were especially valued at court. They were used as fun or entertainment by the ladies of the court. They were called "immaculate". From 10 to 15 years old they were already called - little eunuchs, they were intended for domestic service. Older eunuchs were assigned to elderly and old ladies.

Special departments at the courtyard were responsible for castration, and there were also independent castration specialists whose craft was passed from one family member to another. Before the operation, they calcined the knife on the fire, and then they were operated on. Fatal outcome was quite rare in 3-6%. But often the boys were castrated privately, without resorting to the help of specialists. The Russian doctor of medicine Korsakov, who lived in China since 1895, observed and described castration procedures. “First, a complete local anesthesia of the genital parts is done with some kind of secret remedy, so that the operated person does not feel pain.

With a quick sweep, the genitals are cut off. A wooden or tin button in the form of a nail is inserted into the opening of the urethra. The wound is washed with water and diluted pepper. Then soft Chinese paper moistened with fresh water is placed on the wound and everything is tightly bandaged. Then the operated person is lifted up and led around the room for two or three hours, allowing the body juices to resume their correct rotation. For 3 days the patient does not eat or drink anything, and after that the bandage is lifted and the patient is allowed to urinate.

If urine flows freely, then he is considered cured. Full recovery lasts about 3 and a half months, while in many cases complications of the bladder are not uncommon. The eunuchs were responsible for the order in which the concubines of the harem had to bow to the emperor, it was the retinue and honorary guards for the imperial exits, they maintained order at all festivities. In addition, the eunuchs were in charge of both the emperor's harem itself and the selection of girls for this harem. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were more than 3,000 eunuchs in the imperial palace. They were divided into 2 categories.

The first served the emperor, the empress, the mother of the emperor and the imperial concubines, they usually enjoyed special privileges. The second is everyone else. The duties of eunuchs were varied. They should have been during the sleep and awakening of the Son of Heaven and his household. For example, when Cixi retired, her bedroom was guarded by 6 eunuchs, they were awake all night. In the bedroom itself there were 2 eunuchs who were also awake. Eunuchs took part in the emperor's meal, had to constantly accompany his retinue, carry umbrellas and other imperial attributes. Their duties included: distributing imperial decrees, escorting officials and foreign guests and diplomats to an audience with the emperor, receiving money from treasurers outside the court, familiarizing various departments of the Court Department with documents, and providing fire protection for residential premises in the palace.

Eunuchs were instructed to monitor the storage of books in libraries, antiques, paintings, clothes, etc. They lit aromatic candles in front of the spirits of the emperors' ancestors, registered the deeds of the monarch, punished the guilty with a whip, cleaned the palace gardens and parks, cut the emperor's hair, prepared medicines, played in the palace theater, and read prayers. Often they performed the duties of priests in the imperial court. The emperor had his own harem. The number of inhabitants of the harem was not limited by any limits and could reach several thousand women. The Son of Heaven was supposed to have one legal wife-empress, 9 wives of the second rank, 27 of the third, and 81 concubines. Moreover, the composition of the concubines was updated from time to time. Every 3 years, the bride was held in the imperial palace when the emperor was looking for a bride. The daughters of virgin officials from 12 to 16 years old participated in the bride.

The emperor chose those of them. Who especially liked him. The concubines had to remain in the harem until the age of 25, and then, if they did not have children, they were removed from the palace. The concubines of the mothers of children, from the emperor, could claim the role of the wife of the emperor and the empress - the wife of the Son of Heaven. It is well known that Cixi was selected by a eunuch on the bride for her beautiful appearance to replenish the emperor's harem. Usually eunuchs brought concubines to the bed of the emperor. The Son of Heaven, wanting to spend the night with a concubine, ordered the chief eunuch to deliver her to his chambers. If the eunuchs brought the concubines to the emperor’s bedroom, then he came to his wife himself and for a time that was not limited by anything. “Describing my childhood,” recalled Emperor Pu Yi, “it is impossible not to mention the eunuchs.

They were present when I ate, dressed and slept, accompanied me to games and classes, told me stories, received rewards and punishments from me. If others were forbidden to be with me, then it was a duty for eunuchs. They were my main childhood companions, my slaves and my first teachers. According to the memoirs of Emperor Pu Yi, the most eunuchs were in the Ming era (1368-1644) - 10,000 people. Under Empress Cixi, their number exceeded 3 thousand. In 1922. there were 1137 of them, two years later there were 200 of them, and in 1945 - only 10 people. The work of ordinary eunuchs at the imperial court was not paid very high, and in the history of China there are many cases when eunuchs at the emperor's court were engaged in embezzlement, appropriating someone else's property.

If a eunuch was caught stealing, he was immediately beheaded. Almost every month there were reports in the government newspaper that one or another eunuch was sentenced to beheading or to exile. According to Chinese data, under Cixi, more than 30 eunuchs died, unable to withstand torture. During the reign of Emperor Yingzong (1457-1464) in the Ming time, more than 60 storerooms of gold and silver, and more than 20 corals were found in the possession of the eunuch Wang Zhen after his death. According to Pu Yi, the unimaginable was going on inside the palace “Since childhood, I have constantly heard that thefts, fires and even murders take place in the palace, not to mention gambling and smoking opium. To put an end to these constant problems, I decided to dismiss all the eunuchs as unnecessary, leaving only 170 eunuchs in the palace, who serve two concubines-mothers. Eunuchs tried to have children, at least adopted ones, or raised their nephews.

A Chinese ruler (not necessarily an emperor) must have one first wife, 3 wives of the first rank, 9 wives of the second rank, 27 wives of the third rank and 81 concubines. Odd numbers correspond to the forces of nature favorable for men and male potency (even numbers are favorable for women). So three means strong male potency, three times three, or nine, - super-strong potency, and so on. court women, nu-shi, were responsible for observing the schedule of visiting women by the Ruler in accordance with the days lunar calendar and the rank of women. He visited wives of lower ranks more often than wives of high ranks, and usually before meeting them. The first wife had sex with her husband only once a month, and his seed, ching, should not be exhausted by women of lower ranks. The ruler communicated with the concubines, locking up the ching to save the precious gift for the wives.

Taoist manuals imply a woman's obligatory orgasm so that a man, along with vaginal juices, can get yin needed for him yang. This is what the whole technique of sex is aimed at. Kisses, caresses with hands and mouth were recommended for warming up. The notion that the Chinese did not know kissing is completely wrong, they just did not kiss in public.Coition was recommended to begin when the woman is excited. But foreplay played a modest role in a woman's path to orgasm. The sexual act itself meant much more. It used a change in the type of shocks jade peak, a variety of positions and, most importantly, a delay in ejaculation, giving a margin of time to bring a woman to orgasm.
The physician of the 7th century Li Dong Xian, known as the Most Noble Dong Xian-tzu, devoted to the technique of pushes (frictions) of the "jade rod" 7 of the 16 chapters of his book. He describes 9 types of pushes:
1. To direct to the right and to the left, as if a brave warrior is trying to break through the ranks of enemies.
2. Move up and down like a wild horse kicking in a river.
3. Pull out and bring closer, like a flock of seagulls playing on the waves.
4. Quickly alternate deep thrusts and small, teasing blows, like a sparrow pecking at the remains of rice in a mortar.
5. Monotonously deliver deep and shallow blows, like a large stone sinking into the sea.
6. Approach slowly, like a snake crawling into a wintering hole.
7. Push quickly, like a frightened rat rushes into a hole.
8. Balance, then strike like an eagle grabbing an elusive hare.
9. Lift, then sink, like a big sailboat braves a storm.
"Most Noble Dong" described various types of shocks: deep, shallow, straight, oblique, fast, slow. Each description looks like a metaphor. The slow push is like "moving a carp playing with a hook"; fast - to "the flight of a flock of birds flying against the wind." Tao teachers attached particular importance to the alternation of shocks of different depths. All Taoists agreed that nine small shocks and one deep one is the best combination, originating in ancient times. After all, pure maiden Su-nu told about them Yellow Emperor:
"Emperor Huangdi: - And what is the method of nine small and one deep?
Su-nu: - It means just pushing 9 times shallow and 1 deep. Each hit must match your movement. Depth between lute string and black pearl(from 2.5 to 10 cm) is called shallow; between little stream and own chute(from 7.5 to 12.5 cm) deep. If pushed too lightly, the couple may not get the full enjoyment; if it's too deep, they can hurt themselves."
important and total number shocks. Taoist literature often speaks of a thousand pushes to satisfy a woman. This may seem excessive, but in fact, this is a half-hour sexual intercourse (1800 seconds), and even in a slow rhythm. For a man who can lock ching, half an hour of sex is quite a feasible task. Considerable importance was also given to the postures of love. The manuals on "The Art of the Marriage Chambers" describe 4 basic and 26 variants of positions for approaching a man to a woman. The main postures are: 1. close union(man on top), 2. unicorn horn(woman on top), 3. tight attachment(man and woman lie on their side, face to face), 4. moon fish(man enters from behind). Variants of postures are named after animal movements:
1. Silkworms bind tightly- the woman hugs the man's neck and weaves her legs on his back.
2. Dragons are twisted into a loop- a man from above, with his left hand, bends the woman's legs to her chest; right enters jade stem in jade gate.
3. Pisces connect their eyes- a man lies on his side face to face with a woman, raising her leg with his hand.
4. loving swallows- men lies on a woman, hugging her neck, and she his waist.
5. United piebald kingfishers- a woman lies with her legs relaxed; a man sits on his knees with his leg crossed, like northern barbarians hu and holding her by the waist.
6. Tangled tangerine ducks- the woman lies on her side, bending her legs so that the man can enter from the back.
7. Butterflies tumbling in the air- a variant of the pose of a woman on top.
8. Rolling over flying mallards- the man lies, and the woman sits facing his feet.
9. Tilting pine tree- man on top a woman cross-legged, wraps them around a man; with their hands they hold each other by the waist.
10. Bamboo clinging to the altar- a man and a woman stand face to face, hugging and kissing.
11. Dance of two female phoenixes- a man and two women participate; one lies on her back, legs raised up, the other lies on her so that her yin was over yin first woman; a man sits with his legs stretched out and spread apart and jade rod militantly attacks the upper and lower yin.
12. Phoenix carries a chick- the pose is especially suitable for a large woman and a small man.
13. Soaring sea gulls- the man stands at the edge of the bed and, holding the woman's legs, enters her.
14. Galloping wild horses- man on top the woman's legs are on his shoulders.
15. galloping horse- the woman lies; a man on his haunches, with his left arm around her neck, and with his right he raises her legs.
16. The horse kicks- the woman lies, the man puts one of her legs on his shoulder, the other leg sways.
17. white tiger jump- the woman is on her knees, her face is on the bed; the man kneels behind and holds her by the waist with his hands.
18. Dark cicada clings to a branch- the woman lies on her stomach, stretching her legs; the man holds her shoulders and enters from behind.
19. Goat in front of a tree- the man sits with his legs stretched out and spread apart, the woman sits with his back turned, he holds her by the waist.
20. Yellow heron at the playground- a man sits on his knees with his leg crossed, like northern barbarians hu, and enters a woman sitting facing him, and the other behind him, pulls the first one by the skirts of her clothes, speeding up her movements.
21. Phoenix flutters in the red cave- the man is on top, the woman lies on her back and holds her legs raised up with her hands.
22. A huge bird reigns over the dark sea- the man holds the woman's legs on his forearms, hugging his waist with his arms.
23 Screaming monkey hugging a tree- a man sits with his legs stretched out; the woman sits on his lap, embracing the man with both arms; he supports her buttocks with one hand, her back with the other.
24. Cat and mouse share a burrow- a man lies on his back, legs relaxed, a woman lies on him; his jade pillar penetrates deep into it.
25. Donkey in the last jump- a woman stands on all fours, arching up; a man holding his waist enters from behind
26. dog in early autumn- a man and a woman on all fours are buttocks to each other; man enters jade pillar in jade gate.
From the listed positions, "Dog in early autumn"seems physically impossible, and "very entertaining", according to the Most Noble Dong, "Dance of two female phoenixes" and "Yellow heron at the site" required the participation of a man and two women, which was not a problem in old China with its harems and prostitution. At the end of intercourse, a female orgasm must necessarily come. The conversation continues between yellow emperor and pure maiden:
"...Huangdi: How does a man observe a woman's satisfaction?
Su-nu: There are five signs, five desires and ten directions. A man should observe these signs and react accordingly. The five signs are:
1. Her face turns red, her ears are hot. This means that thoughts of lovemaking have taken over her mind. At this point, the man should moderately initiate intercourse in a teasing manner, insert very shallowly, and wait, watching for further reactions.
2. Her nose is sweaty and her nipples are swollen. This means that the fire of her passion has risen somewhat. jade peak can go deep own gutter(12.5 cm), but not deeper. ...
3. When her voice goes down and dry and hoarse sounds come out of her throat, it means that passion has intensified. Her eyes are closed, her tongue sticks out, she breathes quickly and noticeably. At this time the male jade stem can freely enter and exit. Gradually the ecstasy approaches.
4. Her red ball richly lubricated and the fire of passion is close to the top, and each push causes the lubricant to flow out. His jade peak touches easily valleys of water chestnut teeth(5 cm). Now he can use one push left, one right, one slow and one fast, or something similar, depending on the desire.
5. When her golden lotuses rises as if she wants to hug a man with them, her fire and passion have reached the top. She wraps her legs around his waist and holds his arms around his shoulder and back. The tongue remains protruding. Here a man can enter the valley deep vault. Such deep thrusts allow her to achieve ecstasy with her whole body.
Another adviser to the inquisitive yellow emperor - maiden witch, advises him to choose women according to the seasons:
"A woman with a high entrance, shifted forward, is more suitable for intercourse in winter. A man can be above her as soon as they lie down in bed, covering his back with an embroidered blanket. He can enjoy without getting off, comfortably for himself, but since she will be warmed by his warmth, then she will not be dissatisfied.In summer, a woman with a low-lying entrance is preferable.She can sit on a cool marble slab in the shade of bamboo, lying on her side, and a man can sit behind her.Her gate has an ideal position for posture , called Build a fire behind the mountain. The woman for all four seasons is the one whose entrance is in the middle, having carefully studied the positions, she will be good in love in spring, summer, autumn and winter.
The Taoist "Arts of the Bridal Chamber" are designed to give men longevity and even immortality, an example of which is yellow emperor, ascended to heaven after the 1200th woman. But there are references that women can achieve the same. So Queen Mother of the West personality similar to yellow emperor, repeated his feat of immortality, absorbing the seed from countless youths unfamiliar with the art of locking ching. A woman can greatly "strengthen her blood" (achieve health and longevity) by receiving semen from young men, but without falling into an orgasm herself. Taoist sages believed that in sex there is a war of the sexes, where the one who brings the partner to orgasm wins, but he himself retains his liquid. Out of fear that women will start beating men with their own weapons, The Art of the Bridal Chamber is generally silent on female sex techniques.
From the very beginning, the Taoist teachings implied that life and health -it's harmony yin and yang, and diseases arise when harmony is disturbed. Death marks the destruction of the connection of these substances and the release of their energies. The human ratio yin and yang changes throughout life, and those living in it three worms contribute to sickness and decrepitude. You can get rid of them if you follow the advice of health and longevity received in due time. yellow emperor: - "combine with a large number young women, allowing only one ejaculation."
To maintain health, the Immortal Liu Jing recommended having sex with girls who have not yet given birth:
"You should take a young woman with developed but not yet formed breasts. She should have smooth hair, small and calm eyes, shiny skin and a euphonious voice; her bones and joints should be thin and not protruding, her pubis and armpits should not be hair, but if there is, it should be thin... Best to deal with inexperienced. A man should always sleep with young girls: thanks to this, his skin will become soft, like a girl's. But his partners should not be too young either : it is best if they are between 15 and 18 years old. In any case, not more than thirty. If she has already given birth, then intercourse for a man will be a waste of time. "
Most Noble Dong Xuanzi , the luminary of medicine of the 7th century, the author of the treatise "The Art of the Marriage Chambers", held similar views on the age of women, while noting the importance of orientation and time of intercourse:
"Harmony in the battle between yin and yang can be achieved when a man is twice as old as a woman. If a woman is twice as old as a man, he will suffer during intercourse. Next, we list the most favorable conditions for copulation. In spring, head should lie to the east, in summer - to the south, in autumn - to the west, in winter - to the north. Odd numbers of the calendar are preferable, the morning hours are especially beneficial. Even days, especially after noon, can be harmful."
The Taoists believed that sex in the right positions cured certain diseases, while the wrong ones caused them. To improve blood circulation they recommended that the woman lie on her side, bend one leg at the knee, and stretch the other. The man enters from behind, leaning on his hands, and makes six times nine pushes. It must be repeated 6 times a day for 20 days. Blood circulation improves and the woman gets rid of frigidity. Restorative- the woman lies on her back, her legs to her stomach, and the man abruptly pounces on her and makes nine times nine pushes. Repeat 9 times a day for 9 days. The course strengthens the bones and relieves the woman of the smell from the vagina. Against constipation- the man lies on his back, and the woman, leaning on her hands, sits on top of him. They start moving. When a woman reaches orgasm, you should stop. Repeat 9 times a day for 10 days.
The Chinese were extremely worried about the problem of impotence. I was also interested in the mystery of male impotence Yellow Emperor. The mystery of the transition from the formidable jade rod to a flaccid process occupied monks, scholars and poets. Below are poems on the theme written by a 17th-century author:
"What kind of mushroom has risen from the black moss here?
That Jade Stem rose to its full height.
His tender flesh trembles impatiently,
Hot blood often pulsates in the veins.
There will be a meeting with a girl of thirteen years
Or with a young boy - he is ready for battle.
But short life this fruit lives
Every time withering like a flower.
A modest skinny shrimp curl up in the grass
And he will remain miserable, motionless and quiet.
To strengthen male power, the Chinese ate tiger meat, shark fins and swallow nests, used potions and powders containing ginseng, algae, pine needles, deer antlers and rhinoceros horn, urine and semen of humans and animals, excrement of predators. One of the best means was considered "bald chicken powder." This powder was taken by Prince Chen Jingda after he was seventy years old. Thanks to the powder, he became the father of three sons, and his wife even got ulcers in the vagina from too frequent sex, and she threw the powder into the yard. There he was eaten by a rooster, after which he immediately jumped on a chicken. For several days he did not get off her and all this time he pecked at the top of her head until she was completely bald. The composition of the powder is known: three fan(1.1 g) saline cistanche (Cistanche salsa), three fan Chinese magnolia vine (Schisandra chinensis), three feng seeds of Japanese dodder (Cuscuta japonica), three fan thin-leaved (Polygala tenuifolia), four fan(1.5 g) Monnier Root Seeds (Cnidium Monnieri). Crush the substances, sift, mix and take every day on an empty stomach with a tablespoon of wine.
The Chinese were inferior to the northern barbarians, especially the "raw barbarians" (whites) in the size of male dignity. Perhaps this is the origin of a kind of inferiority complex and the desire to increase the "jade stem" by any means. Fearing that the "stalk" would dry out during the heat, the peasants of Guangdong Province in the 14th century wore bags of water in their pants and soaked their property in them. To lengthen the "stem" they used a variety of means - from savage, such as implanting pieces of an excited dog's penis into a dissected "jade stem", to Taoist stretching exercises. Medicines were also used, and not only to increase the "stem", but also to narrow the "jade gates". Means for women are striking in their ease of manufacture. It is necessary to take sulfur - 4 fans and the source of thin-leaved - 2 fans. Grind and place in a bag of taffeta into the "jade gate". Another remedy is even better - sulfur 2 fan; cattail flowers narrowed (Typha angustata) - 2 fan. Throw three pinches into one sheng of boiling water. Wash the jade gates with this infusion. In 20 days they will become like a girl's.
For a long time, Confucianism and Taoism did not intersect on the issue of sex. Confucians did not invade the Taoist possessions ("the art of the bed", feng shui, astrology, manual martial arts), limiting themselves to the doctrine of government and relations in society and the family. Confucius (551-479 BC) considered the attraction of the flesh as a natural property of people. He wrote: "Food, drink and sexual intimacy of man and woman form the basis of human desires." He pointed out the importance of sex in the family and considered it an obligatory duty of the husband:
"Neglect of wives and concubines is a violation of the harmony of Heaven, earth and man. Until the age of fifty, a husband must visit the pleasure pavilion of his wives once every three days, his concubines once every five days, and go to other maids at his discretion. The main wife may be in the bedroom during the intercourse of the husband with the concubine, whom she then has the right to send back, but she herself can stay with her husband until the end of the night. This shows respect for the position that the wife occupies.
AT family life Confucius put a woman unconditionally lower than a man, but he called for sincere and harmonious family relations. Over time, the Confucians adopted the Taoist ideas about the health benefits of sex, but avoided the mystical extremes of the doctrine. So they didn't believe that yellow emperor ascended to heaven because he had a harem of 1200 women. For a thousand and a half years, Confucianism and Taoism coexisted peacefully, and Confucianism's restrictions on sex were limited only to the prohibition of ancient rituals with group sex and the requirement of virginity for brides who marry.
At the end of the 1st millennium of the new era, Confucianism underwent a reformation and turned to the primary sources - Confucius and his students. For the family and society, the problems of ethics and morality were put at the forefront. Neo-Confucians condemned the upper strata of society for their passion for sex, which undermined their health and made them incapable of state activity. The persecution of Taoism began, as a result of which it turned into a secret teaching, and Taoist sex manuals disappeared in China and survived only in Japan. The division of the sexes in everyday life and in society has intensified, it has become indecent to enter the female half of the house without warning, touch the hand of a strange woman and expose your body. The ongoing changes were also influenced by Buddhism, which spread in China from the first centuries of the new era. Buddhism introduced into the Chinese consciousness the concept of sin and sinful sexual behavior, Hell for sinners and the virtues of sexual abstinence. Appeared male and female Buddhist monasteries where monks and nuns lived in asceticism.
Taoism, persecuted by the Confucians, retreated to the monasteries created after the example of the Buddhist ones. Like the Buddhist monks, the Taoists became ascetics, however, peculiar - with a tense member, they were engaged in erotic meditation. Unity yang and yin Taoists searched in their body. Assuming that the pole yang- heart, and pole yin- genitals, they were looking for their unity in a mystical union. In accordance with the transformation of energies, the essence yang heart gives rise to a pure girl, and the essence yin the womb produces the divine boy. In order for a Taoist to achieve immortality, a girl and a boy must marry. The wedding should take place in a place located 3 cm below the navel - the matchmaker lives there, "Kind Woman Yellow" ; then the young settle in the "red chambers" of the heart; as a result of their union, an immortal embryo is born, which gradually grows and fills the mortal body.
At the end of the XII beginning of the XIII centuries. Neo-Kofucianism became the official ideology of China. Buddhism and, moreover, the disgraced Taoism, have become auxiliary religions for private life. The arrival of the Manchu Qing dynasty in the 17th century further strengthened the dominant position of the Neo-Kofucians. The personal life of the Chinese became more and more closed to outsiders, and Taoist works on sex were often destroyed. These persecutions did not lead to the triumph of asceticism in China, but they deprived sex of the religious significance that it had during the heyday of Taoism.
The neo-Confucians were not in vain criticized the mighty of the world this for promiscuity. Sex was the main occupation of the emperors, who served as a role model for the upper strata of society. Chinese emperors held numerous titles - Son of Heaven, Master of the Universe, Dragon. The latter title implies the emperor's draconic sexual powers. At birth, the dragon ruler received a supernatural amount of life force qi, which constantly had to be nourished by the female substance yin. The sex life of the Dragon was not fun, but a matter of state, and the most important. The emperors and their court treated it this way. You can list sexual exploits for a long time Dragons(as well as dragon), but to save space, let's dwell on some (only some!) Achievements of Emperor Sui Yang-di (7th century AD).
The famous emperor began by ordering the construction of the "Dragon Palace" - the greatest palace that history has known. The palace was built in a walled park spread over a hundred square kilometers, in the center of the park was an artificial lake five meters wide. whether(two and a half kilometers). Sixteen palaces for wives, concubines and servants stood on the shore (the emperor had 91 wives and 3000 concubines). During walks in the park on horseback or in a palanquin, Yang-di was accompanied by a thousand concubines. For sudden urges dragon passions at a distance of two whether small pavilions were lined up from each other. When Yangdi entered one of them in the company of selected girls, the rest of the attendants sang the Emperor's favorite songs.
With the completion of the construction of the Great Canal, Yang-di built a fleet of two thousand boats and set sail on it. The most beautiful were ten "dragon rooks". Each boat, ninety meters long and fifteen meters high, had four decks. One hundred and twenty cabins were lined with jade and decorated with gold. The furniture was covered with the skins of tigers, bears and leopards. A thousand wives and concubines, musicians and jesters were placed on the "dragon boats", and part of the imperial treasures were also carried here. Five hundred rooks of the second rank carried servants and provisions. A thousand rooks of the third rank closed the movement of the squadron. Ministers, military leaders, monks, foreign ambassadors, scientists, eunuchs sailed on them. Yang-di had a clear understanding of the criteria for the value of his subjects.
Traveling on water allowed Yang-di to appreciate the virtues of sex on a rocking boat. He decided to have something similar on land and ordered to build a 1.5 km long road around one of the palaces. The entire surface of the road consisted of bumps, and when a carriage rolled along it, then, thanks to shaking, lovers could copulate without moving. There were also seven "glorious chariots" - carts in the shape of coffins, each containing a concubine, ready to receive the emperor. Yang-di began his walk early in the morning and after breakfast in the royal carriage he moved to the first of the "glorious chariots". During the day he visited all the chariots and, according to legend, "usually returned to the palace after dark."
The highest embodiment of Yangdi's sexual fantasies was the palace Labyrinth, Mi low chi. The palace consisted of a labyrinth of corridors and passages, with walls covered with polished bronze mirrors. There were no windows, and hidden lamps emitted a steady, subdued color. There, naked beauties reclined on couches and there were fountains of wine. When the emperor appeared in the palace, the eunuchs freed him from his clothes and put on him the skin of a leopard. The emperor, to the accompaniment of gongs, bells, drums and the singing of naked palace girls, began his rounds Labyrinth. Having drunk wine from a four-liter golden mug and aroused dragon spirit, he went to water procedures. The emperor spent ten days in the palace, overcame a myriad of last limits(female orgasms) and briefly left the palace to accomplish other great affairs of state.
Water procedures in the imperial palaces meant not only initiation to the juices yin, but also real games on the water. And not only emperors. Often, some nobleman with concubines swam in a boat in a vast pool, and eunuchs on the shore drove a wave, swinging the boat to give the owner additional sensations. Were the rich and glorious chariots. A bumpy path was made in the garden and an ox or a donkey pulled a cart with a copulating pair. Sometimes, as can be seen in the old drawing, dogs were harnessed to the wagon, which, however, hardly affected the process. But back to the imperial court. According to the ceremonial, which was preserved until the beginning of the 20th century, the emperor, in addition to the wife-empress, could have one huang gui fei -"imperial precious mistress", two gui fey -"precious mistresses", four fairies -"mistresses", six binh -"cohabitants", and numerous "helpful ladies" of various ranks. Their Chinese names are flowery: the lowest-ranking concubines were guizhen,"precious people", and girls from the palace servants - "answering consent." To make the concubine happy, the emperor needed the permission of his wife, moreover, in writing, and with a seal. The concubine was stripped naked, smeared with incense, wrapped in a blanket of heron down, and the eunuch brought her straight to bed Dragon. After a decent time, the chief eunuch, who was on duty outside the door, shouted: "Has a great deed been accomplished?" Having received confirmation, the eunuchs entered, wrapped the concubine and carried it away. But before that, the chief eunuch, kneeling down, asked: "Leave or not?" If the answer was "no", then the eunuch pressed on the woman's stomach and squeezed out the "dragon seed". If the emperor said "leave", then the month, day and hour were recorded in the palace book when the Dragon made the concubine happy, in case she becomes pregnant (the Chinese count life from the moment of conception).
Despite the triumph of neo-Confucian morality, wealthy citizens enjoyed the joys of a sensual life. In addition to wives and concubines, prostitutes were at their service. Brothels - "green towers", appeared in China as early as the 7th century BC. Their foundation is associated with the official Guan Zhong, who made prostitution a source of income for the country. State "green towers" existed for almost 2 thousand years. They flourished especially during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 906), when emperors, scholars and poets sought the company of the best of the "fallen leaves". These courtesans not only sang, danced and played music, but were well educated, they themselves composed poems and songs, and one of them, Yu Xuanji (844 - 871), became an outstanding poetess. But most fallen leaves, also referred to as "quails", "partridges" or simply "hens", served the townspeople. They were divided into categories - from the kept women of wealthy merchants to "barracks girls" . At the lowest level were "sea whores", serving, in addition to the Chinese, foreign sailors and other "overseas devils."
However, not only "sea whores" worked near the water - in China, with its rivers, canals and sea bays, floating brothels called "flower boats" were common. The best of them were real floating palaces, with their own baths and restaurants, and the most modest were simple sampans, curtained along the sides with a sail. Regardless of the class of "flower boats", the client was always treated to tea, were polite to him, and a preliminary conversation about money was considered impolite. The services of prostitutes were used not only by young men studying the art of "cloud and rain", but by the fathers of families. Sex with prostitutes was considered not only pleasant, but useful - after all, "partridges" or "hens", as the prostitutes were called, acquired a powerful yin through their labors, strengthening the yang of a man. It was only in the 16th century that Chinese doctors realized that, in addition to yin, "hens" bring venereal diseases. Gradually, the state "green houses" are replaced by private ones, and with the advent of the Manchu Qing dynasty (XVII century), the state abandoned the management of prostitution.

Before the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C. conquered several feudal states and founded the Celestial Empire, the origins of Chinese civilization were scattered over several fragmented kingdoms ...
Lord of the Universe (such was one of the titles of the Son of Heaven - Chinese emperor) ruled over an area that stretched from Korea to Burma and Tibet. However, regardless of whether he had the title of king or emperor, the life of the court was full of magnificent extravagances. Which could only be afforded by absolute rulers, who expected loyalty and complete obedience from their subjects.
Regardless of whether this or that dynasty reigned for a long time or not, whether the court followed the teachings of Confucius, Lao Tzu or Buddha, whether the rulers were generous people or tyrants, men or women, the sex life of the owner of the throne was of paramount importance. Successive dynasties took for granted the fact that following the principles of yin-yang is an integral part of the overall Universal Harmony. The sexual union of a man and a woman is like the union of Heaven and Earth. And the emperor and his wives were considered the highest manifestation of such a union.

The emperor thus became in the eyes of the people a symbol of potency, and it was believed that he had a superhuman supply of qi, that is, the Life Force. To replenish this supply of qi, a constant influx of female yin energy was required. And for this purpose, the ruler kept with him numerous wives and concubines. So, according to the legends, the Yellow Emperor had three thousand concubines and made a Royal Conjunction with one thousand two hundred of them throughout his life.
Given the enormous social and religious significance that was attached to sexual intercourse, and the opinion that the harmony of the life of the whole society directly depends on the satisfaction of the sexual needs of the ruler, it is not surprising that this side of court life was not limited to the imperial bedchamber. In many of his palaces, the emperor and his courtiers staged orgies and sexual carnivals while indulging in all sorts of whims. All this was usually explained by the fact that they thus contribute to the overall harmony of yin-yang created by society.
As a graphic illustration of court customs in feudal states that existed a thousand years before the formation of the empire, one can cite the life of Zhou Xin (1154-1122 BC), a king from the Yin dynasty.
The thinker and philosopher Sima Qian in his "Historical Notes" says that the king "had the physique of a bull, while possessing the flexibility of a tiger." Zhou Xin kept himself in shape with the help of constant exercises and duels, which included martial arts with wild animals in an arena specially built for this, as well as fights simultaneously with several of his the best warriors. He also perfectly mastered the techniques of Chinese and a number of other martial arts. With his bare hands, he smashed stones and boards into pieces.
His exploits were not limited to combat duels. In his palace he kept one queen, three chief wives, nine wives of the second rank, twenty-seven wives of the third rank, and eighty-one concubines. The palace staff also consisted of three thousand girls to participate in holidays, feasts and other entertainments, where they could demonstrate their virtues and skills. He gathered the courtiers around the same arena in which he arranged fights and surprised them with his sexual exploits. One of the feats was that he walked around the arena in the arms of a naked woman, straddling his aroused cock. In one hand, at the same time, he held a fried veal leg, in the other - a two-liter bronze goblet with wine, and, washing down the meat with wine, forced the woman, who wrapped her legs around his waist and uttered voluptuous moans, to move up and down his indefatigable penis, thus leading to indescribable delight of the audience.

However, after a few years, Zhou Xin's potency began to weaken and, not believing that he could be subjected to health disorders that occur in mere mortals, he accused his court physician of giving him the wrong advice.
At one time, the healer convinced the ruler to live according to the ancient commandment of the Yellow Emperor, the essence of which was to "copulate every night with ten different women without spending your Dragon Seed (sperm)". Zhou Xin also considered this advice the reason that his wives had only daughters, but no sons. The doctor was beheaded. All women, except for official wives, were returned to their families, and the king founded a new harem for himself.
Zhou Xin instructed special court ladies (tongguan) to keep records of their royal connections to confirm the legitimacy of children. Subsequently, the maintenance of such records was entrusted to the palace eunuchs, and for the first time the position of tongguan was officially introduced precisely at the court of Zhou Xin. The duties of the tongguan also included the organization of sexual contacts of the ruler and the selection of girls for every night. In the royal bedroom, a special chair was installed, sitting in which, tongguan watched what was happening, making sure that the Royal Connection really took place. To register the Royal Connections, special red brushes were used. In later times, a special genre of erotic literature appeared - "Stories written with a red brush."
Tunguan also enforced strict adherence to individual "visiting schedules." The wives of the king, who occupied a higher position, were allowed to be in his company as long as he himself wished, and the concubines had to leave the royal bedroom before dawn. Palace girls, whose position was considered the lowest, were sent away immediately after the Royal Union. Those who managed to give special pleasure to their master received a silver ring as a gift, and if conception occurred at the same time, then in return silver woman received gold. However, not a single woman received a golden ring from Zhou Xin for the birth of a son or daughter. And he continued to fight furiously in the arena with wild animals and warriors, to the delight of his courtiers.
At this time, his harem was replenished with new girls, among whom was Taji. "More beautiful than a peony and a lotus" - so the Lord of the Universe called her. She was so charming and had a special gift that she managed to save the king from impotence. According to surviving records, her behavior during her wedding night with Zhou Xin was bold and unbridled. He didn't even believe she was a virgin. Only after the tongguan raised a lamp above them and the emperor saw blood on his organ and on a silk sheet, he was convinced of her innocence. Taji instantly became Zhou Xin's favorite and was elevated to the rank of official wife. Because of her, he began to ignore his other wives and concubines.
Her influence on the king and her ability to bring great joy to the ruler caused her to be considered a "fox woman" (the so-called nymphomaniacs and those who were possessed by evil spirits). It is difficult to say how right those who called Taji, Zhou Xin's beloved wife, were right in that she was a nymphomaniac. However, her needs have increased so much that even her formidable husband could not afford. The potency of the master, which she once restored, again became a source of concern for him. But, before he began to look for those responsible for this, Taji persuaded him to significantly invest in new entertainment.
In addition to the unprecedented scale of the orgies organized at the court, she took an active part in the creation of the "wine lake" and "meat forest". The lake, which had a diameter of several hundred meters, was filled with expensive wine, and pieces of roasted meat were strung on each branch of the nearby forest. The purpose of this garden of abundance was to restore to the orgies their pagan simplicity. In the midst of this abundance, where it was enough to reach out to a tree or scoop up wine from a lake to quench thirst and hunger, the emperor and his wife, surrounded by three thousand naked warriors from the palace guards and the same number of palace girls, spent days and nights in enjoyment.
For the people of China, such folly meant a constant increase in taxes and feudal rent. Outraged by the new exactions, the people of Zhou Xin rebelled against him. But soon the rebellion was easily suppressed, and its leaders were captured, sentenced to torture and beheaded.
Taji showed her ingenuity here too, inventing torture, which was often used by emperors in subsequent times. The victim was placed in a metal cylinder three meters long, coated with fat on the outside. The cylinder was then hung horizontally over a deep pit in which a blazing fire burned. As the cylinder heated up, the victim had the choice of roasting inside the cylinder or jumping out of it into the flames of the fire. Usually the latter was chosen.
In the notes on the life of Zhou Xin, compositions of stimulants are given, which were often used by the king-lover.
1. "Three-day bliss."
Soy, bovine penis, fresh ginseng root and dried human placenta.
2. "Heavenly Thunder".
The tongues of a hundred peacocks seasoned with hot peppers from the Eastern Provinces and the sperm of puberty boys.
3. "Lion on the hunt."
Slow-cooked bear paws seasoned with crushed rhinoceros horn and distilled urine (gender not specified).
But Zhou Xin was not destined to enjoy his garden of pleasures, or pleasures with Taji, or regular doses of "three days of bliss" for long. At the age of thirty-two, he was deposed and beheaded...
The luxurious lifestyle of the kings of antiquity, however, cannot be compared with that of some of the ambitious emperors of later times, among whom there were individuals of extraordinary talent.
One such ruler was Emperor Yandi (581-618 AD) of the Sui Dynasty. To take the throne he had to kill his father and brothers; and he strengthened his own rights to the empire, destroying most of his close relatives. However, as soon as his power became absolute, he directed his frantic energy in a more constructive direction.

He began with the fact that he decided to build the greatest of the palaces on earth, gathering for this purpose two million workers of his empire. Outside, the palace was adorned with the finest marbles in a wide variety of hues, while inside it was decorated and furnished "with an extravagance that has become a heavy burden even for the rich treasury of the most prosperous empire in the universe." Yandi Palace was located in a walled park of one hundred and twenty square kilometers, in the center of which an artificial lake about three kilometers wide was built. On the shores of the lake, sixteen palaces were erected for concubines and palace women. According to historians, it was from moonlight boat trips, originating from the steps of these palaces, that Yandi's tendency to make love on boats, swaying on the waves born by a light breeze, appeared.
Yandy also decided to outwit the laws of nature with their constant change of seasons. To do this, he hired a whole army of gardeners who were supposed to replace the falling yellow leaves and withered flower petals with their exact copies made of satin and tissue paper, and lotuses were supposed to decorate the lake in summer and winter.

During Yandi's walks in the park, he was accompanied by a thousand palace girls. And since he was prone to sudden attacks of sexual desire, pavilions were built in the park, surrounded by a low fence, at an insignificant distance from each other. When he, in the company of the girls he had chosen, retired to one of the pavilions in order to indulge in love pleasures, the rest gathered around, sang and played the emperor's favorite melodies. One of the paintings reflecting this period of time captures the moment when Yandi, in the company of three women, enjoys the Royal Conjunction in one of these pavilions. He stands near a high bed, on which lies a naked girl, whose legs are lifted and spread apart by two others, standing on either side of the emperor. Only one hand of each of them is occupied with this. With the other hand, the girls raise the emperor's bright robes and guide his Jade Stem to the Realm of Pleasure...
When the palace was completed, Yandi mobilized two million more workers in addition to the already existing two million and sent them to build the Grand Canal, which was to connect the waterways from north to south. The channel was 750 km long, 6 m deep and 18 m wide. Trees were planted along the banks of the canal and forty travel palaces of Shingun were built for the stops of the emperor during water travels. The construction of the Grand Canal not only made it possible to travel from north to south, but also required the creation of an appropriate fleet.
Yandy again took up the matter, sparing neither money nor manpower. And when the fleet was finally built and began cruising the canal, it numbered almost two thousand junks. The most magnificent among them were ten "dragon" junks, especially the imperial one. Each of them, 90 meters long and 15 meters high, had four decks, which housed 120 cabins, decorated with jade and gold decorations. The floor and walls were decorated with tiger, bear and leopard skins, which further emphasized the luxury of the interior decoration.
The "dragon" junks housed a thousand wives and concubines, musicians and artists, as well as part of the imperial treasury. They were followed by five hundred "second class" junks with palace girls, servants and food supplies. At the end of this line of ships followed a thousand junks of the "third category", which traveled the ministers of the court, Buddhist and Taoist monks, foreign ambassadors, scholars, eunuchs and military leaders.
Historians of that era have left colorful descriptions of such journeys. The books tell about the two-month journey of the imperial armada along the canal. The picture of fleet towing, which was used when there was no favorable wind and current, is impressively described. Eighty thousand servants in exquisite silk robes formed a wall of brilliant colors on both sides of the canal, and the silk ropes that diverged in all directions from the junks were like a sparkling cobweb. Willows, planted along the banks at a short distance from each other, created a pleasant shade; the air was filled with a delicate fragrance of perfume emanating from concubines and palace girls. It seemed that the whole fleet was saturated with incense ... With a light breeze, the inhabitants of the villages, located at a distance of up to ten kilometers from the canal, knew that Emperor Yandi was now sailing along it with his wives, concubines and retinue.
The indefatigable emperor, making love with great pleasure on the light waves of the Grand Canal, decided to experience similar sensations on land. To begin with, he built a circular track about a kilometer in circumference, which had a wavy surface. Therefore, a wagon with people enjoying intimacy passing over this surface, swaying, gave them even more pleasure. A more refined variation on the "love on wheels" theme was the construction of the "seven wondrous chariots". They could be attributed to the wonders of the world, rather due to their loud name. These chariots looked more like coffins than wagons. In each of these chariots lay a concubine, waiting for the emperor to grace her with his attention. Rising early in the morning, Yandi's favorite entertainment was to go for a ride in the "wonderful chariot", have a good breakfast on the go, and then get sexual pleasure in the company of his concubines. Throughout the day, he reclined with each of the girls he chose, and his masculine strength was so great that he returned to the palace only at sunset.
He showed the greatest ingenuity when creating an erotic palace called "Labyrinth". In notes about the palace, the historian calls it a sweet dream, from which one does not want to wake up. Perhaps the palaces built in Ottoman Empire and the Mughal empires, were distinguished by great splendor, and the exploits of their rulers were more cruel and bloodthirsty; however, the Chinese emperors remained unsurpassed in the variety of sensual pleasures.
The palace was a labyrinth of corridors and rooms, each wall covered with polished bronze mirrors. Movement around the palace required touch rather than sight, as the reflections in the mirrors were very weak. There were no windows in the palace, and hidden lanterns were placed to create an even, subdued illumination. The interior was simple: mats and couches on which the most beautiful women of the imperial harem reclined, and fountains with wine instead of water located in the corners of the rooms. The sounds of soft and light music played by groups of naked girls rang through the palace.
Yandy considered visiting the "Labyrinth" palace, where the air was filled with the aroma of delicate incense, the ultimate test of his potency. In the palace, he was met by especially trusted eunuchs, who freed him from ordinary clothes and put on him the skin of a leopard. To the accompaniment of musical instruments and the singing of the concubines, who in unison wished him many years of life, the emperor, first of all, aroused the "draconian spirit" in himself, enjoying wine from his four-liter golden bowl, and then sending the eunuchs away - went directly to the purpose of his visit. Being a strong and temperamental man, the "Royal Leopard" spent two weeks in the palace before allowing the days-long "heavenly night" to finally give way to dawn...
Ten years after the construction of the "Labyrinth", the reign of Emperor Yandi came to an end. Once, when the palace girls were helping him to dress, he looked at himself in the mirror. "What a wonderful head I have," he said thoughtfully. - "And what a strong neck. I wonder who is destined to separate my head from my neck?" His forebodings turned out to be prophetic. Rebels attacked his palace. Their leader did not cut off the head of the emperor, but strangled him with his own hands...

One of the emperors of ancient China sailed in a canoe on wine lakes, made by his order

When the reign of Di Xin settled down, and life became more or less measured, the successor of the family of the great dynasty began to look for ways to amuse his Majesty, sometimes these were truly strange things.

He commissioned the construction of a pool of wine and a meat island. Yes, yes, in the truest sense. It was a reservoir of impressive size, man-made and filled with liquid. To understand the size: several canoes could easily fit on the surface of such a lake. The middle of the "reservoir", as a rule, was decorated with an island with trees, the branches of which were hung with meat. Dee and his concubines spent their evenings drifting in canoes, drinking wine and eating deli meats.

It is obvious that such behavior of the ruler of a great power did not arouse the approval of the population. As a result, when the uprisings against Di Xin began, he committed suicide, his paradise lakes and islands were destroyed, and subsequent rulers strictly forbade their subjects from drinking alcohol.

The desire to prove his power ruined Emperor Wu

Emperor Wu had a fairly muscular physique and was very fond of demonstrating his power. For him, physical strength was above all. He removed all the objectionable from his inner circle, leaving only real strongmen who passed a tough selection.

The passion for demonstrating physical strength played a cruel joke on the emperor. One of the most famous Chinese strongmen, Meng Yue, challenged the ruler to a competition where it was necessary to raise a cast-iron cauldron over his head. And it seems that Meng Yue won: when Wu Qin lifted the heavy cauldron over his head, his knees gave out and he fell.

Wu spent eight long months in bed until his body finally gave in and he died. This news was not happy, especially for Meng Yue and his family - after the emperor passed away, Meng's family was brutally murdered.

Emperor Wu Jin's harem was so numerous that the ruler traveled around it in a carriage

One of the main advantages of emperors was the ability to have a harem. Such a privilege was meant as a small compensation for the hardships involved in ruling a vast empire, but Wu Jin abused his powers a little.

Wu devoted most of his time to the harem, he could take any girl he liked as a concubine, he was especially attracted to the daughters of those close to him. He even forbade marriage until he chose concubines for himself in one or another locality.

As a result, there were about 10,000 women in his harem, and in order to choose who would spend the night with him, he toured the harem every evening in a goat-drawn carriage. She, near which these goats stopped, went to the emperor's chambers to spend the night with him.

Emperor Gao Zu publicly demonstrated dislike for science and scientists in a not the most noble way

This ruler did not particularly support the development of education. He relied more on the reliability and power of the military and obedience to a strong and centralized government. Questions of philosophy or other sciences were very far from his understanding and did not arouse interest at all. He answered his mentors that he conquered everything that he owns while sitting in the saddle, and did not see the need to spend time reading books at all.

The very idea of ​​gaining knowledge caused the emperor great irritation and even anger. At that time, most scientists were followers of Confucius and wore hats with pointed corners. When the emperor saw someone in such a hat, he asked to take it off and relieve himself right into the headdress.

His mentor wrote a book about the achievements of the great emperor, after which the worldview of the ruler changed a lot: he realized that he was not right in everything and contributed to the spread of Confucianism in China, adopting this ideology as official and opening many schools throughout the empire.

It seems that this ruler was insatiable, he hardly remembered even one of his 40,000 concubines

In ancient China, it was customary to dismiss the emperor's harem after the end of his reign. And, since the newly elected ruler was usually killed within a couple of years after the coronation, the position of the concubines was unstable.

However, Xuanzong did not plan to die: his reign lasted a long 44 years, and the size of the harem only increased during this time. As a result, the number of concubines exceeded 40,000. Obviously, the emperor could not devote time to each of them, so the women devoted their time to reading books, studying mathematics and caring for the trees in the garden.

But Xuanzong did not stop there. At the age of sixty, he forced his own son to divorce his wife so that his daughter-in-law could join the harem.

Emperor Houfei was only 9 when the responsibility for the entire great power fell on him

Emperor Houfei ascended the throne at a fairly young age, he was only 9 years old. History taught the Chinese an excellent lesson and now they know that managing a huge empire at 9 years old is not an easy task. The young ruler was blinded by absolute power and did terrible things. At the age of 14 he was killed. The beginning of his end was laid on the day he saw one of his generals sleeping naked.

The bulge of a plump belly inspired the little emperor - he decided to shoot him with a bow, like a target. He even wanted to use real arrows, but the assistant convinced him to use fake ones. This saved the general's life.

But this trick did not go unpunished: the owner of the target hired an assassin who cut off the head of the sleeping emperor, after which the general inherited the throne.

Emperor Qin killed his opponent during board game and it wasn't a coincidence

If you have ever quit playing Monopoly in anger, then you have something of Emperor Qin in you. Once, while playing the ancient Chinese game of Lubo, he lost his temper and threw a stone playing field at his opponent, who, according to eyewitnesses, hurt the feelings of the emperor. This seemed to him not enough, and he beat the opponent with a board until he died.

Unfortunately, the slain enemy was a prince and heir to the Wu Empire, whose ruler was determined to avenge his son's death. He persuaded the seven kingdoms to protest against Qin.

By the will of fate, Emperor Qin fought better than he played Liubo, and was able to crush the rebellion. The protesters were punished - the size of the territories entrusted to them was greatly reduced.

Even people with unlimited power are not immune to self-esteem issues.

Legend has it that Fu Sheng lost an eye when he tried to steal an egg from an eagle's nest. Maybe this is just a story, but he really did not see with one eye and did not like it when this issue was raised. In his paranoia, he went so far as to take it as a personal insult when someone in his presence used words with the meaning "without", and declared their use in speech a crime. Anyone who uttered them was sentenced to death.

Fu Sheng sincerely believed that killing was the only way out. Astrologers warned the emperor that if he did not change his mind, then his reign would be short-lived, but Fu was not inclined. In less than two years of reign, he executed his wife, her father, her uncle, and this is far from full list sentenced relatives.

When his cousins ​​realized that their lives were also in danger, they plotted against the emperor and staged his assassination. Despite Fu's efforts not to focus on his problem, he went down in history as a one-eyed tyrant.

The ancient Chinese ruler Wen Xuan had a really strange addiction

Wen Xuan's reign at first went on as usual, but over time he became less interested in his country and drank more and more. After some time, there was not a day that he was not seen in the insole drunk. Then he had a strange ritual: the emperor stripped naked, put on makeup and in this form walked through the countless bedrooms of the palace, even cold winters could not stop him.

But his worst hobby was getting drunk and killing people. One day he stopped a woman in the street and asked what she thought the Son of Heaven was like. She replied that he was so insane that he could not be called the Son of Heaven. At that very moment the woman was beheaded.

And it wasn't an accident. His passion for killing was so strong that when he got drunk, the ministers brought those sentenced to death to him so that innocent people would not suffer.

Thirteen-year-old Zhengde forced the courtiers to take part in his childhood games

Zhengde became emperor at the age of 13. It should be noted that childhood still played in his blood, and he was very fond of fantasizing. And since he was not just a teenage boy, but an emperor, everyone around him should immediately be included in the game.

He made the ministers dress up as merchants so that he could walk around their "shops". Those who refused to take part in the games were suddenly deprived of their ranks.

By his order, a building was built near the zoo, where there were two hundred rooms, here the emperor drank with friends and hunted animals, imagining that this was a real jungle.

In addition to all these games, the young ruler came up with a second self - General Zhu Shou. On behalf of the emperor, he ordered his subjects to go to Zhu with instructions, dressed as a general and portrayed sincere surprise at the wishes of the ruler.

For an imaginary military man, the general was very good. Zhengde was in power for 16 years. His life ended with a curiosity: drunk, he fell out of the boat, caught a cold in cold water and died some time later.

Conclusion.

All these stories seem funny and funny, and even a little unrealistic at first glance, but the facts say that all this really took place. Unfortunately, the tyranny of rulers sometimes knows no bounds, and amazing stories from the life of the Chinese emperors, only a small part of the eccentricities of the great rulers.

Published with the kind permission of the author

When quite a lot of foreigners appeared in China in the middle of the 19th century, the Chinese were quite surprised by the behavior of the "overseas devils" (as they were called): right on the street, for example, a man, having met his good friend, could hug her, or even kiss her. The overseas devils did the same with individuals of their own sex. The debauchery of these wild barbarians knew no bounds! The Chinese did not practice kissing and did not understand. For them, it was something arrogant and trampling on social decorum. Embrace can still be understood if they immediately led to the desired carnal intercourse. Of course, it’s strange, right there on the street, without ointments and fragrances, without a variety of devices, starting with looking at books - manuals for selected postures (“Thirty Postures of Heaven and Earth” by Dong Xuan) or at least fanning an erotic fan with a set of useful pictures . But no - foreign barbarians, smiling and waving at each other with their hands, and not with a training fan, went about their business. Why were there hugs and these ... kisses?

For example, wealthy people around the house in the garden made a corrugated path, something like a large washboard, the wife (concubine, "girl", etc.) lay on the bottom of the cart, the husband on top, the ox, distracted from their direct agricultural duties, pulled the luggage, and mechanical shaking added heat to natural passions. Or even better: a vast circular pool was being built, the servants drove the wave and drove the wave with the blades, and at the behest of the waves the boat with the same tireless Chinese lovers sailed, swaying as if in a decent storm.

Some refined Mr. Yang, the great Night Scientist, especially the emperor, did nothing but go around in circles for many hours in a row. This made me dizzy with success. It was considered a success to win the "battle of the sexes", the battle of Yang and Yin, to deeply plow the "Flower Field", to master the "Precious Estate", to take the "Jade Gate" by storm, to luxuriate in the "Pavilion of Pleasures", to irrigate with "Night Fog and Rain" "Wonderful flower" (terminology of Chinese love books also with poetic titles like "Collection of the Spring Palace", "Book of the Dragon" or "Joy of the Golden Lotuses").

Yes, what is there "in a circle". Indefatigable in the "Flower Battles", Emperor Yandi built himself a "Labyrinth". In Notes on the Palace "Labyrinth" ("Milouji"), an unknown author of the Tang era calls it an erotic dream from which one should not wake up. The palace was a labyrinth of corridors and chambers, with each wall covered with polished bronze mirrors. Reflections in these mirrors were so deceptive that moving around the palace required more touch than sight.The furnishings were, one might say, without frills: endless mats and couches on which the ladies from the imperial harem reclined, and fountains with wine instead of water spaced at regular intervals. delighted music performed by groups of naked palace girls, who, if necessary, replenished the army of those reclining.

Yandy considered visiting the Labyrinth Palace an excellent test of the potency of the dragon-emperor. In the palace, he was met by especially trusted eunuchs, who immediately freed him from his clothes and put on a leopard skin. concubines and palace girls, who wished him “wansui” (“a thousand years” or “long live!”) began to bypass the “Labyrinth” with a recitative. First of all, he aroused the “draconian spirit” in himself, and having excited, sent the eunuchs away and switched to “water procedures”. Creating and strengthening the myth of his invincible draconian strength, Emperor Yandi spent a week and a half in the palace, overcame a myriad of “Last Limits "( literal translation from the Chinese word "orgasm"), and only then, vaguely moving his eyes, appeared to accomplish great state affairs, of which the greatest was just a visit to the "Labyrinth".

For this alone can explain the fantastic population of China, which could not be brought down for a long time by periodic dynastic upheavals, in fact - civil wars, reducing the population in 3-4 years, sometimes by 8-10 times! If at the beginning of our era the Chinese made up one tenth of the total population, now it is already one fifth! And then there's sexual minorities around the world (except China) climbing with their rights. The emperors and officials of China also did not disdain boys, but so, in between times.

And the second consideration: if the emperor and officials of all ranks - each to the best of his abilities - at least fulfilled the prescription of Confucius ("Until he reaches fifty years of age, a husband must enter the Pavilion of Pleasure of his wives every three days, his concubines - once every five days , and other girls living in his house - at their discretion "-" Notes on Ceremonies "), then when to deal with management? And where do you get the strength? So, for the harmony and reliability of the administrative system, it was necessary to introduce severe punishments, so that one punishment would be equal in effectiveness to a hundred corrective orders.

Confucius wrote: "... wives, concubines and other girls living in his house." And how many of these wives, concubines and others? This depended on the welfare of the official. Hence one more feature: a completely legalized system of extortions and bribes. But here it was necessary to know the measure, because each lower official unfastened the higher one, and if he took too much for himself, the boss had less. While the chief in rank should have had more "wives and others."

Of course, the emperor had the most. Three main wives (of the Central, Western and Eastern palaces - that is, each of them had her own palace) hundreds of concubines and an unmeasured number of "palace girls". The order in all this women's economy was established astonishing. The "Chamber of Particularly Important Affairs" was engaged in the selection of girls and the management of a huge harem - this is the most responsible Chinese institution literally translated (3,000 eunuchs served in the imperial palace alone). In the USSR, this was the KGB, but in China it was the Chamber of Particularly Important Cases. And, judging by the name and functions, it is really the most important in the Celestial Empire. For sexual pleasures were so valued that they became a sign of social status. The more concubines and "girls living in the house", the higher the rank of the owner and the more prestigious his position. This, in a sense, takes place in all other places.. In Russia, for example, now every "new Russian" contains a host of mistresses. And the "newer" it is, the more.

The relationship between the number of harem charmers and social status comes, by the way, from our glorious ancestors - from primates. For example, among gorillas and even baboons, the leader (alpha animal) also has the largest harem. The lower down the dominance ladder, the fewer females. The "omega-animals" do not have them at all, and they are forced to engage in "same-sex love" or self-satisfaction. So Socrates was not entirely right, believing that homosexuality is almost the highest form of love, because it is inherent only in people.

But back to China. Concubines were divided into five categories. First, the most important is huang gui fei (imperial precious mistress), then, in descending order, gui fei (precious mistress), fei (mistress), bin (koncubina, which can be translated as "cohabitant"), gui zhen (precious person) . The Precious Person was the lowest rank of concubines. Next came the "palace girls", who were, apparently, "respected people" (details in the book. V.I. Semanov. From the life of Empress Cixi. M.1976).

The eunuch brought the concubines in a felt suit to the emperor and launched them naked into bed. The eunuch himself was sitting under the door. After sufficient time had elapsed, he knocked on the door three times and inquired loudly, "Has the great deed been accomplished?" After receiving an affirmative answer, he took the concubine (or several) and asked whether to leave the "Dragon Seed"? If so, then a record was entered in a special accounting book that the Son of Heaven made happy such and such a date, and if conception occurred, it was recorded to the nearest hour. The Chinese count their birthday from the moment of conception, so all Chinese are, as it were, 9 months older than Europeans.

The concubines were picked up all over the country by special eunuchs from the Chamber of Particularly Important Affairs at almost public shows. The main signs of selection are a well-tightened foot (legs crippled by special bandaging that look like a hoof) and the structure of the vulva and vagina, regulated by detailed instructions. I omit the details, as they are more related to gynecology. One should not think that the emperor, with all our respect for his sexual strength, could make everyone happy. Most of the concubines remained old maids. But - let them be: the stock does not pull the pocket.

The utilitarianism of love relationships led to the fact that the organs of love were considered the most important. "Male Peak", also known as "Jade Stem", Jade Root", "Jade Barrel", "War Mace", "Heavenly Weapon" - these are just some of the names. For female charm, in addition to those named, there were much more poetic images. There and "Golden Valley", and "Crimson Valley", and "Jade Gate", and "Golden Hollow", and "Flower Paradise" ...

The Chinese were in a pleasant delusion that all male strength, dignity and abilities are only in the size of the "War Mace". What didn't they come up with! Incredible and exotic drugs for ingestion and ointments; in the highest degree dubious "sexual gymnastics", which consists in all sorts of stretching and kneading; Finally, surgery. In the latter, there was such a refinement as cutting off a healthy male (during mating) of his achievement, cutting him into four parts and implanting a competitor of noble manhood into a dissected "jade stalk". The fact that dogs died at the same time is fine, but how did the passion-bearer survive? This is the secret of the Chinese, which he took to the grave. Ordinary Chinese could not afford all these delights, and they simply wore special vessels in their trousers during the heat (so as not to dry out) and soaked their "Jade Root" in them - the Chinese common folk "holiday that is always with you." Today, Russian demobilized soldiers, knowing nothing about the Chinese pioneers, make incisions in the foreskin and roll plastic balls into it, sometimes almost from ping-pong. So they think to impress their chosen ones, but they only impress with an empty pocket.

At the same time, so to speak, that attention was not paid to general physical training at all. Puffy, baggy bodies with atrophied muscles. And if the peasants were still in good shape due to everyday work, then the chiefs were completely anemic and showed masculine prowess only in alcove battles. Is this not the reason for the incredible defeats in wars, when a detachment of several thousand (especially Europeans, as was the case in the "opium war" or during the suppression of the "Boxer Rebellion") utterly defeated an army of two hundred thousand Chinese?

For women, the area that deserved close attention was "one single square inch." And also the feet. Women's beauty, for example, did not include breasts. It was usually pulled down so that it looked flat. That is why the female body did not inspire Chinese artists. The naked body was almost never the subject of works of art, except for alcove books in which bed scenes were depicted for the sole purpose of visually demonstrating (for educational purposes) sexual intercourse.

Here is what Lin Yutang writes about this in his book “My Country and My People” (1936): “The Chinese do not know how to appreciate the female body as such. We see very little of it in works of art. The Chinese fail disastrously at the depiction of the human body, and even under the brush of an artist such as Qiu Shizhou (Ming era), famous for his paintings depicting scenes from the life of women, the upper part of a naked female body turns out to be very similar to a potato. Among the Chinese who are not familiar with Western art, few are able to discern the beauty of a woman's neck or back."

The favorite dress of Chinese women made them even less seductive. The chest of the Chinese woman was tightly pulled together by a bodice, her figure from the neck to the feet was hidden by a shapeless robe, and because of the wide sleeves and the spacious cut of the clothes, she simply drowned in the mass of material. Only her face, head and hands were visible, and it was on them that her efforts were focused in an effort to look charming. As a result, her face, powdered and rouged, looked like a mask, and her magnificent varnished hairstyle was decorated with flowers and jewels, combs and ribbons.

Even during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368), the foot was added to the main properties of female beauty. Along with the "one and only square inch" craze, came the sudden discovery of the sex appeal of tightly bandaged feet. Girls at the age of five had their legs bandaged so that the foot could not grow. The toes were bent inward, the bones of the metatarsus arched, and the foot turned into a "hoof". For years, girls cried in pain at night, but that was the strict custom. He was avoided only by rude peasant children. The hoof-like feet were romantically called "Golden Lilies" or "Golden Lotuses", and were considered ideal in size when the length of the base of the foot did not exceed three inches. In addition to painful physical sensations, the pulling of the feet hampered movement, and even ordinary walking became very difficult. On special occasions, the Chinese beauty could not walk at all, which only once again emphasized her nobility: therefore, she should be carried in a palanquin. The colorful Taoist dictionary of terms from the field of sex was supplemented by another name for sexual intercourse - "Walking between the Golden Lilies."

According to popular tradition, the custom of mutilating the feet originated in the early period of the reign of the southern Tang Dynasty. The ruler of this dynasty was desperately in love with a dancer named Longyang. Wishing to create for her a stage befitting her exquisite gifts, he erected for her a golden lotus flower six feet high. To dance on its petals, Longyan bandaged her feet with silk ribbon and, like modern ballerinas, began to dance on her toes.

The rootedness of this wild custom is explained by the fact that, according to Taoist ideas, love is a battle between yang (male) and yin (female). Yang must prevail in this battle. The actual immobility of the woman in the bedroom made her utterly helpless. Because of the dragged feet, women were even more attached to the house.

In Lord McCartney's Diary, where the author describes his stay in Beijing in late XVIII century, he cites the story of a Chinese mandarin attached to the British Embassy: “It is quite possible that the reason for the appearance of the custom of dragging the feet was Eastern jealousy, which was always rich in inventions that helped to bind women to their owners; of course, a wonderful way to keep them at home is I should note, however (mandarin did not fail to prick foreigners - V.L.), that the mutilation of any part of the human body seems to us, the Chinese, less strange than such foreign customs as the removal its pieces, for example, when circumcised."

Tightly drawn feet were covered with decorative gaiters, which were usually tied around the ankles. The requirements of modesty for the Golden Lilies were such that during sexual intercourse a woman could allow everything to be removed except her gaiters.

In addition to the institution of concubines in gaiters, China, more than any other country in the East, was characterized by the institution of eunuchs. Wang Wu and Charles Humana in the academic work "Secrets of Chinese Sex" (M.1996) write that there is no complete clarity about how eunuchs appeared in the service of the Son of Heaven. The first written mention of them is associated with Zhou Gong, brother of the first monarch from Zhou dynasty(1050 BC), who was commissioned to draw up a code of laws for China.

At that time, there were five types of favorite Chinese punishment - "to cut off something." One of them was castration. Castration was usually called gunxing, or palace punishment, and eunuchs were called liogongyan (victim of the imperial palace). The society of that time was a source of a sufficient number of criminals, and the army captured enough enemy soldiers to subject them to gunshin, but they nevertheless were not enough to provide servants for the palaces of the imperial family and the aristocracy, so the fathers of families from the lower strata involuntarily had to part with sons. This sacrifice was well rewarded, and starting from about 250 BC. e., when eunuchs began to be widely attracted to serve in harems, the demand for such boys increased even more. For people of low birth, this was one of the few paths to the heights of power. The eunuch (senior) was always with the person of the emperor, knew his most intimate desires and features. He was a confidant, therefore it is not surprising that many eunuchs held key positions in the state. Sometimes they became, in fact, the second persons in the Middle Empire.

To better appreciate the extent of the "imperial sacrifice", it is best to quote the description compiled by Carter Stent, an authority on the life of the Chinese imperial court, published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1877: "The operation is carried out as follows. The lower abdomen and upper thighs are bandaged tightly to prevent excessive bleeding. Then those parts of the body to be operated on are washed three times with hot pepper water; the future eunuch is reclining at the same time. After these parts of the body have been washed well enough, they are cut off at the very base with a small curved knife, shaped like a sickle. At the end of the castration, the wound is covered with paper soaked in cold water and carefully bandaged. Having bandaged the wound, the patient, supported by two "operators", is forced to walk around the room for two or three hours, after which he is allowed to lie down. The patient is not allowed to drink anything for three days, and during this time he often experiences terrible torment, and not only from - for thirst, but also because of severe pain and the inability to relieve during the entire period.After three days, the bandage is removed, and the sufferer can finally relieve.If he succeeds, this means that the patient is out of danger, with which and they congratulate him. If, however, the poor fellow is unable to urinate, he is doomed to a painful death, for the necessary passages are swollen and nothing can save him.

There were three types of castration: the complete loss of the genitals, the removal of only the penis, and the removal of the testicles. In case of complete loss after wound healing, a metal, bamboo or straw tube was inserted into the remaining hole to facilitate urination. Such a tube was also necessary in the second case, when the testicles were preserved in the eunuchs, since they often experienced sexual desire, the outflow of seminal fluid also occurred through the tube. In later times, when rubber sex devices appeared, seminal fluid was excreted through an artificial penis - a device that helped eunuchs who entered into marriage to lead a semblance of an intimate life.

The third category of male castrati, who had only their testicles removed (by cutting, cauterization or pulling), included those who were given this operation as a punishment, as well as prisoners of war.

Strange as it may seem, but the eunuchs had their own families - they adopted, took wives and concubines for themselves. With the help of artificial organs, they quite cleverly imitated love. This artificial substitute was called, a kind of "horseradish with carrots", "dildo". Some eunuchs (under the empresses) went much further. For example, Empress Cixi's (1835-1908) favorite eunuch, Li Lianying, tied an unnamed rookie hero to his body and delighted the insatiable Cixi. At the same time, it was believed that the eunuch Lee himself was the owner of incredible virtues. And so it was, because outside the door there was a dozen living indistinguishable dildos in line, which Lee changed like horses at pit stations.

Love in China can be illustrated by a scene I have taken from an excellent historical novel Alana Savadzha "The Last Znamenny" (M., 1995) - about the fate of the Barrington family, who founded a trading house in China back in the 18th century. The novel strikes with a subtle knowledge of Chinese realities. All the names in it are genuine (written from the diaries of several generations of Barringtons).

It takes place at the end of the nineteenth century. The younger Barrington, 16-year-old Robert, arrives in China from England. Empress Cixi grants him an audience. The eunuchs completely undress him and bring him into the bedchamber of the empress. Cixi receives young Robert completely naked, sitting on a huge bed.

I omit previous discussions.

“She straightened up, stretched out her legs and lay down on the pillow. So she lay: half of the body on the pillow, legs crossed, chin in the palm of her hand.

The widow seeks consolation. But how to find it in a world where all men think only about boasting about their successes with women.

Robert touched his knees to the bed and slowly lowered himself onto it. Now he was on his knees, towering over the Empress. Her closeness, the delicate fragrance of the perfume, the beauty of nature, was finally beginning to have its due effect on him.

“Only children boast, Your Majesty.

“And you are the youngest man who has ever entered this room, apart from my son.

Robert took a deep breath.

“I am here on your call, Your Majesty. You just have to believe me or take off your head, - saying this, he reached out and stroked her shoulder. Then he pushed back his hair and, sliding his hand over his chest, touched the nipple, which immediately tensed. The touch of Cixi's body caused Robert to have a full erection, and he was ready to take possession of the empress.

- A man succeeds by combining courage with caution, aggressiveness with humility when it is required of him. But the main thing is the realization of one's goal, - this is how Zhang Jin advised. And Robert could only pray to God that the eunuch was right.

– Do you know the Chinese Book of Love? Cixi asked.

“Yes, your majesty.

The Empress raised her hand and gently took his flesh.

- Your father never knew the peak of love feelings with me. We both wanted it, but the opportunity never presented itself. But one day he touched me in a way that no one had ever touched before. There is no such touch in the Book of Love.” Cixi looked at him. Her lips were parted, and Robert understood what she wanted. He leaned down and kissed her with a passion that he did not expect from himself. This woman was fit for him and his mother. By Chinese standards, when thirteen is considered right age for marriage, she could even be his grandmother! However, he had never felt such a strong attraction.

Cixi was amazed by his passion. She leaned back, and he sank down on top of her. The Empress allowed himself to be kissed for a few seconds and then patted his shoulder. Robert immediately rolled off her, knelt down, trying to understand if he had offended the Empress in any way.

She smiled.

“I remembered when, as a little girl, I was summoned to bed with my lord Emperor Hsien Feng. I was just as impatient as you, and just as afraid to offend with inexperience. You know, Robert, I kissed the emperor. He was surprised. But he liked it. And nine months later, I gave birth to the Tongzhi Emperor, and my fate was decided.

Her fingers searched for his flesh again.

- Yes, I am a slutty girl, and I want to play the flute (the Chinese name for oral sex is VL). Robert lay on his back, although he could hardly believe that the Empress of China would want to caress someone in this way, especially a sixteen-year-old boy. Her caresses were exquisite, the touch of Cixi's lips made the young man tremble.

"Don't disappoint me, Robert," she said softly, realizing that he couldn't hold back any longer. She knelt down and sat on top of him. Holding her breasts in his hands, Robert admired how Cixi, with a quiet moan of pleasure, rises and falls with her body on his flesh, and her hair sways in time with the movements. Finally, she sank onto his chest.

“Will you love me forever, young Barrington?” Robert heard a whisper in his ear. The young man felt devastated after three hours of lovemaking, during which he orgasmed twice, and the empress at least four times.

“Listen to Captain Lang, help him train my sailors. In time, you will command them. Remember this. If you betray me, I will cut off your head."

As for cutting off - for sure. No one, leaving the chambers of Cixi, did not know what awaited him - a reward or the beheading of any part of the body, including those not needed for love ones. do the head.

As for love pleasures, young Robert knew a lot more of them. And, in particular, he was pleasantly surprised by such hospitality of the hosts, when, as an honored guest, young (13-14 years old) charmers were launched into the vat for ablution, bathing with which was combined with great delight (described masterfully). In neighboring vats on the lawns, the general Zhonglu, who had invited him, and his other guests developed ... "

The novel "The Last Znamenny", of course, is not about that. It covers the most important period of China - the war with Japan, then the uprising of the Yihetuan, the relationship between China and England. And Chinese girls - this is so, for dessert. These were the customs.

Let's not be surprised. They don’t go to a foreign monastery with their own charter.

P.S. On December 20, 1996, the last imperial eunuch, Sun Yaoting, left us in Beijing at the age of 94. last emperor Pu Yi). The communists used his knowledge of court etiquette to work in the administration of temples that received tourists. Before his death, he greatly regretted the collapse of the imperial system and said that there is no happier life than the life of a court eunuch. The world smell it. (There is no typo here).