What rules did the imperial guards of the Qing Dynasty follow when standing guard?

What rules did the imperial guards of the Qing Dynasty follow when standing guard?

There have always been Qing palace dramas staged, such as "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace", "Story of Yanxi Palace" and so on. However, most of these TV dramas focus on showing emotional entanglements, but ignore many historical details, and sometimes make a lot of jokes. Let’s talk about the Ouchi guards in Qing palace dramas.

In fact, in the dramas about the Qing Dynasty, the guards were all minor players and were inconspicuous at all, only showing their faces occasionally. Just by observing their few opportunities to take the stage, we can find the problem. The sabers of the Ouchi guards are worn in a messy manner and their postures are also extremely strange. In some dramas, they even dared to let the guards stand beside the emperor with swords. You know, if this was true hundreds of years ago, these guards would have been executed long ago.

The imperial palace is a hierarchical place. This is why the Forbidden City is called the Forbidden City. Therefore, the palace has many complicated rules, and no one can violate these rules, otherwise it will be trespassing and will be punished, ranging from a fine to a death penalty.

The guards are responsible for protecting the safety of the emperor in the palace. To protect the emperor, they must wear swords, but knives are sensitive things after all. They can not only protect the emperor, but also threaten him.

Therefore, the guards are very particular about wearing swords. Of course, before elaborating on how guards carry swords, we must also talk about the status of these guards. Ouchi guards usually only serve for a few years before being decentralized. Therefore, their performance during their tenure is extremely important, especially their words and deeds. There cannot be any mistakes, otherwise it will affect their future prospects.

Therefore, they always keep in mind the following ways of wearing weapons and do not dare to make any mistakes. So what are the rules for the imperial guards of the Qing Dynasty when they were standing guard?

The first is that they cannot approach the emperor with a knife. This is a major premise. However, this is relatively easy to implement, because the sword guards cannot approach the emperor at all. They just guarded the gate and did not take care of the emperor's food and daily life.

We all know that the eunuchs who stay with the emperor day and night are eunuchs. These eunuchs know a little bit of skill and do not need guards to follow them anytime and anywhere. Therefore, once the guards approached the emperor with their swords, they would directly accuse him of assassination without asking any questions. Ouchi guards need to pay attention.

The second point is the direction of the handle when wearing a sword. When we look at the portraits of the Qing Dynasty, we can find that the directions of the handles of the swords are different when the guards are riding horses and walking. They always face backwards when riding horses, but not necessarily when walking.

According to the book "Miscellaneous Statements of Guards", during the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong years, guards' sword handles must face forward. In fact, it is important to have the handle of the knife facing forward, and martial arts practitioners regard it as a kind of etiquette.

It means that you can see that the handle of the knife is there, and you will not draw the knife, showing respect for the person. This is actually the same reason when we see people stretching out their hands to shake them now. It is to tell the other person that you have no weapons in your hands and to show friendship. The third point that guards need to pay attention to is the starting position of the battle.

Regarding this issue, an Italian missionary once recorded the Manchu saber habit in a book called "Tatar Wars". He said that generally, samurai sabers had the handle facing back and the tip forward. Once it's time to draw the sword to fight, the blade slides onto the buttocks, and the right hand can directly draw the sword from behind, without having to bother holding the scabbard with the left hand.

In other words, when guards usually wear swords, the handles must face forward, and when fighting, the handles must face backwards. You can't put on a fighting saber pose while patrolling, otherwise you'll definitely die. During the Kang, Yong, and Qian dynasties, the regulations were particularly strict. If the handle of the sword was facing backward, it would be immediately executed.

Actually, being a bodyguard is not an easy job. It can also be said that high risks and high returns coexist. You must be cautious and cautious. As long as you successfully survive these few years, you will get good returns. Many wealthy people took a fancy to the high returns of guards, so they sent their uneducated children to be guards. As time went by, few of the guards had real talents, and most of them were just trying to make ends meet. Gradually, the guards also declined. , like the Qing Dynasty, it was on the road to destruction.