Modern China is a strong and dynamic developing country. Many of the gadgets we use are assembled by the Chinese. The clothes we wear are made by the Chinese. The mark on toys and things "made in China" is familiar to us. China has moved far ahead and now it can already boldly compete with such developed countries as the USA or Germany. And a century ago, China was an empire headed by Pu Yi.

It is hard to imagine how the last emperor of China felt when he saw how the mighty empire was slowly being destroyed before his eyes. And it was even more difficult for the women who had been next to him all this time. The official last Chinese empress and wife of Pu Yi was Wanrong. She was born into a wealthy and respected family, and became the wife of the emperor because Pu Yi chose her, looking at the photo.

In fact, he didn't even choose. It's pretty interesting story. The emperor was offered 4 photographs of very young girls. The quality of the photo left much to be desired, the faces were almost invisible, and they seemed to the emperor the same. Only the outfits were different. The girl with the brightest outfit, to which the soul lay more, he chose. But it was not Wanrong, but 12-year-old Wenxiu, who comes from a poor family.

Wenxiu
Pu Yi was influenced by his father's first concubine, who was considered his adoptive mother. Her protégé was 16-year-old Wanrong. She persuaded the emperor to change his choice. Thus, Pu Yi married Wanrong, but he did not leave Wenxiu, but made him his younger wife - in other words, a concubine.

Wenxiu did not stay long with Pu Yi's beloved, they, at her request, terminated the relationship. They had no children in common. Wenxiu was deprived of all privileges, but the woman was lucky enough to get married a second time.

Empress Wanrong was also unable to give the emperor an heir. There were rumors that the husband and wife did not even spend time together. And later, Wanrong generally treated her husband with hostility.

The Empress was addicted to opium, and sometimes her doses were so high that everyone wondered how she survived. Perhaps in this way she wanted to drown out the pain of an unhappy marriage.

Then Wanrong became pregnant, either from her personal driver, or from a bodyguard. Pu Yi, having learned about his wife's infidelity, cruelly got rid of the child. Because of this, the Empress is said to have gone mad.

Emperor Pu Yi and Empress Wanrong
In addition to the legal wife, Pu Yi also had concubines. For example, Tan Yuling became the emperor's concubine only because Pu Yi wanted to punish his wife. Pu Yi even married Tan Yulin. However, their marriage did not last long. She died of typhoid fever. And there is certain evidence that suggests that the Japanese had a hand in her death. The girl was opposed to the Japanese and had a certain influence on the emperor.

Tan Yulin also failed to give birth to a child from Pu Yi. However, the girl was posthumously promoted from the fifth concubine to the second. Still, the emperor greatly appreciated and loved her.

Emperor Pu Yi's fourth wife was Li Yunqin. She was a 15-year-old Chinese woman who studied at a Japanese school. The emperor never loved her. He treated her more like an unreasonable child. He often asked her to sing and dance to him, entertain him, and then he liked to give instructions, like a teacher. They lived together for about 2 years. And then, when Manchuria fell, Pu Yi was captured, and his wife was sent home.

Pu Yi probably had more concubines, officially there were about 70 of them in the palace. Of course, not all of them had relations with the emperor. Many were just servants. And historians are now studying the version that the emperor was not interested in women at all, but rather preferred young men. And all his wives were needed only for cover.

However, this version can be refuted, since he concluded his last marriage with a simple nurse when he was 56 years old, and he had not been emperor for a long time. However, he had no children from her either. This gives reason to believe that Pu Yi was barren.

You probably think you are a good person. Maybe you successful person or consider yourself capable of becoming one. Being good and successful at the same time is not easy. Just as it is not easy to make high-quality tactical and at the same time strategic decisions.

We live. And the field of our life is woven from situations and moments. Who wove it? Why are we in these situations? How were they resolved and how could they be resolved?

From the point of view of Western mentality, these are rhetorical questions. It happened - and that's it. And the East? The East believes that a person is born and lives in a web of cause and effect relationships. The field of his life is woven from difficulties that he did not even create for himself - they already existed before his birth or the beginning of activity. The life line is a chain of situations that line up depending on the actions of our ancestors and descendants. Like DNA: everyone has their own, but it is woven from a finite number of components.

We build businesses and lead people. Or we think we are in charge. Or we lead up to a certain point, and then we feel that we have lost the thread of control. And we wonder: when could we lose her? Will we find new ways, or have irreversible processes already begun?

We live in a competitive world. And the competition is getting tougher every year – in career, business, politics, international affairs… The logic of actions in everyday life and in intense competition is different. If in life you have the right to expect calm when you are not attacking anyone, then in fierce competition you are under constant aimed fire.

In the Chinese Book of Changes, the life line and all world processes are described by a set of 64 hexagrams. In our book, we rely on those six of them that control the most important aspects of competition. Why do we publish Harem stories out of all the material we have collected in China? Because modern business has more and more female faces and because women are closer to tactics. Only a few are engaged in strategies, and millions participate in real battles of everyday life. At the same time, women in competition are much more dangerous than men, since they are more susceptible to fears. That is why we took examples of the toughest competition from the secret chronicles of the Chinese Imperial

Harem, where it is not only about achieving power and prosperity, but also about preserving one's family, one's offspring and one's life.

The reader will be able to independently evaluate the managerial, political and ethical moves presented in these stories. Something will seem too hard, something painfully familiar. However, it would be useful to note that this experience, these classic examples underlie the mentality of the modern Asian business elite. We care about this layer Eastern culture know and use. Indeed, in order to imagine what our world can be, it is important for us to understand what it already was.

Elena and Andrey Sadykov

Prague, 2007

The intimate life of Chinese emperors

History tells that of all the Chinese emperors, only twelve lived to be seventy years old, and a third of those who were in power died between the ages of 20 and 40 years. And this despite the fact that, according to Chinese imperial considerations, sex contributes to a long life. (It should be noted that celibate Buddhist monks almost all lived to sixty without indulging in sexual pleasures.) At first, the emperors were more modest in their desires and kept only a few women in the harem. But starting from 265, the harem of the imperial palace already numbered thousands of beauties. And in the golden age Chinese history- in the Tang dynasty - in the harem there were exactly forty thousand concubines.

Of all the ladies living in the palace, approximately one hundred and twenty-two had the status of wives, that is, guaranteed sex with the emperor. According to ancient tradition, all wives were assigned ranks.

Empress, main wife - 1 (one).

Second wife (fu zhen)– 4 (four), had a status equivalent to that of a prime minister.

third class wife (jin bin), she is a concubine, she is also a servant of the Empress - 9 (nine) women.

fourth class wife (gu fu) or the youngest harem girl - 27 people.

fifth class wife (nu zhu), or just a harem girl - 81.

The emperor's sexual regime was regulated by the rising and waning of the moon. He slept with all the women on the special days of the lunar calendar, with consistency and frequency according to their ranks. The moon waxed and the emperor began with women of lower rank. During the full moon, he slept with the Empress. The emperor symbolized the sun, and the empress the moon, and they were to join at the time of the full moon, when harmony was perfect between the two cosmic symbols of man and woman. On the days from the first to the ninth, the emperor slept with nine of the 81 wives of the fifth category, who shared a bed with him every night. From the tenth to the twelfth day he chose from the wives of the fourth category.

On the thirteenth day of the lunar calendar, he took a wife from the fourth category, and on the fourteenth - from the second category. The fifteenth and sixteenth are the days of the Empress. And in reverse order. It must be remembered that the thirty-first number was not in the Chinese calendar, so everything turned out symmetrically and fairly in relation to all wives who dream of a connection with the emperor and the conception of an heir to the state.

The Office of Imperial Affairs of the Chamber of the Bed controlled all sexual relations of the emperor according to the rules developed back in the era of Zhou, that is, more than three thousand years ago. In order to control the ever-increasing number of women of the emperor, a special accounting department kept strict records. The name of the imperial partner, the date of intercourse, signs of pregnancy after it, etc. were written in red ink. When a special woman led a woman to the imperial chambers, she put a silver ring on her finger right hand. After sex with the emperor, the ring was moved to the left hand. If a woman became pregnant, she was given a golden ring. During the Tang Dynasty, additional measures were taken to avoid confusion and the false demands of the emperor's women. Anyone who had sex with the emperor was given an indelible seal on his hand.

However, the strict sexual protocol was not always followed. For example, Emperor Wu of the Yin Dynasty placed several hundred beautiful women in separate mansions. He traveled through the territory between the houses of his wives in a chariot pulled by goats. When the goats stopped near some house, the emperor went inside and spent the night there. All the women competed among themselves for the attention of the goats. They grew the freshest grass in front of their gates and even sprinkled salt on the lawn to tempt the animals.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty adopted a different system for choosing women. Wooden tablets with names were presented to the emperor on a silver tray. At dinner, the eunuch in charge of the affairs of the Chamber of the Bed introduced the women to the emperor. If the emperor wanted to choose himself, he took a tablet with a surname. If he was unsure of his choice, the eunuch recommended him some beauty. The eunuch described the virtues of each woman and her ability to please the emperor at night. The eunuch's words often carried considerable weight. The chosen woman was informed that she would be with the emperor today. The duty to bring the good news to the woman lay with the empress. She had to ask the woman if she agreed to serve the emperor.

Then there was the preparation of the lucky woman for a meeting with the emperor. She washed herself thoroughly and let her hair down to show the emperor that she was too young to be a worthy partner for him. Then two eunuchs would arrive, and she would strip naked in their presence, so that they would check if there were any weapons hidden in the folds of her clothes. After examination, she was wrapped in a red carpet (or in a blanket with feathers) and carried on her shoulders to the emperor's bedroom. These two eunuchs were also required to undress themselves before entering the emperor's bedroom for the same reason. The maid helped the woman to put on a silk translucent dress for sleeping and left her waiting for the sovereign.

In the bedroom of flutists

You, sir, are surrounded.

Many in the harem

Beautiful concubines and wives.

Wang Li(1032-1059)

May night 1688 covered the Purple Forbidden City. Life in Yangxindian Palace, the private quarters of Emperor Xuanye, also subsided. The eunuchs dressed the Bogdokhan for bed, opened the wide bed, parted the curtains and dimmed the light in the large floor hexagonal lantern. Bowing to the lord at the waist and backing away, they disappeared through the door. The monarch was left alone, but sleep did not come to him. Something got in the way. Something else had settled in his brain earlier, but Xuanye could not remember what. Today, all day long, he either dictated, or ruled, or discussed with the dignitaries the instructions to the ambassadors. Those went to negotiate with the Russians on the Amur - the Black Dragon River. Since 1652 military operations have been going on here intermittently. Remembered! In the afternoon, on the list of the embassy, ​​he came across the name of the Manchu official Ayushi! Familiar surname! But where did he meet her? Xuanye automatically turned his head to a small table in the corner of the bedroom. There, in a large "dragon" casket, divided into sections, there were rows of jade tokens-tablets with the names and surnames of his concubines. Yes, of course! It is here, on one of the tablets, the name Ayushi is engraved! This is the daughter of that official from the Chamber of Tributary Countries (Lifanyuan). Bogdokhan found her token. Here she is, Ayushi! Originally from the Blue Banner. "Precious person" (guiren), i.e. has the fifth, lowest rank of concubine. Xuanye did not “make happy” her, he never even saw her after the “palace viewing”. I wonder what she's like in the love bed? Bogdokhan struck the table gong and silently handed the tablet to the eunuch who entered. He vanished out the door with a bow. So this concubine will be here soon! Xuanye chuckled: he knew to the smallest detail what was about to happen outside the walls of his bedroom. Here is his "neighbour" eunuch handing over the "precious tag" to the chief manager of the Chamber of Important Affairs, and he passes it on to his subordinate, the strong man eunuch.

Further, everything went according to a strictly routine order. The guarantor would find the right woman and show her a sign with the words: “An order for such and such a concubine!” She knelt down and with a bow accepted the sign of royal favor. The maids took her to the bedroom, stripped her naked and smeared her with incense. She remained undressed so that she could not take a dagger or knife with her: they tried to kill one of the emperors with the hands of a concubine. Then the eunuch-messenger was invited into the bedroom. He wrapped the beauty in a special blanket of heron fluff - a bird that knew how to catch snakes and therefore symbolized protection from all deceit. After that, a hefty eunuch put the concubine on his shoulders and carried her to the palace, where the Son of Heaven was already waiting for her in his bedchamber. The eunuch took off the cloak from the woman and retired, and she immediately slipped under the covers to the August Lord. While this couple indulged in pleasures, the general manager of the Chamber of Important Affairs and the eunuch were in the next room.

According to the rules of the Qing court, the Son of Heaven could not leave a concubine with him for a long time, and even more so until the morning. When the due date expired, the chief manager loudly said: “The time has come!” If the Bogdokhan did not respond, the reminder was repeated a second, and a little later, a third time. Then the monarch was bound to respond. The two who were waiting entered the bedroom. The chief manager with a special registration book in his hands knelt down and respectfully asked the Son of Heaven: “Shall I leave it or not?” It was about the precious "dragon seed". Having heard the command to “Leave”, the official made an entry in the registration book: “In such and such a month, such and such a date, at such and such an hour, the emperor made such and such a concubine happy.” This record served as an excuse in the event of her pregnancy, proof of the highest origin of the child. If the Son of Heaven was dissatisfied or was in a bad mood, the order followed: “Do not leave!” After that, the odalisque's stomach was pressed in a special way, and all the "dragon seed" came out. These rules were strictly observed in winter palaces Forbidden city. As for the summer residences, there the Bogdokhan could afford to violate the regulations established at the dawn of the Qing Dynasty.

If the concubines were brought to the emperor's bedroom, then he came to his wife himself and for a time that was not limited by anything. nevertheless, each such visit was recorded in a special ledger. Upon the exit of the Bogdokhan from the bedchamber, the kneeling eunuch official respectfully waited for an answer about whether the intercourse had taken place or not. If not, then the August Lord casually threw: “Go away!”, And the corresponding column in the book remained empty. In the case of an affirmative answer or a nod from the Son of Heaven, an entry appeared here: “On such and such a date, such and such a month, such and such a year, at such and such an hour, the sovereign made the empress happy.” If the Bogdokhan passed silently, the chief manager, on his knees, humbly inquired what he should write down.

As we can see, the Lord of the Celestial Empire and the ruler of the Qing Empire, before whom everyone trembled, himself turned out to be a prisoner of harsh etiquette. All sorts of conditions determined the sphere of love entertainment of the Son of Heaven. At the very beginning of the emergence of the Manchu dynasty, khans Nurkhatsi and Abahai established the rules of "restriction of debauchery" for future rulers. Moreover, the Chamber of Important Affairs was called upon to “regulate” the pleasures of the Son of Heaven, the staff of which was recruited exclusively from eunuchs of the highest category. That is why they had free access to the harem, and to the battalion commanders adjacent to the bedroom of the Son of Heaven, and to the chambers next to the bedchamber of the empress.

If in Europe the monarch had only one wife (queen, queen, empress), then in China there could be two or three - one "main" and two "secondary". Apartments in the "middle" part of the Forbidden City were considered the most prestigious. Therefore, the main "resident" lived in the "center" of the palace complex and was called the "Empress of the Middle Palace" (Zhungun) and "Mother of the State" (Gomu). The “eastern quarter” was inhabited by the second wife of the Bogdokhan, the “Empress of the Eastern Chamber” (Dungun). And finally, the third wife, or the “empress of the Western Palace” (Sigun), lowered the chambers in the western, least significant part of the Forbidden City. Together with the dowager empress, four empresses were at times in the palace quarter of Beijing. Sometimes the mother of the Bogdokhan lived outside the Forbidden City - in one of the summer country residences. For the bride of the Son of Heaven, special halls were erected, where she, along with her whole family, was waiting for the wedding ceremony.

According to the Qing Dynasty, the young empress had to give the heir to the throne within five years. If she was said to be childless, the Son of Heaven got himself a second wife. The new empress was elected from concubines of the first or second rank, which was often given to those who had already given birth to a son to the emperor. Nevertheless, Yaenee's second wife had to yield in everything to the first, who remained the main wife of the Bogdokhan. After the death of the Ten Thousand-Year-Old Lord, his wives were not allowed to remarry or return to their families of origin. Since in Qing China yellow meant that a person or thing belonged to the family or palace of the Bogdo Khan, the empresses wore light yellow, and the concubines wore dark yellow robes.

How was the Bogdokhan's harem created? The Young Son of Heaven could recruit concubines for himself only upon reaching adulthood, i.e. at seventeen or eighteen years old, and only after the expiration of the prescribed period of mourning for the deceased emperor. Moreover, he had no right to use the harem of his late father.

But here the formalities were observed, and the "palace bride" was announced, where everyone should have arrived " beautiful girls from noble Manchu families. And here the difficulties began. Firstly, Manchurian girls were not distinguished by the charm of features, harmony and education, losing in all these respects to Chinese women, especially to the "southern fairies" - beauties from Suzhou and Hangzhou. And secondly, the Manchus were reluctant to give their daughters to the imperial harem.

In general, the conquerors of China were extremely careful about their women - the basis of the gene pool of a small nation. Unlike Chinese women, they were forbidden to mutilate themselves by bandaging their feet. Girls were allowed to sit in the presence of elders and even take a place of honor among them. In Manchu families, there was no Chinese rule that forbade boys and girls over seven years old to meet. Fathers and grandfathers loved their daughters and granddaughters very much, and therefore they often spoiled them. The prisoners of the palace had a hard life. For many of them, brought up in happy and caring families, being in the imperial harem became a real torture. And since the concubines did not always share the bed of the sovereign, they were often threatened with the fate of old maids. So why ruin their youth and future by confinement in a beautiful but bleak cage? That's why some parents tried to avoid registering their daughters in "watching registers", while others tried to make them unsightly. Such girls were brought to the palace unwashed, unkempt, in dirty clothes. They also resorted to all sorts of other tricks - they pretended to be sick, stuttering and lameness. If only they did not include their favorite child in the lists! Just leave it alone! However, the officials of the Palace Administration had experience in this regard, and it was difficult to conduct them. It happened that the girls were hidden from the eunuchs prowling around the city or hastily married off.

The selection of concubines for the imperial harem took place in several stages and was a complex procedure. All the daughters of the Manchu officials of the first four, i.e., became candidates. the highest, ranks out of nine. Only girls from fourteen to twenty years old were taken into account. The palace administration compiled the maximum complete lists, and the Manchu princes and dignitaries made a strict selection on them. The new lists included only those girls whose eight hieroglyphs, indicating the date of birth, promised a favorable future. These "lucky ones" passed under the care of the Palace Administration. Here they were taught the necessary ceremonies and manners, and six months later they appeared at the "palace bride": girls from wealthy families - in their own formal clothes, those in need - in expensive dresses given to them.

In the morning on the appointed day, the beauties gathered in the Forbidden City, at the gates of the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, where the “bride-in-law” was held in one of the halls. In some cases, the sovereign actively participated in this procedure, in others he gave everything to the discretion of his mother, remaining only a silent witness to what was happening. It all looked like this: past the Bogdokhan and the Dowager Empress sitting on the thrones, the “competitors” were slowly moving in the established order. At the end of the procession, they lined up in a row, and the rulers, after conferring, pronounced their sentence. Through eunuchs, the winners were given curved jade wands with a head resembling a tree mushroom or a cloud. The first wand was offered to the one who was designated as the wife of the Bogdokhan. She was named empress. The rest of the owners of the wands became the concubines of the Son of Heaven. They were divided into five categories, according to which one of the five harem ranks was awarded. The “lucky ones” made “three knees, nine bows of the earth” in front of the thrones. Those who were unlucky were given silk robes on behalf of the Empress Dowager.

After the ceremony, the selected beauties were allowed to go home for two months. They had to finally say goodbye to their relatives, and at the same time acquire clothes worthy of imperial concubines. At the end of the term, porters delivered a yellow palanquin to the gates of the house, which was accompanied by officials of the Palace Administration, eunuchs, courtiers, maids and a platoon of horse guards of the Yellow Banner. And then came the ordeal: parting with the family. Tears, hugs, prayers began here. The eunuchs seated the “darling of fortune” in a palanquin, and the cortege solemnly followed to the Forbidden City. Most often, the beauty got there forever.

So the first batch of odalisques arrived in the harem of the Bogdokhan - sometimes up to thirty people. Three years later - another one, then another ... Time passed, and the seraglio grew to the maximum "permissible" size, i.e. up to 280 slaves. Girls from rich or wealthy families at first suffered severely in the palace. Delicious food and expensive clothes were familiar to them from childhood, but after cheerful and joyful days spent in the circle of numerous brothers and sisters, court life seemed incredibly dreary. Some cried from morning to evening. For the poorer one, beautiful outfits, rich rooms, gourmet dishes, sweets, fruits, flowers, decorations and the services of “one’s own servants” at first drowned out the longing for her home.

The sovereign's odalisques were divided into five ranks. Above all stood the "imperial precious concubines" (huang guifei). Then came the “precious concubines” (guifei), just concubines (fei) and concubines (bin). Fifth - the lowest rank was called "precious person" (guiren). Below the concubines were the maids of honor (dain, changzai), and the base of the harem pyramid was made up of numerous servants - shinyu. A Chinese woman could not rise above the level of a maid.

Knowing the habits of the inhabitants of the harem, emperors have long settled their spouses and concubines separately from each other. Each empress, as already mentioned, had her own palace in the Forbidden City. It was a separate quarter with pavilions, living quarters, gardens, grottoes, pavilions, flower beds and ponds. According to the "palace in miniature" they tried to provide all the concubines. Each of these "worlds" was surrounded by a wall with gates, and he himself had a special poetic name - "It's always spring here", "Shadow of plane trees", "Park of joy and light", etc.

The lot of the concubine, naturally, consisted in waiting for a call to the Son of Heaven. And before him, or in the intervals between "dates", the prisoners of the harem could enjoy idleness, clothes, entertainment, food, reading, exercises in calligraphy and poetry. In a word, they lived in an atmosphere of complete abundance. Nevertheless, the Palace Administration monthly gave each of them a certain amount, the amount of which depended on the rank of the beauty and the favor of the August Lord towards her. So, a concubine of the second rank (guifei) was annually paid about 150 lyans (about 400 US dollars) - at that time a very significant amount. It was believed that this silver was given to odalisques to satisfy their whims, eccentricities and whims. In fact, the money went mainly to pay for the most valuable goods in a harem, namely secret information and secret services.

The fact is that not only the harem, but the entire palace complex was an arena of all kinds of intrigues, denunciations and rumors. It was a world of intrigues, slander, gossip, provocations and mutual intrigue. Low passions were seething here. Envy, vanity, revenge, resentment and malice ruled the ball here. Empresses and concubines saw in their companions, first of all, rivals, each of whom considered the other at least a “werewolf fox”, but, in our opinion, a witch. To combat them, appropriate information was required. But she was not enough! News and gossip were supplied by those who could move freely between all these "Parks of Joy and Light", i.e. eunuchs, maids and maids of honor. It was they who were able to fulfill the delicate, or even simply “criminally punishable” order of their mistress. But each concubine had a whole staff of maids and eunuchs, the number of which increased sharply if she fell into a particularly privileged position. And for all the "special" services, the beauty paid not only with official silver and gifts, but also with patronage, indulgences and promotion of her minions in the service. Under the Manchus, concubines were strictly forbidden to interfere in state affairs. They were not allowed to patronize dignitaries and officials, pestering the emperor with requests of this kind. Everything was done so that the harem did not become an arena of political intrigues.

So, the Bogdokhan was literally surrounded by a sea of ​​young and pretty girls. But if the Manchurian odalisques did not differ in special attractiveness, then it was difficult to look away from the beautiful, slender, graceful and charming Chinese women. As he wrote in the II century. BC. Sima Xiangru:

Oh incomparable beauty

exquisite maidens of the palace! ..

They have charm, sweetness in them!

I like powder and antimony -

black eyebrows...

Slender, and stately, and thin camp, -

So pretty features

grace is so simple!

(Translated by A. Adalis)

It used to be like that. Summer. The emperor is carried in a palanquin or sedan chair on park. He sees a beautiful maid of honor or maid and wants to "make her happy." At this sign, the porters and eunuchs silently leave, so as not to interfere with the August Lord. He retires for a while with his chosen one and, having received her love, again calls on his retinue and continues his walk. If the girl liked, she could be taken to the sovereign's bedroom. It happened that such calls were repeated. Under these conditions, the Bogdokhan simply did not have time to “make happy” all his odalisques, but even in this case they were obliged to preserve their virginity.

A different fate awaited the imperial concubines. Some remained prisoners of the Forbidden City until their death. Others were expelled from the palace - for childlessness, for obstinacy, for the loss of youth and beauty. Another odalisque, never having received a call to the bedroom of the Son of Heaven, forgotten by everyone, quietly lived out her life in one of the remote corners of the Forbidden City. For some, staying in the imperial harem became unbearable, and they laid hands on themselves. But if the empress or the concubine decided to take poison, according to the Qing laws, the death penalty awaited all her relatives. Knowing this, the unfortunate woman could only starve herself to death. Sometimes the Bogdokhan or his wives dealt with the unwanted like this: rebels or quiet victims of intrigues were “granted” the right to throw themselves into the well or swallow the thinnest golden plate sent “from above”, blocking their breath.

The fate of the palace servants was sometimes difficult, mostly young and lovely Chinese women, who were specially sent from Suzhou and Hangzhou, who have long been famous for their beauties - slender, bright and alluring. Nevertheless, a certain number of old servants remained in the palace - experienced, reliable and devoted to their mistresses. In total, the emperor's harem consisted of about two thousand servants, ready to fulfill any desire of the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Master. Some became maids, maids, messengers of the empress and concubines. Others did various jobs: they grew silkworms, dyed silk, sewed clothes, shoes and hats, made perfumes and various cosmetics, cleaned living quarters and beat off two-hour guards with gongs.

Those who did not fall into the number of confidantes, favorites, close and confidants of their mistresses, turned out to be, in fact, under the rule of eunuchs. Other eunuchs did not lose their attraction to women, which often took painful, perverted forms. Such castrati pursued the girls, knocked them to the ground, rubbed against them, bit and scratched. And sometimes, taking out the insult for their physical inferiority on defenseless victims, they beat them, wounded them with knives, whipped them. The scars that remained after that on the body caused particular bitterness among the unfortunate - that was the seal of shame. When such servants lost their youth and freshness, they were fired and sent home. But here, "in the wild", they poked fingers into the scars, and potential suitors turned away from the girls. Who will take a “plucked flower” as his wife, especially with a scar? The fate of these ill-fated creatures set off the reverse, unsightly side of court life, its underside. Behind the front facade were hidden tears and anguish, insults and beatings, arbitrariness and violence, human tragedies and suicides, invisible to the world. However, the subjects of the Qing Empire and the ambassadors of the "tributary" countries were supposed to see only the power and luxury, grandeur and high morality of the August Lord - the lord of the Celestial Empire and the supreme ruler of the whole world:

Hairstyles, and elegant dresses,

And precious stones in the braid,

And golden patterns on silks,

And a competition in splendor and beauty.

Li Qingzhao (1081-1145)

(Translated by M. Basmanov)

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, cloudy 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 connection 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; highly 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 of the Zhou dynasty (1050 BC), who was commissioned to develop 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 was very sorry about the collapse of the imperial system and said that there is no life happier than the life of a court eunuch. The world smell it. (There is no typo here).

The position of women in traditional China (abstract)

Introduction

It is endless to talk about the customs and customs that prevailed in China in past centuries. Thanks to numerous written testimonies, we can almost completely recreate the life and life of the people of China from almost time immemorial. Of course, many of the described customs cause not only interest, but surprise, and sometimes even a smile. Let's look at one such example, connected with the traditional way of the Chinese family for many centuries, namely with the position of a woman in an ancient Chinese family.

The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that today the interest in the culture of Asian countries, including China, is growing, there are more and more works related to the history and way of life of the Chinese people. Moreover, we cannot but take into account the fact that traditional customs have influenced the life of modern Chinese women and their behavior. If we analyze the situation of modern Chinese women, we can find a lot in common with the behavior of women in traditional China, explain the phenomena of the modern life of Chinese girls, looking into the past.

A lot of literature has been written on this topic, which reveals and shows what position a woman occupied at a particular historical time in China. Both domestic and foreign authors published works devoted to this issue, or rather the Chinese traditional family. Among domestic authors, Vasiliev L.S., Sidikhmenov V.Ya., Usov V.N. have most fully covered this issue, among Chinese authors one can single out Wu Han, Dian Dengguo, from foreign authors the emphasis on this aspect was made in the monograph by Domenac Jean- Luke. In the works of these authors, the Chinese family was described from various angles, some focused on the description of traditions, others on the description of the patriarchal structure of the family, but nevertheless, a complete picture of the Chinese family was shown.

But not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance: such authors as Sidikhmenov V.Ya., Malyavin V.V. show the inequality of women in comparison with men, indicate that since Confucian times, a woman was placed in a certain framework, not having even half of the rights and freedoms that their husbands and sons had. The above point of view is not supported by such authors as Dian Denguo and Zybina A., who believe that before the invasions of nomads from the north, women were a full-fledged social unit in relations with men, and only the imposed traditions of nomads put them in this position.

As for the sources, I took into account such sources as Confucius' treatise "Li-chi" and "Dream in the Red Chamber" by Cao Xueqin, which show that it was the woman who was considered the progenitor of mankind and women played a very important role not only in managing affairs but also in making decisions regarding the fate of their future children. Wu Han's work "Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang" was also analyzed, which gives a complete description of the life of the Chinese people during the Ming dynasty and draws a parallel in the relationship between men and women in the East, finds not only differences, but also similarities in the cultural and traditional aspects of this question.

The object of the course work is traditional Chinese society, the subject is women and their role in traditional China.

The purpose of this work is to analyze various aspects of the position of women in traditional Chinese society.

The tasks are as follows:

1. Consider the status of a girl before marriage in a traditional Chinese family;
2. To study the position of a woman in a traditional Chinese family as a mother and wife;
3. Analyze the position of concubines in traditional China.

When writing this work, such methods as analysis, comparison method, deduction method, generalization method were used.

In the work there are such terms as the status and position of women in society. You have to define what they mean. Status (from the Latin status - position, state) - the position (position) of an individual or group in a social system, determined by a number of economic, professional, ethnic and other features specific to this system (gender, education, profession, income, etc.). Position - place, the role of an individual (in this work - women) in society, a state due to any circumstances (marital status).


Chapter 1

The status of a girl before marriage in a traditional Chinese family

Before considering the status of a girl and a woman in a traditional Chinese family, one should characterize the relationship that prevailed in Chinese society, the family, between the father of the family and daughters.

Confucius created a doctrine that, 300 years after his death, has become a permanent impulse public life China, created the rules of conduct not only in the state, but also in the family, as a cell of society.

Confucian Ancestor Cult and Xiao Norms ( 孝 - sons of respect) contributed to the flourishing of the cult of the family and clan. The family was considered the core of society, the interests of the family were given much more importance than the individual, who was considered only in the aspect of the family, through the prism of its eternal values ​​(from distant ancestors to distant descendants). Every Chinese had a duty to respect the interests of the family, i.e. the birth of children, especially sons, called to continue the family line, to strengthen the position of the family through the ages.

Hence the constant tendency for the family to grow. “A large undifferentiated family (the family that Confucius had in mind when he compared it with the state) existed before Confucius, but mainly among the nobility. Confucianism, with its ancestor cult and Xiao norms, created additional incentives for its unprecedented flourishing: in the presence of at least the slightest favorable economic opportunities, the desire for close relatives to live together became a decisive impulse and sharply prevailed over separatist tendencies. As a result, large families, which included several wives and concubines of the head of the family, a considerable number of household members, became a very common phenomenon throughout the history of China. Such families were usually divided only after the death of the father, or even both parents. The eldest son took the place of the head of the family and received most of the inheritance, including the house with the ancestral temple, while the rest of the common property was divided equally among the other sons.

All new families founded by younger brothers (and each of them became the head of his own ancestor cult, side in relation to the main one), for a long time continued to be dependent on the older brother, who is now the main ancestor cult common to the whole clan. A powerful branched clan of relatives arose, holding tightly to each other and sometimes making up an entire village.

Within the framework of such a clan, in principle, the same socio-economic patterns operated as within the framework of Chinese society as a whole. Some families became poorer and fell into decline, others grew rich, and in this case, impoverished relatives began to gravitate towards them and their house became the center of the clan. A family-clan corporation arose, within which the upper and lower classes were firmly connected both by kinship and traditions, the norms of clan mutual assistance, all based on the same cult of ancestors and the norms of "Xiao".

Based on the clan structure of a traditional Chinese family, the position of a woman, her role, rights and obligations will be considered.

1.1 Birth and childhood of Chinese girls

The birth of children for the benefit of parents was considered the main goal of married life and, as believers thought, provided the older generation with peace in the afterlife. But not all children could subsequently serve their deceased parents. The eldest son can make sacrifices to the deceased father, the eldest grandson in a straight line to the grandfather. The girl, when the time comes, will become a bride and go to a strange family, so she will not be able to make sacrifices to the deceased parents. A daughter given in marriage is the same as poured water, i.e. completely useless to the family. In a traditional Chinese family, it was accepted that the daughter bore the mother's surname, and only the son inherited the father's surname. The birth of a son was considered a big event in the life of every Chinese family.

After the birth, relatives and friends visited the woman in labor, brought gifts. A child in the family was a joy if a boy was born, but became a burden if a girl was born. Having a son was considered the purpose of marriage and great happiness for the family. This was also reflected in the sayings: “If you raise a son, you will provide for old age, if you collect grain, you will prevent hunger”; “You must have your own son and field”; “The best sons in the world are your own. Hoping to give birth to a son, women performed various rituals.

Poor parents, driven to despair by want and deprivation, sometimes killed their young daughters. Realizing that they did not have the opportunity to buy a dowry for their daughter, and not wanting to doom her to a bitter existence full of deprivation and dishonor, the parents decided to call on death for help as the only means of getting rid of misfortunes in life.

Little boys were often dressed up as girls in order to deceive the spirits of sickness and death, which the parents believed would then pass them by. Boys were the subject of special care in the family. In an effort to prevent them from illnesses, parents resorted to the use of various amulets and talismans.

Sometimes, if the poor could not repay the loan, they had to sell their children. This was common in ancient China, girls were sold much more often than boys, and the fate of the former was much worse. The boy was usually bought to be adopted, and therefore he lived in a new family even more or less tolerably, the sold girl lost her freedom forever, not to mention the fact that most often she was sold directly to a brothel. The owner could do anything with the girl, he could resell it to another person. Parents, having sold their daughter, lost their right to her, and from the moment the transaction was concluded, she became a slave in the full sense of the word.

But still, the boy was sold in the most extreme cases, no matter how poor the parents were, they took care of the boy as the future keeper of the memory of ancestors and parents, as already mentioned above. The girl was a burden that they wanted to get rid of as soon as possible. It was difficult for a poor man to get married: sometimes it cost him complete ruin to buy a wife and celebrate a wedding. The peasants were afraid that their little son, when he grew up, would not be able to marry because of poverty, so there was a custom to take a six-seven-year-old girl to be raised in the house of her future husband. It also happened like this: an engaged girl was taken into the house, and her future husband had not yet been born. Such girls were treated with particular cruelty.

From the time the boys reached school age, they were usually separated from their sisters. The latter led a closed life, and this isolation intensified after the girl was wooed, which usually happened when she was 10-12 years old. From that time on, the girls had to hide from the gaze of even good acquaintances. They rarely left the house, only in cases of emergency. Thus, only the boy was destined to stay with family members and his ancestors until the end of his days. In addition, parents expected to receive support in old age, which is especially important for poor families, where each worker contributed to the well-being of the family.

First of all, the daughter had to be serious and work without sparing her strength. Parents should teach her the three rules of submission and the four virtues. Three rules of submission: at home, obey your father; when she marries, to obey her husband; when she is left a widow, obey her son. Four virtues: fidelity, truth in speech, modesty in behavior, diligence in work.

Duties were not only for the children and the wife, but also for the father, the main person in the family, whom everyone obeyed and everyone obeyed. In one of the instructions addressed to the father of the family, it was said that he should educate his daughter with great attention, although, naturally, raising a daughter is primarily a mother's job. When her daughter is 5-6 years old, she needs to do her hair and bandage her legs. She should be in the house all the time, she should not run and play. When she is 7-8 years old, her father should teach her to do small housework: sweep the floor, spin, wash cups. At the age of 10, she was forbidden to leave the house and play with the boys - her father also had to forbid. When relatives came, the father had to show them his daughter, but she had to express respect, it was not allowed to laugh out loud.

At the age of 14-15, her father had to accustom her to those jobs that would be useful in her husband's family. She had to wear black or blue clothes, plain and simple. She had to get up early and stay up late. The girl was not allowed to make sacrifices in the temple and light smoking candles.

As for the rights of a girl and a woman to common family property, there was the following situation. If for some reason there was a division of real estate, then it was distributed among men. Daughters and wives could be heirs of the property of their fathers and husbands in those rare cases when there was not a single man left in the family. Even in wealthy families, the wife did not have the right to inherit. The dowry of the bride could consist of jewelry, rich clothes, expensive furnishings, very rarely they gave money for the bride and never gave land.

1.2 Preparing for the wedding

To marry his son and see his grandchildren was the most secret desire of the head of the family: only in this case he gained confidence that, having passed to another world, he would be full and provided with everything necessary. If the lineage ceased, then there was no one to take care of the dead, and their “afterlife existence” turned out to be very difficult.

In the book "Li-chi" ( 礼记 - "Notes on the perfect order of things, government and rituals") original lower and upper limits of marriageable age were fixed: for men from 16 to 30, for women from 14 to 20 years old, fixing, as it were, the limits of patience and restraining the anger of ancestors against an ungrateful and irreverent descendant. In antiquity, the state itself was involved in observing these age limits, making sure that they were not violated. For this purpose, according to Zhou Li (book 11), a special official compiled lists of men and women who had reached the age limit, and observed that men who had reached the age of 30 would marry girls who were 20 years old.

The Chinese word for "marry" is [娶 - qǔ] literally means "to take a wife into the house", and "to marry" [嫁 - jià] - "to leave the family." The groom brought the bride to his parents, and the bride left her family. After the wedding, the young wife became a member of her husband's family. In rare cases, the groom moved to permanent residence with the bride's parents. The son could be dissatisfied with the wife chosen for him by his parents; the wife, in turn, could be dissatisfied with her husband - this was not considered the main thing in the marriage union. The forced union of young people gave rise to the saying: "Husband and wife live together, and their hearts are a thousand miles apart." If young people were engaged from childhood, parents felt calmer: in the event of a sudden death, there will always be someone to take care of their afterlife.

If the engagement took place in childhood, and the future husband died before the wedding, there was a custom to marry the girl with a memorial tablet of the deceased groom: then she became a widow at the very moment of her wedding and, like any other widow, was deprived of the opportunity to remarry.

In some regions of China, the groom, after the marriage contract was worked out by the matchmakers, sent gifts to a completely unfamiliar bride, including a goose. The girl who accepted the goose was considered a betrothed, even if by age she had many more years to wait for the wedding. She has not the slightest idea, either about the appearance or about the character of the person with whom she is ready to link her fate. She cannot learn anything about him either from her parents, or from her brothers, or from acquaintances; from the day of the matchmaking, she has been kept locked up even more strictly than before, she does not dare to see anyone else, and when guests appear, she must immediately leave the room.

The girl, having sufficiently demonstrated her disobedience, opened the doors of her room and, with tears in her eyes, followed to the palanquin. The father of the bride or his closest relative locked the doors of the palanquin, and handed over the key to the faithful servant to hand over to the groom. The girl had to cry for three days before the wedding, refuse food, expressing her sadness about parting with her home. Then the neighbors will not have a reason to say that she really wants to get married. On the day of the wedding, when the girl was about to leave her home, she usually hid somewhere. The mother began to call loudly and look for her, pretending that her daughter had disappeared. The daughter at this time locked herself in her room. But here comes the palanquin. The porters and musicians also began to loudly call the bride, assuring them that they could not wait any longer.

The day before the wedding, the bride was given a special hairstyle worn by married women: the hair on the forehead was shaved or plucked to make it taller. In the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom sat down to dine together, this was the first and last day when they dined together. The groom could eat as much as he wanted; the bride, on the other hand, had to eat for two weeks only the provisions that her parents handed over.

During the wedding dinner, guests allowed themselves frivolous remarks about the bride, even obscene jokes, to which she had to be cool and indifferent. They unceremoniously mocked her legs, clothes, appearance. The bride was asked to stand with her little feet on an inverted cup. If she did not succeed, then caustic remarks were heard: “What a clumsy one!” There could be such a request: “Bring tea to your husband!” If the bride fulfilled this request, she was told: "What an obedient wife!" If she refused to do so, the guests expressed their condolences to the husband who had married an evil woman.

From all of the above, we can draw the following conclusion - a girl in a Chinese family before marriage had to lead a meek lifestyle, be constantly at home and unquestioningly fulfill all her father's orders. Girls had to endure hardships such as bandaging their legs and breasts, they had to not play with neighborhood children and get used to the idea that they were not considered “normal” people.

The historically established traditions of China doomed the girl to a very difficult existence. The cult of a man from early childhood put pressure on the girl. We see that the situation of the girl did not change, and even became even more difficult after she got married. Of course, in rich families, girls had an easier life, they were not sold to brothels, but they were wooed without their consent.

Maybe for Europeans and us, brought up in a different culture, such behavior towards girls by fathers and society will seem unfair and shocking, but for the Chinese people, who were brought up in such traditions from generation to generation, this was considered quite acceptable and even due. In this chapter, an attempt was made to objectively consider the attitude towards the girl on the part of the parents, the Chinese have developed a certain tradition in behavior and this tradition has remained unchanged for many years.


Chapter 2

The position of a woman in a traditional Chinese family

Even Homer valued a woman on an equal footing with a man. He describes her with the greatest insight. He creates unforgettable images of women, there is nothing better, says Homer, than when a husband and wife live in harmony in their home, their neighbors for joy, for their own happiness. But of course, Homer was not familiar with the Chinese tradition of building a family and the position of women in traditional Chinese society. This chapter will deal with the status of women as wife, mother and widow.

1.1 Regulation Chinese women as a wife

It cannot be stated with certainty that family life began after the wedding, because matchmakers sometimes found a bride or groom also for unborn children. In traditional China, the wedding ceremony was colorful and important event in the families of the spouses, especially in the family of the groom, because he bore all the material costs, but the bride's family had to collect her dowry. After the wedding, the most terrible thing came - the mother-in-law gave vent to her almost unlimited power over her daughter-in-law. And although the husband's heart could bleed at the sight of bullying of his wife, he had no right to express dissatisfaction with the actions of his mother. If he dared to do this, he caused even more suffering to his wife and her life became completely unbearable. Her husband's intercession aroused the indignation of his parents, and even the neighbors condemned him for being disrespectful to his elders. The daughter-in-law had to avoid personal communication with the head of the family and his sons and constantly be “at hand” of the mother-in-law, who usually did not have a quiet disposition. A mother-in-law's cruel treatment of her daughter-in-law is one of the darkest aspects in the life of a Chinese family.

The subordinate position of a woman, characteristic of Chinese family traditions, goes back to the cult of ancestors, according to which the purpose of a person on earth is to continue the family line and maintain the graves of their ancestors. The woman, who lost all connection with her own family upon marriage, was assigned, according to these ideas, a secondary role.

Submission, obedience and once again obedience - such was the main virtue of a woman. As a girl, she obeyed her father in everything, after marriage she became the servant of her husband and his parents. “If I marry a bird,” said an ancient Chinese proverb, “I must fly after it; if I marry a dog, I must follow it wherever it runs; if I marry an abandoned clod of earth, I must sit beside him and protect him.

The most important and best qualities women were considered timidity, restraint, the ability to adapt to the character of her husband. The woman's world was limited to home and family. A guest who came to the house always asked the host about his health, about the health of his father, grandfather, son, but never about the health of his wife or daughters. Such a question would seem indecent, it could be perceived as a manifestation of impoliteness. Here is one of the examples of moral instruction for a husband: When you take a wife, first of all teach her how to show respect to her father and mother, how to live in harmony with her daughters-in-law, how to be obedient - so that she gets up early in the morning and goes to bed late in the evening , worried about the harvest of rice and the economy of bread. These are the true rules that a wife must observe. If she shows a bad temper, then exhort her good words. Over time, she will correct her shortcomings ... If you do not know how to re-educate your wife, you are afraid of her and do not dare to do this, if you agree with her in everything, do not dare to stop her bad deeds, begin to indulge her character, she will play on your feelings and will not be afraid of you. And although you will say that you love her, it will only harm her. These days, there are many husbands who are afraid of their wives and suffer from it. The root of the evil is this: when you married a woman and did not raise her, she gradually deteriorated.

To serve her husband's parents was considered the main duty of a young woman. If the son likes his wife, but his parents do not like him, - they said in ancient China, - then he should part with her. And vice versa, if the son does not like the wife, and his parents say that she serves them well, then he does not dare to part with her. No matter how ruthlessly a husband treated his wife, she had to meekly submit to fate and silently obey. She could return to her home, but it was considered a disgrace.

The most she could do was go to the temple, hang up a paper figurine representing her husband, and pray to the goddess of mercy, asking her to soften her husband's heart.

2.2 Women's status as mothers

As for a woman as a mother, her duties, first of all, included preparing children for a future married life. In this situation, the preparation of girls for family life will be considered in more detail. It wasn't just limited to teaching housekeeping. The mother was obliged to "form a worthy image" of her daughter in accordance with the ideas of the Chinese about true beauty. By the way, it is impossible not to mention that the early ideas of the Chinese about female beauty differed significantly from ours. The Chinese believed that only a girl who looks like a weak and fragile reed can be a real beauty. In order to match this graceful image, the girl had to have a very small, even by Chinese standards, size of the legs and chest. It was the mother from the age of 6 - 7 years of her daughter who "created" the appropriate appearance of the future beauty. To do this, the girls swaddled their legs, bending all their fingers on them except for the big one. This procedure was carried out until the sole acquired the desired arcuate shape. It should be said that this procedure was very, very painful, however, despite the constant pain experienced, the girls had to continue to perform all their household duties in the same volume. After the formation of the "correct" shape of the foot, the girls began to hobble when walking. Daughters in wealthy families especially got it, where the ideal was such female legs, on which it was difficult for women themselves to move without outside help. But the creation of such a graceful gait, alas, did not end the torment of future beauties. Depending on the time of puberty - at 10-14 years old - in order to give grace to the “whole figure”, girls with a special canvas fabric tightly pulled their breasts together, which limited not only the development of the mammary glands, but also physical development the whole organism. This often later adversely affected the health of the future woman. With such cruel methods, entire generations of Chinese women were brought into line with the ideas of beauty. However, with a successful outcome, i.e., with the acquisition of the desired shape of the figure and arched (“moon-shaped”) legs, the girls could count on increased attention from the suitors.

2.3 The position of a woman after separation from her husband

The wife, they said, should be "a pure shadow and a simple echo." When a rich husband took one or more "secondary" wives, the legal wife was obliged to accept them favorably and live with them in peace and harmony. A husband could sell his wives or concubines, transfer them to another person temporarily or permanently.

Although it was formally prohibited by law, the practice was widespread. If a husband mistreated his wife, he suffered a lighter punishment than for the same treatment of a stranger. If a wife acted inappropriately towards her husband, she suffered a heavier punishment than for the same treatment of a stranger. If a husband committed adultery, it was not considered a crime at all. But a husband could kill his wife with impunity, should she dare to do the same.

The husband had the right to separate from his wife without divorce proceedings under the following circumstances:

If the wife does not live in harmony with her father-in-law and mother-in-law;
- if infertile;
- if suspected of adultery or has already committed it;
- if slander or talkativeness causes discord in the family;
- if he suffers from any disease to which people feel a natural aversion;
- if the tongue is intemperate;
- if she appropriates household property without the permission of her husband.

However, these reasons did not work during mourning, if the wife had nowhere to go, and also if the husband became rich through this marriage. The husband's responsibility for his wife was also expressed in the fact that for all her offenses, except for a serious crime and treason, she was given to him on bail.

In addition, husband and wife had the right to divorce by mutual agreement or if they caused serious harm to each other's relatives. Divorce was accomplished by a simple agreement between families, and only in the case of major mutual claims could the authorities intervene in the matter.

An old Chinese proverb: "The poison of a black scorpion and a green snake is not as dangerous as the poison that is in the heart of a woman."

Secondary marriage was considered a serious crime of a woman against the memory of her late husband. A widow who dared to remarry was doomed to be expelled from her midst, ran the risk of being killed by her late husband's parents or relatives, and, according to the law, she could no longer become anyone's wife, but only a concubine, but also a husband demanding a divorce without reason. , threatened hard labor.

According to the ancient rule, the wife had to stay with her husband in the life of the earth and the afterlife. She announced such a decision to relatives and friends, and her act was regarded as a feat.

The governors of the provinces in an official report informed the emperor about the suicides of virtuous widows. The more there were, the more praise the official received. The ways of its implementation are different. Some took opium, lay down and died at the body of their husband. Others starved themselves to death, drowned themselves, or took poison. Another method that has sometimes been resorted to is public suicide by hanging near or in one's home. This intention was announced in advance so that those who wish could be present and contemplate this act.

The real reasons for widows turning to suicide are varied. Some were driven by a devoted attachment to the deceased, others by the extreme poverty of their families and the difficulty of earning an honest and respectable lifestyle, others by the fact or prospect of rude treatment on the part of the husband's relatives.

Rules "Lee" ( 礼 - etiquette, decency) forbade the husband the slightest manifestation of tenderness in front of strangers. These feelings burst out only during the funeral of one of the spouses.

The widow was most often buried in the same grave with her husband or near her. This custom goes back to the fact that Confucius, as a warning to posterity, buried his mother next to his father's grave.

After analyzing the above information, we can draw the following conclusion - a girl, getting married, not only did not find family happiness and improved living conditions, but, on the contrary, fell under the influence of her husband and his relatives. In very rare cases, a married couple lived in harmony and harmony, basically for many, family life is just the coexistence of strangers under one roof. The woman was viewed as a disenfranchised person, whose only duty was the birth of children in order to procreate. Even by his death, the husband dictated the rules of behavior to his wife, she had to live her life with dignity, grieving for him. Based on Confucian morality, society was on the side of the man, sometimes condemning the woman to unbearable conditions, she had to endure and somewhere in her soul hope for something better.


Chapter 3

The Status of a Concubine in Traditional China

In traditional Chinese society, women not only raised children and took care of the household, but also lived in the palace, serving the emperor, sometimes playing an important role in government. state affairs. This chapter examines the life and position of concubines in the imperial palace and wealthy houses of China.

3.1 Concubines in the emperor's palace

To begin with, it should be determined that one of the main signs of the power and might of the Son of Heaven in China was a large harem. The status of each inhabitant of the harem was determined by the degree of activity of her yin energy (阴 - negative (feminine) principle of the universe) energy. highest degree activity this energy was endowed by the empress.

In the family hierarchy, each woman had a strictly defined place: servants were subordinate to concubines, concubines - to wives, wives - to main wives, and all without exception - to the first mistress, the main wife of the father of the family, and in the event of his death - the main wife of the eldest son. In the harem of the Son of Heaven, the empress was in charge of all the minor wives. Secondary wives, as well as concubines, did not have the right to sit with the first or main wife. This was expressed even in the writing of the hieroglyph 妾 （ tse- concubine） , which consists of two parts: on top is a hieroglyph立（ whether- stand), and from below 女（ nui- woman, girl).

The concubines had to remain in the harem until the age of twenty-five, and then, if they did not have children (primarily sons), they were removed from the palace. The concubines-mothers of children who gave birth from the Son of Heaven remained in the palace and could claim the role of the wife of the emperor and empress.

The women and girls of the palace made up two categories: the wives and concubines of the emperor and palace employees. All women of the imperial palace were divided into several categories. By the time of the reign of Emperor Yuandi (from 49 BC to 33 BC), according to the well-known Russian historian R. Vyatkin, there were 14 categories of concubines. In the late Han period, according to S.V. Volkov, only four ranks were established for concubines.

And here is the gradation of wives and concubines given by the historian Wang Yaping. The main among the women in the palace was the empress, or the main wife of the Son of Heaven, followed by four (and not three, as V.V. Malyavin believes) “additional” wives , each of them had a special title: precious concubine, virtuous, moral and talented concubine. This is stated in the treatise "Li-Ji". There were also three favorite ladies who occupied the first the highest level; nine senior concubines , who occupied the second stage; 27 junior concubines, which in turn were divided into: nine maid of honor, nine beauties and nine talents who occupied the third, fourth and fifth steps, and 81 "harem girls" . They were also divided into three categories: 27 girls, 27 imperial women and 27 women-gatherers, who made up the sixth, seventh and eighth steps. According to the above data, we can conclude that there is no exact gradation of concubines in the imperial palace, but one thing is for sure - there were many concubines and they were all endowed with different powers.

According to some materials of the Sung time, the emperor was supposed to officially have twelve wives and concubines, according to the number of months in a year (three wives and nine concubines); princes were to have nine women (one wife and eight concubines); a major dignitary - one wife and two concubines.

In addition to the concubines, in the palace of the Son of Heaven there were still palace girls who stood on the last step, and palace maids, who were beyond all levels and were the lowest in status people in the palace. The use of palace girls and servants was strictly limited to a narrow circle of palace institutions. In the Ming era, they were organized into seven specialized institutions, to which 24 divisions were subordinate. In the 15th century, many women's functions were taken over by eunuchs, and only one female institution remained - the clothing service with four auxiliary bureaus. .

All these numbers, as we see, had cosmological semantics. However, there could be more women in the harem. According to the Chinese authors Dian Dengguo and Wang Yaping, it was during the Tang (618-907) and Ming (1368-1643) dynasties that there were the most concubines in the palaces of the emperor. It is known that Emperor Xuanzong (712-756), who was distinguished by extreme love and fell under the spell of the young concubine of his son Yang Guifei at the age of sixty, kept about 40 thousand women in his palaces.

Based on historical materials, Wang Yaping cites such data on the number of women in the palaces of the Son of Heaven in various historical eras. In the palaces of Qin Shihuang (246-210 BC) there were 10 thousand of them, Wudi of Han (140-87 BC) - 20 thousand, Wudi of Jin (265-290) - 15 thousand, in the palaces of Yandi of Sui (605-617) - several tens of thousands and, as we have already said, Xuanzong had about 40 thousand women in Tang time.

In the period of other dynasties in China, according to Dian Dengguo, the number of concubines was much less. Emperor Guangxu of the last Qing Dynasty had only two concubines.

Wives and concubines in the palace were served by eunuchs and female servants. The number of those and others in different dynasties varied. So, in the last half of the reign of the Qing dynasty, according to Dian Dengguo, the empress dowager had 12 servants, the empress - 10, the concubines of the first category - 8, the second - 6, the third - 4, the ordinary concubines - 3 servants.

The concubines, as they entered the owner's house, received serial numbers: concubine No. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. The more was the serial number of the concubine, the lower the price was in the eyes of society. J.I. Vasiliev notes that women in the Chunqiu period, in contrast to later times, felt quite free and sometimes acted very actively.

In the Tang time, and even later, according to the well-known Russian historian A. A. Boyutsanin, the number of concubines was not limited until the 16th century. Marriage with a concubine in those years was formalized. Concubines or "married" , or "bought" . When they marry a concubine, then a contract should also be drawn up, the Tang Codes said. If they buy a concubine and do not know her last name, the latter should be determined by fortune-telling. It was forbidden to take as concubines former concubines of relatives of older generations, as well as women of the same surname as the future husband.

I would like to clarify the situation that developed after the death of the emperor. Even in ancient times, there was a ritual according to which, at the death of the emperor, the burial of his wives and concubines was also carried out. This followed from the ancient Chinese concept that the soul of the deceased lives in the next world and needs everything that it had on earth. From here came the custom of burying wives alive along with their dead husbands. Already with the first emperor of the centralized empire, Qin Shi Huang, his wives were buried (but only those who did not have children from him!). The emperors of the Ming Dynasty decided to restore this ancient terrible ritual - the burial of concubines along with the death of the emperor. In the imperial tombs, the main wife of the Son of Heaven, sometimes the mother of the heir and individual concubines who glorified themselves in some way, were buried. However, as a rule, many concubines were given a special burial place somewhere near the tomb of the emperor. Emperors built separate tombs for their favorite concubines. In this regard, the tomb of the concubine of Emperor Sizong Tian Guifei is interesting. It is a large hall with nine rows of columns. The emperor who committed suicide and the concubine Zhou, who was killed by him, were buried in this grave. A cruel custom reintroduced under the Ming (1368-1644) - the killing of concubines was far from being limited to the imperial court. Gradually, its scope expanded, the number of victims increased. The high dignitaries, who imitated throughout the court, soon also began to perform this bloody "ritual", and it often turned out that in cruelty they surpassed the Son of Heaven.

The murder of concubines was carried out in a rather peculiar way - as if by the will of the concubines themselves. The whole system of public education from early childhood developed in the future concubine the consciousness of the impossibility of existence without the emperor, convinced her that she was obliged to be both in this and in the next world. Of course, this conviction of the young concubines was cherished by the old religious beliefs. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that the Son of Heaven was a "god on earth", before whom everyone trembled, not excluding the concubines. All this served as the reasons for their mass suicides on the day of the burial of emperors and nobles or in the near future after their death. It should be added to this that the imperial palace, as we well know, was the scene of a struggle for power and the throne not only among the nobles and officials, but also among the imperial concubines. Many of them had to go to the next world ahead of time as a result of secret intrigues, the envy of their own palace friends.

The conviction of the concubines about the need to commit suicide at the death of emperors or nobles was reinforced not only by fear, not only by upbringing from childhood, not only by generally accepted customs that had become normal, from which no one dared to make exceptions. It was also reinforced by the system of exaltation of the concubines who sacrificed their lives, a system that greatly aroused the vanity of the concubines, the consciousness that, having killed herself, she was committing a noble, pious deed. Often, palace dignitaries from the chamber of rituals incited young beauties to commit suicide.

After suicide, the concubines were given majestic names with hieroglyphs, testifying to certain virtues of innocent victims. The names were given beautiful, euphonious and moralizing, speaking of the merits of the deceased.

But even worse was the fate of the palace servants, who were not exalted after their forced death, but were burned in common so-called "wells". One of the largest wells was located 5 li (2.5 km) outside the city's capital gates of Fuchenmen. This place, which turned into a "cemetery" of palace maids, was called "Gunzhense".

Here is what was said about Gunzhense in Chinese chronicles: “There are two pits there, the walls of which are lined with bricks; on a small house there is a pagoda... The wells are covered with stone slabs on top, they have small holes through which air enters the well. All the unfamous servants of the palace were not buried in separate graves ... Their corpses were burned inside the well.

It wasn't until the end of the Jiajing reign that the senior maids of the Son of Heaven's palace were allowed to buy land for their tomb; if they did not want their corpse to be put on fire, they were given the opportunity to be buried in the ground.

3.2 Concubines in rich houses and commoners

As for the presence of concubines ordinary people, it should be noted that during the Ming Dynasty there was a set of rules “Laws of the Great Ming Dynasty”, in which it was strictly described - to whom, depending on the rank, how many concubines are supposed to be. Concubines for the closest relatives of the emperor were allowed to choose once upon submission of a report, at most 10 people, their sons were allowed to have 4 concubines.

Gradually, not only relatives of the emperor and dignitaries began to take concubines. During the Han Dynasty, even middle-class men could afford to keep concubines. They often bought the girls they liked from brothels, and this custom was preserved throughout subsequent dynasties.

The concubine called her husband's wife mistress and wore mourning for her in the event of her death, and the wife in a similar case did not wear mourning for her husband's concubines. Naturally, the concubine had to wear mourning for her husband, but the husband did not wear mourning for his concubine, who did not have a son from him, and for the concubines of his sons and grandchildren. The husband did not bear any responsibility for beating the concubine without visible wounds, fractures or injuries. But if the husband killed the concubine, then he was punished two steps more weakly than for the murder of an ordinary person. According to the laws of the Tang Empire, a slave for raping the owner's concubine received a punishment one step less than for raping his wife. In general, the punishment for raping a concubine or fornicating with her has always been one step less than for raping a wife or fornicating with her. A wife who scolded her husband received a year of hard labor, a concubine - one and a half. A concubine in the case of a wound or injury to her husband was subject to the death penalty in the Middle Ages.

The position of a concubine in the family changed dramatically if she gave birth to a son, and especially if her son, in the absence of direct heirs from the head of the family, himself became the head of this family. The priority right in this respect belonged to the eldest son of the first concubine.

For the rape of a concubine of a father or grandfather, who had a son from his father or grandfather, the perpetrator faced the death penalty by strangulation. If she did not have a son, the punishment was less severe. For the rape of a wife, a more severe form of punishment was imposed - beheading. In Minsk times, a concubine who raised her hand to her wife was subject to flogging with 60 thick batogs and a year of exile; the wife, who did not cause fractures and more severe injuries to the concubine as a result of assault, was not held accountable at all. The concubine, who scolded his wife, received 80 blows with thick batogs, while the law did not provide for any punishment for the verbal abuse of the concubine by the official wife. Thus, we see how different was the attitude in the family and society towards the main wife and the concubine.

In addition to harems, princes and high-ranking officials had their own troupes. , girls trained in dancing and music, who showed their art to guests during official banquets, meals and private feasts. As Chinese chronicles testify, they often passed from hand to hand, they were sold and resold, or simply presented as a gift. Gifting beautiful dancers became the norm of diplomatic etiquette at princely courts. It is known that in 515 BC. e. one major official involved in the litigation offered a troupe of such girls as a bribe to the judge. The presence of dancers and singers was considered a certain indicator social status their owner. However, over time, only the ruling families could have private troupes, although brothels provided professional singers and dancers to anyone who was able to pay for it.

Commoners from forty years and older, in the absence of sons, were allowed to purchase one concubine. All childless husbands had the right to marry a concubine. At the same time, the man took concubines for himself, guided not only by his desire, but also by financial possibilities. In poor families, all the concubines lived in the same house, sat at the same table, they did all the housework, ran the household. As for the concubines living with the emperor, they are either in the palaces. In Beijing's Gugong complex to the east and west of Housangong - the three "far palaces" set aside for the emperor's residence, there were six palaces that belonged to empresses and concubines.

Thus, after analyzing the situation with the position of concubines, we can draw the following conclusion: the position of girls who received the status of a concubine was unenviable, especially if they did not give birth to boys. Only the most beautiful and worthy girls became empresses and close concubines. Once in a palace or a rich house, a young girl endured all the hardships and insults from older concubines and wives. If she could not give birth to a boy or gave birth to a girl, she could be sold to a brothel. The status of a concubine in traditional China can be equated with the status of a slave - she had no right to anything except to fulfill the wishes of her master. But some were lucky, at the birth of a son and a combination of successful circumstances, they became the main concubines and even wives, subsequently came to power, and implemented their policies, as can be seen from the example of Empress Cixi.


Conclusion

After studying this issue in detail, we can draw the following conclusions.

The ancient Chinese had an expression about a woman: “controls the internal”, that is, a woman should take care of children, cook, sew and spin, clean, feed livestock, etc. - all the affairs in the house, and should not have been engaged social activities. In addition, a woman had to obey her husband, who was the head of the family, therefore, in the ancient script, the hieroglyph 女 (["nǚ"] - "woman") depicts a man on his knees with his hands folded across his chest in a sign of humility.

The historically established traditions of China doomed even an unborn girl to a miserable existence. The cult of a man from early childhood put pressure on the girl. We see that the situation of the girl did not change, and even became even more difficult after her marriage. Of course, in rich families, girls had an easier life, but they had no more rights than poor girls.

A girl, getting married, not only did not find family happiness and improved living conditions, but, on the contrary, fell under the influence of her husband and his relatives. In very rare cases, a married couple lived in harmony and harmony, basically for many, family life is just the joint residence of two strangers under the same roof, burdened with household chores. The woman was viewed as a disenfranchised person, whose only duty was the birth of children in order to procreate. Even by his death, the husband dictated the rules of behavior to his wife, she had to live her life with dignity, grieving for him. Based on Confucian morality, society has always been on the side of a man, sometimes dooming a woman to unbearable living conditions and she could not do anything about it, she only had to endure and somewhere in her soul hope for something better.

As for the girls who received the status of a concubine, their position was unenviable, especially if they did not give birth to boys. Only the most beautiful and worthy girls became empresses and close concubines. Once in a palace or a rich house, a young girl endured all the hardships and insults from older concubines and wives. If she could not give birth to a boy or gave birth to a girl, she could be sold to a brothel. The status of a concubine in traditional China can be equated with the status of a slave - she had no right to anything except to fulfill the wishes of her master. But some were lucky, at the birth of a son and a combination of successful circumstances, they became the main concubines and even wives, subsequently came to power, and implemented their policies, as can be seen from the example of Empress Cixi.

Maybe for Europeans and us, brought up in a different culture, such behavior towards girls by fathers and society will seem unfair and shocking, but for the Chinese people, who were brought up in such traditions from generation to generation, this was considered quite acceptable and even due.

Of course, today it is impossible to compare the situation of women in traditional China with modern China, but nevertheless we cannot ignore the fact that in remote villages, remnants of traditions are still preserved, women also remain dependent on relatives and husbands, without even having any rights. after the death of her husband. When writing this work, it was considered various points vision and learned a lot about the life of Chinese women.

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There.

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