So troublesome individuals in the harems of Qing emperor's who competed with other concubines like Empress Xiaoquancheng would be the exception, not the norm. The Qing emperors would only need to focus on the competition between their sons and make sure it does not get out of control (the fighting between Kangxi's princes for the succession during his reign being an example that none of the succeeding Qing emperors want to repeat).
Indeed, this makes a lot of sense. It explains why the dramas and novels are too colourful and dramatic. Although the lives of women in the court seem lonely and depressing to us today, the emperors had to come up with various strategies to avoid infighting and destabilising the dynasty. It's probably good that rare and difficult promotions did not incentivise infighting.
I agree with you. If any son can become emperor...even if he was son of Daying...then truly the biggest focus of imperial women would be in getting pregnant, have son and educate this son really well. But first woman has to get to Emperor's bed in first place. If Qing Emperor had habit of prefering peace-loving consorts over quarrelling ones(and it was basically their unwritten rule), then it'd make sense that harem was more peaceful, because quarreling concubines without Emperor's favour had little influence. Still I think bit of drama among such amount of women would happen, but perhaps not enough to call it imperial harem wars.
true indeed. I don't think even emperors wanted that much drama in their inner court. I guess having inner court members who understood the reality of royal life helped create a less-stressful environment. Imperial women were political branches to build relationship between allies. Their performances in the harem would reflect upon their mother clan. I guess ordinary men wouldn't object to be desired and pursued by many women but I doubt most emperors were naive enough to believe that all interest shown was for them as people. Perhaps the biggest evidence was how marriages to 8 Banner Manchu women, Banner Han women, Mongol women and real Han women were used to control influence. I bet promotions were also used to appease possible allies. Initially, Mongolian wives were made empresses but later on, a Mongolian wife meant that the prince was out of the running to become the next Qing emperor.
I’m sure the women didn’t get along 100% of the time, but I bet the harem resembled a workplace. Everyone in the palace has a role. It’s the same in the inner court. The Empress was basically the department head and the noble consorts were like her managers. Consorts and Imperial concubines were like senior staff while noble ladies, first and second class attendants were junior staff. Just like you don’t want to cause a ruckus in your place of work, I think the Qing Harem ladies might have been the same. Thanks for the video, Miss Bing!
"Where there are people, there will be competition" I wouldn't be surprised if confrontation was not recorded, lest these 'elevated' people are judged by common people and lose an air of prestige🙃
I agree. Just thinking about the cattiness at my job leads me to believe infighting had to happen, but just wasn't recorded. They wanted favor not just for themselves, but for their children and their clan.
Wonderful video. The Qing dynasty highly valued stability and went out of their way to achieve it. Thank you so much for this video. Also, the Song dynasty ROCKS!!! So many powerful empresses ruled at the time. Can we expect a video about Ming dynasty inner court titles in the future 😁?
Very interesting, thanks as always Bing. I personally don’t believe women can live in one place and it all be peaceful I am sure some didn’t get along maybe not recorded. But can you talk about dynasties like the Han and Tang were imperial wars happened, that will be fun lol. ❤
Maybe not to the scale of killing each others children, but probably more like purposeful alienation, classism, and cattiness on a scale small enough to not be written about. 12+ consorts married to 1 man, bound to be drama.
I don't believe it didn't happen. Maybe not on such a high scale as in the Dramas, but come on. They're dramas. I was in high school. I know how vicious girls can be. It doesn't always have to be politically motivated. Sometimes, it can just be a group ganging up on one woman because they heard that consorts' father disappointed the Emperor in some way. Plus you can get some women, who just don't like each other. I'm not saying it's super cut throat. But I'm also not saying that it didn't happen. Otherwise, why don't we know where some consorts are buried? Why aren't they buried in the consorts'tombs? It can't be due to lack of space.
Thanky you, Bing to give us the answer! In the fantasy was happen behind the wall of the forbidden City. Drama or a life in a golden Cage! I can see tha t it was not well that Ci Xi was made politic like a Hobby. It´s always great if you us the another Dynasty to esplain it all really well what happen.
So troublesome individuals in the harems of Qing emperor's who competed with other concubines like Empress Xiaoquancheng would be the exception, not the norm. The Qing emperors would only need to focus on the competition between their sons and make sure it does not get out of control (the fighting between Kangxi's princes for the succession during his reign being an example that none of the succeeding Qing emperors want to repeat).
I'm from Michigan 🇺🇸 and I love these videos, from all over the world. I hope to be able to travel one day. I love ruyi
Indeed, this makes a lot of sense. It explains why the dramas and novels are too colourful and dramatic.
Although the lives of women in the court seem lonely and depressing to us today, the emperors had to come up with various strategies to avoid infighting and destabilising the dynasty. It's probably good that rare and difficult promotions did not incentivise infighting.
this is very interesting! since most of the historical cdrama involves envy and jealousy among women in imperial harem c:
I agree with you. If any son can become emperor...even if he was son of Daying...then truly the biggest focus of imperial women would be in getting pregnant, have son and educate this son really well. But first woman has to get to Emperor's bed in first place. If Qing Emperor had habit of prefering peace-loving consorts over quarrelling ones(and it was basically their unwritten rule), then it'd make sense that harem was more peaceful, because quarreling concubines without Emperor's favour had little influence.
Still I think bit of drama among such amount of women would happen, but perhaps not enough to call it imperial harem wars.
true indeed. I don't think even emperors wanted that much drama in their inner court. I guess having inner court members who understood the reality of royal life helped create a less-stressful environment. Imperial women were political branches to build relationship between allies. Their performances in the harem would reflect upon their mother clan. I guess ordinary men wouldn't object to be desired and pursued by many women but I doubt most emperors were naive enough to believe that all interest shown was for them as people. Perhaps the biggest evidence was how marriages to 8 Banner Manchu women, Banner Han women, Mongol women and real Han women were used to control influence. I bet promotions were also used to appease possible allies. Initially, Mongolian wives were made empresses but later on, a Mongolian wife meant that the prince was out of the running to become the next Qing emperor.
I’m sure the women didn’t get along 100% of the time, but I bet the harem resembled a workplace. Everyone in the palace has a role. It’s the same in the inner court. The Empress was basically the department head and the noble consorts were like her managers. Consorts and Imperial concubines were like senior staff while noble ladies, first and second class attendants were junior staff. Just like you don’t want to cause a ruckus in your place of work, I think the Qing Harem
ladies might have been the same. Thanks for the video, Miss Bing!
"Where there are people, there will be competition"
I wouldn't be surprised if confrontation was not recorded, lest these 'elevated' people are judged by common people and lose an air of prestige🙃
You can’t have too many women under one roof, so I personally believe there are fights among the women, just not recorded
I agree. Just thinking about the cattiness at my job leads me to believe infighting had to happen, but just wasn't recorded. They wanted favor not just for themselves, but for their children and their clan.
Wonderful video. The Qing dynasty highly valued stability and went out of their way to achieve it. Thank you so much for this video.
Also, the Song dynasty ROCKS!!! So many powerful empresses ruled at the time.
Can we expect a video about Ming dynasty inner court titles in the future 😁?
Very interesting, thanks as always Bing. I personally don’t believe women can live in one place and it all be peaceful I am sure some didn’t get along maybe not recorded. But can you talk about dynasties like the Han and Tang were imperial wars happened, that will be fun lol. ❤
I love your attention to detail, thank you. ❤️
Maybe not to the scale of killing each others children, but probably more like purposeful alienation, classism, and cattiness on a scale small enough to not be written about. 12+ consorts married to 1 man, bound to be drama.
I don't believe it didn't happen. Maybe not on such a high scale as in the Dramas, but come on. They're dramas. I was in high school. I know how vicious girls can be. It doesn't always have to be politically motivated. Sometimes, it can just be a group ganging up on one woman because they heard that consorts' father disappointed the Emperor in some way.
Plus you can get some women, who just don't like each other.
I'm not saying it's super cut throat. But I'm also not saying that it didn't happen. Otherwise, why don't we know where some consorts are buried? Why aren't they buried in the consorts'tombs? It can't be due to lack of space.
true. true.
Thanky you, Bing to give us the answer!
In the fantasy was happen behind the wall of the forbidden City. Drama or a life in a golden Cage! I can see tha t it was not well that Ci Xi was made politic like a Hobby.
It´s always great if you us the another Dynasty to esplain it all really well what happen.
You are welcome 🥰
Thank you. But I think there were wars in the court among the consorts and concubines. Puyi' s consort was an example.