How do women in the harem serve the emperor?

How to attend bed in ancient times

In the Zhou Dynasty, there were Yin orders responsible for the monarch's secret affairs. The Ye Ting Order of the Han Dynasty stated that "the day leakage will not be exhausted for eight quarters, and the records recorded in Bailu will be recommended to those who see the emperor." That is, before night comes, write down who is going to sleep with the emperor that day. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, eunuchs were responsible for this task. In every dynasty, there was a memorandum in the palace to record the emperor's lucky events for future reference. Just as the ministers of the outer court are dedicated to their duties, the eunuchs responsible for this duty are also meticulous.

Emperor Wencheng of the Northern Wei Dynasty accidentally climbed up the building and looked around, and saw a beauty in Pingcheng Palace. Emperor Wencheng asked the people around him, "How beautiful is this woman?" Everyone agreed unanimously. So Emperor Wencheng walked down the white building and walked towards the beautiful woman. The two stayed in Zhaiku. The woman Li became pregnant as a result.

The Empress Dowager later inquired and found out that the keeper of the treasury had written down the time and events on the treasury wall. The two were checked and there were no errors. The fetus Li was pregnant with was recognized. It can be seen from this that although the emperor does things as he pleases, the recorder can also capture the traces. The keeper of the treasury is not responsible for this duty. The matter is important and must be recorded in time.

In the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs in the clerical room were responsible for recording where the emperor slept every night and the names of his concubines. The female official Tong Shi was responsible for recording the concubines and palace maids who were lucky enough to be placed in the emperor's bedroom. It seems that the Ming Dynasty had dual records. Eunuchs and female officials were recorded separately based on the deeds of the emperor, concubines and maids.

Ming Shenzong initially met the Queen of Xinggong by chance, but he kept it secret afterward. Later, the Wang family became pregnant. The Queen Mother was eager to have a grandson, so she checked the records in the library, and then told Shenzong about it, but Shenzong was unwilling to admit it. The Queen Mother then ordered someone to bring the inner living notes to him, and Shenzong had no choice but to admit it. Shenzong's attitude was because he was no longer interested in the Wang family, but as was the practice in the Ming Dynasty, if a palace maid became pregnant, she would be granted the title of concubine. He didn't want to be named Wang, he just wanted to get by.

The ring worn by concubines and maids has a certain significance in the emperor's royal favor system. "Huan" and "Huan" have the same pronunciation. When the concubine was sleeping, she asked the emperor when he would return. Instead of saying so directly, she used her jade ring to ring the ring and asked, "When will the sword be sharpened?" This is another twist. Since the ring is attached to the knife head, the knife head is used instead of the ring. For example, when a concubine or a maid is menstruating, she cannot go to bed, nor can she speak directly. Instead, she injects elixir onto her face, and the burning sensation becomes her consciousness.

Lizards are called "geckos" because of their unique uses. The lizard was fed with cinnabar in a vessel. Because it fed on cinnabar, its body was completely red. After eating seven kilograms of it, it was pounded into pieces. If these red powders are applied or dotted on the limbs of palace maids, they will be immortal for life, but will be destroyed during sexual intercourse. There is a poem in Li He's "Gong Baby Song": "The wax light hangs high in the gauze sky, and the flower room is red at night to guard the palace."

The emperor walked towards the harem from behind, hesitating in his steps, unable to make up his mind. Who are you looking for and where will you stay tonight? During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao reigns of the romantic emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, there were as many as 40,000 women in the harem, and he did not know how to arrange them to serve him. Later, Xuanzong came up with a way to gather a group of palace concubines together every day and ask them to throw dice. The winner of the hit would go to bed that night. In private, the eunuchs called the dice the matchmakers.

In the spring and autumn, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the women in the harem to plant flowers in front of their doors. fortunate.

Because there were so many women entering the imperial court, it was difficult for Xuanzong to remember their names and appearances one by one, so he invented a romantic method. "The seal is then stained with cinnamon red paste to make the mark firm and not fade after being washed with water.

Since Yang Guifei entered the palace and won the emperor's exclusive favor, the matchmaker, butterflies and "the romance is ever new" seal were no longer useful. The women in the harem had no choice but to express their love to the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl on Chinese Valentine's Day.

Tang Jingzong invented a kind of romantic arrow, which was also intended to determine the bedtime. Use bamboo bark to make a bow, paper to make arrows, and the incense of dragon and musk is densely stored in the middle of the paper. The palace concubines gathered together, Jingzong took an arrow and shot it. The person who was hit by the arrow was fragrant and felt the body without any pain. Later, there was a saying in the palace that "everyone wishes to be caught in the romantic arrow."

The harem life of Emperor Wu of the Western Jin Dynasty was associated with the sheep cart. Emperor Wu Sima Yan was the son of Sima Zhao. "Sima Zhao's heart is known to everyone on the road" means that Sima Zhao held great power in the court and wanted to replace the emperor, but he did not make up his mind until his death. His son Sima Yan has long been impatient. Although powerful ministers have power, they cannot satisfy their sexual desires as much as the emperor. Even if they are more powerful than the emperor, they cannot enjoy countless beauties like the emperor.

Sima Yan’s grandfather Sima Yi was already tired of his old wife.

Sima Yi was once bedridden, and Zhang Chunhua, the wife of the wife, had lost her temper and was in love, so she came to look after her husband on tiptoe. As soon as Sima Yi saw this yellow-faced woman, he cursed: "This old man is disgusting, why bother coming out!" Zhang Chunhua was so ashamed and hateful that he wanted to commit suicide on a hunger strike. Sima Zhao's brothers all sympathized with their mother and also went on a hunger strike. Sima Yi realized that his sons had been harmed, so he apologized to Zhang, and Zhang and his sons began to eat. Afterwards, Sima Yi said to others in private: "I don't care about old things. I'm so worried about my ears!".

When Sima Yan was thirty years old, Sima Zhao died. He replaced his father and immediately forced Emperor Wei to abdicate and ascended the throne himself. He wanted to enjoy the treatment that only the emperor could enjoy. He would never encounter his grandfather's grievances again, and there were many beauties in the harem. Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty created a historical record of ten thousand people in the harem.

Due to the large number of concubines, Emperor Wu of Jin initially had a headache as to where to spend the night. Later, the sheep cart was invented, and he was carried on the sheep cart to roam on the alleys of the harem. Whoever's door the sheep stopped at would sleep with him.

The palace concubines all looked forward to the emperor's sheep cart stopping in front of their door. At this time, some smart women showed their wisdom. They inserted bamboo leaves in front of the door, sprinkled salt juice on the path leading to the door, and lured the sheep to lick the salt juice, walk to the door along the way, and eat the salt on the door. Bamboo leaves, so the car stopped.

Since then, the sheep cart has become a treasure handed down from generation to generation in the harem. Emperor Wen of the Southern Song Dynasty rode a sheep cart past the houses of his concubines. The sheep stopped in front of Pan Shufei's door and licked the salt water on the ground. When Emperor Wen saw Concubine Pan Shu, he sighed and said, "The sheep are hanging around for you, let alone people?" Concubine Pan fell in love with her and fell in love with her in the harem.

Are there any rules and principles to follow when entering the harem? The research result of Cui Lingen, a doctor of the Later Liang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, is that when the concubines enter the imperial palace, they will cycle once every 15 days, starting from the lowest concubine, which matches the pattern of the moon. It is smallest at the beginning of the month and gets bigger and bigger. The moon symbolizes Yin and also symbolizes women. It is necessary to be careful when the moon is dark and when the moon is bright, that is, on the first and fifteenth day of each month, so ancient monarchs did not stay in the house on these two days, because the dark will destroy the darkness, and the bright will be bright.

"Spring and Autumn" says: "The dark clouds confuse the disease, and the rumors of the heart disease are used to ward off the six qi." Below the ninth concubine, one of the nine concubines will occupy one night. The eighty-one female imperial concubines will occupy nine nights. The twenty-seven concubines will occupy three nights. The ninth concubine will occupy one night. The third lady will occupy one night. The above will occupy fourteen nights. At night, the queen has one night to herself, for fifteen nights. The first half of the month is based on the above arrangements. The second half of the month starts from the 16th, starting from the queen, and then the nine concubines, the wife of the wife, and the female emperor, corresponding to the rise and fall of the moon. As for the age regulations, those under the ninth concubine and above the female imperial concubine should stop entering the imperial court at the age of fifty. The third lady and the queen are not in this case.

This theory of ancient scholars is obviously far-fetched and cannot be accepted by ancient emperors. The emperor had many women to satisfy his sexual desires. Who would sleep with them on which night depended on the emperor's interest. If the emperor was not in the mood, he could sleep alone. If we act according to Cui Lingen's arrangements, wouldn't it become a kind of labor, starting over and over again, every click, what kind of fun is there?

In the harem of the Ming Dynasty, when it was getting dark every day, two red sarong lanterns were hung in front of the palace gate where the concubines lived. When the emperor visits a certain palace, the lamp on the palace door is removed, indicating that the emperor has chosen a place to sleep. So, the eunuch in charge of patrolling the streets ordered all other palaces to take off their lamps and go to bed. The frustrated concubines had no choice but to destroy the red sarongs hoping for favor and hang them up again tomorrow night.

When the emperor of the Ming Dynasty visited the residence of a concubine for the first time, he wanted to build a palace and the eunuchs decorated the room. The concubine who was the concubine also had to be decorated accordingly. The emperor burned incense as usual when visiting the place where he was lucky, and the aroma was unusual. The purpose of this was stated in a palace poem: "Look at the nose and see that the air is not clear, and the pulse of the pulse is fragrant and charming. The traces of rain and clouds are easy to pull, and there is no light in the sky." Once One day, Emperor Chongzhen came to a private hall and felt a strange fragrance soaking into his heart and spleen. His heart was pounding and he asked the attendant what it was. The answer was: "When the Holy Master comes to a fortunate place, he will burn this incense." Chongzhen sighed, "This is the reason why the emperor father and the emperor brother do not talk long (original text: This is the reason why the emperor kao and the emperor brother promote their longevity)" !" So, this incense was banned. In fact, examples of burning incense have existed since ancient times. The Tang poet Zhang Ji wrote in "Burning the Palace": "After getting off the chariot to change clothes and enter the bridal chamber, the maids in the bridal chamber burn incense."

Concubines in the Qing Dynasty attended the bed. Different from previous generations, it was no longer the emperor who came personally. The emperor of the Qing Dynasty had his own system. Every day at dinner time, it was decided which concubine would sleep with her that night. Each concubine has a green-headed card with the name of the concubine on it. When preparing dinner, the eunuch in the Jingshi room puts more than ten or dozens of green-headed tiles on a large silver plate, which is called a meal tile. After the emperor finished his dinner, the eunuch knelt down in front of the emperor with a plate in his hands.

If the emperor is not interested, he says "go". If you like something, pick out a card and turn it over with the back facing up. The eunuch took the card and handed it to another eunuch, who was responsible for carrying the concubine who was about to ask for blessings to the emperor's bedroom on his back. Out of the Qing Dynasty emperor's high vigilance to prevent assassins from appearing among his concubines, the concubines had to come naked to the emperor's bedroom. The method was that the concubine was taken to a room not far from the emperor's bedroom and stripped naked. The eunuch wrapped her in a red brocade quilt or coat, carried her on his shoulders, and carried her into the emperor's bedroom. Go to the emperor's bed and take off the red brocade quilt or coat. What happened next was recorded by people at the time, "At that time, the emperor lay down first, and the quilt was no longer on his feet. The concubine climbed up naked from the quilt and made love with the emperor. The head of the respectful room and the eunuch of the camel concubine all stood waiting. Outside the window, if it takes too long, the steward will sing: It's time. If the emperor doesn't respond, he will sing again. If the emperor orders it, the concubine will still drag out from behind the emperor's feet. Wrap it in a cloak and go away on a camel. After leaving, the steward will kneel down and ask for orders, "Do you want to stay?" . The handbook says: On a certain day of a certain month, the emperor was lucky enough to be pregnant.