Queen Xiaozhuang's personal maid: Su Malagu

Chapter 28 Cheongsam
(1)

On May 1636, 5, Huang Taiji successfully held his throne ceremony, and announced to the world that he was the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and changed his reign name from Tiancong to Chongde.At the same time, an order was issued to officially confer Su Mo'er as a "female scholar".

This move of Huang Taiji became an epoch-making historical event in the Qing Dynasty, and it also had a profound impact on the court etiquette of the Qing Dynasty for more than 270 years.

At the throne ceremony that day, the costumes designed by Su Mo'er became the focus of attention.

When the emperor Huang Taiji in the dragon robe and the queen Zhezhe in the phoenix robe appeared solemnly, the whole audience was silent.The dragon robe worn by Huang Taiji is mainly bright yellow, with eight vivid dragons embroidered on the front and back.On the hem of the dragon robe, there are many curved lines arranged diagonally, and these lines are quite like tumbling water waves.Above the water waves, there are some treasures of mountains and stones.

When Su Mo'er designed this part, she considered that in addition to the auspicious meaning of continuous stretching like mountains and rivers, there should also be a meaning of unifying the country and eternal peace.

On Huang Taiji's head was wearing a Tongtian Crown, which was shining with golden light and was very dazzling.

The sleeves and hem of Zhe Zhe's phoenix robe are decorated with lace.The main color of the phoenix robe is blue, and the texture is brocade.Eight vivid phoenixes are embroidered on the blue brocade.In the middle of the colorful phoenix, several peonies are interspersed.

Empress Zhezhe wears tin on her head.The tin is golden, and the whole tin is decorated with exquisite hollow carved patterns, and inlaid with large pearls, full and round.There are light pink silk flowers on the sideburns, the petals are bright and fresh, and the whole makeup reflects the queen's calmness and tranquility.And wearing a long pure gold hollow armor, she gave people a feeling of wealth and auspiciousness.

The emperor is a dragon, and the queen is a phoenix. This is what Su Moer thought of when designing clothes for the queen.In terms of the color of the peony, Su Mo'er made a lot of troubles.She used to use bright colors, but in the end she felt that the effect was not good, and she could not reflect the demeanor of the queen mother.So, Su Mo'er mixed several colors to make the peony on the phoenix robe look elegant and noble.Contrary to the plainness of the peony, the colorful phoenix on the phoenix robe can be said to be thick and colorful. The contrast between red and green is extremely strong, which is very ethnic.

In addition to the phoenix robe that Zhezhe wore at the ceremony, Su Moer also designed clothes for her that she usually wears, with a round neck and a large placket. The whole costume is full of Mongolian and Manchu costume characteristics.

The queen's court clothes are composed of court crowns, court robes, court coats, court skirts and court beads.The material of the facing crown is also very particular. Smoked mink is used in winter, and green velvet is used in summer. The facing crown is decorated with red cap wefts.There are three layers on the top of the crown, all of which are embroidered with golden phoenixes, and an oriental bead is placed between the golden phoenixes.There are golden phoenixes and orbs on the cap weft, a gold Zhai is decorated on the back of the crown, and there are 320 pearls hanging from the tail of the Zhai, with coral at the end.

At the grand ceremony, Concubine Chen Hai Lanzhu and Concubine Zhuang Bumbutai were also attractive.

Concubine Chen wears the unique "two hairs" (combing two horizontal long buns) of the Manchu people, and the headdress is a plump and delicate emerald phoenix head.In the center of the intricate deer bun is a sapphire blue phoenix inlaid with pearls, filigree and carved bobbing hairpin, with raindrop-shaped pearls hanging down.The embossed embossed water patterns and gold-plated emeralds are inlaid with rubies, and the rubies are on the head, making the jade face of the concubine Chen even more beautiful.

Concubine Chen wears red gold earrings, and the dragon flower on her neck is embroidered with gold silk.The gown made of blue brocade changed from the loose gowns worn by Mongolians and Manchus in the past, revealing her delicate figure just right, and the corseted gown made her figure even more enchanting.

If the enchanting delicacy of Concubine Chen Hai Lanzhu is touching, then the stunning appearance of Concubine Zhuang Bumbutai became another beautiful scene at the ceremony.

Bumbutai did not comb the "two heads", but combed the big pull wings (this kind of hair is based on the bun on the top of the head, on which is placed a flag head supported by an iron frame inside and suede material on the outside) , with dark yellow tassels hanging on both sides.In addition to the rose hairpin made of red gold in the center of Bumbutai's big pull wings, the two sides are also decorated with Ruyi-shaped turquoise, dotted with two plump large pearls, surrounded by a circle of small pearls.

The robe worn by Bumbutai is very similar to that of Hailanzhu, but the color is light green. The dragon flower on the neck is also a gold silk flower pattern, and the inlay on the collar has a shimmering feeling. The whole person looks beautiful and refined.

Su Mo'er, who made outstanding contributions to the entire ceremony, wore the court ladies' costumes designed by herself. It was also a gown, but the style was simple and the pattern was sober. There were only light red camellias inlaid with pink on the crimson satin.The satin weave is the branches, leaves and flowers woven with red silk thread, which are scattered and covered the whole robe and skirt.

Su Mo'er combed her hair. There were no precious gold, silver and jewelry headdresses on her head, only two small brown pearl ornaments, a white bead pendant, and a plain silver hairpin. The overall look was elegant and generous.

The simple attire of the court ladies is in stark contrast to the gorgeousness of the empresses and concubines.This contrast between high-key and low-key is also the embodiment of Su Mo'er's thought that "the palace ladies are the foils for the masters".

(2)

The throne ceremony was warm, grand and mysterious, which all fit Huang Taiji's thinking.After the grand ceremony, Huang Taiji, who was dressed in ordinary clothes, was still immersed in the gorgeous ceremony.

"Father Khan, I've finished what you haven't finished!" Huang Taiji said in his heart countless times, both as a demonstration to Nurhachi and as if he was showing off.

Also in the same excitement as Huang Taiji were the three Horqin women in the harem.Empress Zhezhe summoned her two nieces Chenfei Hailanzhu and Zhuangfei Bumbutai to her Qingning Palace.

"We are one step closer to our success," Queen Zhe Zhe said.

Hai Lanzhu and Bumbutai said yes again and again.At this time, they temporarily forgot about the competition between each other.

"The next step is for us to give birth to a prince for the emperor. This task is very difficult and must be completed." After Zhezhe finished speaking, he looked at Bumbutai, and finally settled on Hai Lanzhu.

"The emperor dotes on you the most now, and the number of times you go to Guanju Palace is also the most. This task seems to belong to you. Now that wooden clock in Linzhi Palace is pregnant, we can only pray that she will not give birth to a prince. Zhe Zhe looked very serious.

Bumbutai lowered her head. She felt ashamed of her ancestors and the Horqin grassland people.She has been married to Huang Taiji for more than ten years, but she only had three daughters.

"The matter of the grand ceremony has been successfully concluded. During this time, you should find the imperial doctor to recuperate and recuperate your body." Zhezhe looked at the two nieces and said.

Hai Lanzhu and Bumbutai nodded at the same time.

"That girl named Su Mo'er was named a 'female scholar' by the emperor. This has never happened before. You brought it here from the grassland, right? The girl is very skilled, and the clothes she designed for us are also beautiful. , give us Horqin Grasslanders shame, and Bengong too, give her some jewelry!" Zhezhe said to Bumbutai again.

"Thank you, empress." Bumbutai was very happy, she was happy for Su Mo'er.

The "competition" that Hai Lanzhu had just forgotten came to mind again.When she thought of the bright pearl beside her losing to Su Mo'er who was beside Bumbutai, and seeing Bumbutai's suppressed joy, she felt even more uncomfortable.

"When you go back later, all of you will bring some fabrics from this palace, and let that 'female scholar' make some clothes for us to wear." Zhezhe said again.

"Thank you, empress." Hai Lanzhu and Bumbutai said in unison.

"This gown looks really good. What's the word for it? Graceful." Zhezhe looked at the gowns he and his two nieces were wearing, and sighed again.

When designing the concubine's costume, Su Mo'er made a lot of changes, even some subversive changes.She shrank the wide gowns of Mongolian women, especially the waist and buttocks.Wearing this kind of robe on beautiful concubines makes them look enchanting and beautiful, full of femininity.

After Su Mo'er finished the design, she was a little worried about not being recognized at first, but with Bumbutai's support, she still handed over the drawing to Dorgon.Although Dorgon liked this design very much, he was a little worried that the emperor and his clan would not accept it.Unexpectedly, during the selection process, this set of designs won the approval of most people, surpassing Pearl's conservative design.And when it is finished and worn on the concubines, it will be even more beautiful.

"Look, Yichenqie, such a beautiful robe and skirt should be given a more beautiful name." Concubine Chen suddenly said to the queen and concubine Zhuang Concubine Bumbutai.

At this time, she urgently needs to put forward some suggestions and ideas in front of Bumbutai and win approval. Only in this way can she feel more comfortable and feel superior in front of Bumbutai.

"Well, Concubine Chen is a good idea. She should have a good name, which is different from the previous name." Zhe Zhe said approvingly.

"In this case, it was designed by the 'Scholar', let's give it a name." Bumbutai finished speaking first, and walked quickly to the door to call Su Mo'er who was standing outside.

Concubine Chen looked at Bumbutai angrily, she thought she was the one who said the name of the gown, so she opened her mouth and wanted to say: "How can a servant name the concubine's clothes?" But after taking a look at Zhezhe, Zhezhe said with a smile on his face, "That's right, this girl is a female scholar personally appointed by the emperor. There is no one more suitable than her." Bu Tai felt more jealous.

Su Mo'er walked in and saluted the queen, concubines Chen and Concubine Zhuang.

Bumbutai said: "The queen wants you to rename our gowns, please tell me."

Su Mo'er glanced at the queen, who smiled and nodded at her, Su Mo'er pondered for a moment, and said softly: "When I was designing the design, I thought about it, didn't we in the Qing Dynasty be called bannermen? This is the robe our bannermen wear, why not call it a Qipao?"

"Cheongsam?" The Queen, Concubine Chen and Concubine Zhuang called out in unison.

Su Mo'er nodded.Although Concubine Chen thought the name was good, she still wanted to object. Unexpectedly, Zhezhe said happily: "Okay! This name is good. It sounds like it is specially made for our banner people! If it is worn on Han people in the future, they will know it too. , This is derived from the costumes of our bannermen. Good, great! Report this name to the emperor immediately, and the ones we wear will be called cheongsams in the future.”

(End of this chapter)