History can't bear to look at the complete collection

Chapter 11 Concubine Files 1
The inside story of the selection of concubines by emperors of all dynasties
There were also popular trends in ancient times, and the standards for identifying beautiful women in different periods were not static.The biggest influence on their judgment criteria should be the personal preferences of the emperors of the past dynasties, such as "the king of Chu is so thin and starved to death in the palace", the "swallows are thin and fat" in the Han and Tang Dynasties, and Li Yu's "three-inch golden lotus", etc. Typical illustration.

Emperors can influence the aesthetic taste of the people to a great extent. In the different documents recorded in ancient books, the so-called "Han thin and small, Tang Bai fat monster, Yuan Gao Da Sao", we can see that the aesthetic vision of the emperors has its own merits. , what a huge difference.

Most of the emperors in the pre-Qin period admired the beauty of nature. The so-called "clear water produces hibiscus, and natural carvings" was the standard of preference for the emperors in the pre-Qin period; and in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the emperors preferred "almond faces, peach cheeks, moth eyebrows and phoenix". In the Qin and Han Dynasties, the emperors advocated the beauty of "dignity and tallness"; in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the emperors admired the beauty of elegance; in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, they also advocated the beauty of plumpness; in the Ming Dynasty, they emphasized both ability and political integrity In the Qing Dynasty, Manchu and Han did not intermarry, and court concubines were limited to women from official families of Manchu, Mongolian, and Han "Eight Banners".

In addition to strict requirements on appearance, the selected women must first undergo a strict medical examination before entering the palace.The royal family will specially inspect these girls' body, age, psychology, physiology and other aspects. Not only must they have both ability and political integrity, but they must also be mentally healthy and free from mental problems.

The age requirements for women vary from dynasty to dynasty. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, women were required to be over 13 years old and under 20 years old.During the Three Kingdoms period, fifteen or sixteen years old were required.During the Northern Qi Dynasty, it was required to be over 14 years old and under 20 years old.During the period of Zhu Yuanzhang in the Ming Dynasty, he had to be over 15 years old and under 20 years old.

These girls require delicate skin, without a mole or spot, and they must be virgins during menarche. Girls in this grade are just about to bloom, and they are at the age of flower season, which is in line with the virgin psychology of the emperors.Of course, there were also emperors who forcibly recruited young girls, and many girls under the age of 11 were brought into the palace. Ming Shizong Zhu Houcong did such a very wicked thing.

He listened to the deceitful words of Taoist priests, and collected the menstrual blood of girls when they had menarche to refine and take Yang-enhancing pills.Some girls have their menstrual blood drawn forcibly before menstruation occurs naturally.The court ladies and concubines at that time hated him very much. Zhu Houcong was very cruel to his queens. The three queens were either tortured to death by him or thrown into the cold palace. It is conceivable that he would not show any affection to the recruited women. Yes, during his reign, there were more than 200 court ladies who were ordered to be killed by him.

In order to refine the elixir of immortality and realize his dream of becoming a fairy.Zhu Houcong frantically collected "Autumn Stones" and "Red Lead". The so-called "Autumn Stones" are made by taking the urine of virgin boys, removing their heads and tails, harvesting the middle, and adding medicine to refine them. "Red lead" is made by collecting virgin menstrual blood, mixing it with medicine, and roasting it.In order to refine the elixir, Zhu Houcong selected young girls from the people on a large scale three times, hundreds of people at a time, all for the purpose of refining the elixir and "collecting yin and nourishing yang".

Like Zhu Houcong, the choice of concubine is just to satisfy him to collect the raw materials for alchemy, and there are not many emperors who have such thoughts.More emperors chose their concubines just for lust.As long as you like a woman's beauty, regardless of her age, you have to choose her into the harem, like those absurd emperors in history, Gao Yang in the Northern Qi Dynasty, Liu Ziye, the former deposed emperor in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, etc., as long as they are beautiful, their relatives will not let them go. As long as the emperor likes it, he will be pulled into the harem.

Of course, these are just a few examples. Generally, emperors choose their concubines according to the established procedures and rules at that time. For example, during the reign of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he sent ministers from the court to find concubines for him among the people.There is a record in "The Queen of the Book of the Later Han Dynasty": "(Liu Xiu) sent the Chinese doctor, Ye Tingcheng and Xianggong to look at the virgins of good families in Luoyang Township. They are over thirteen years old and under twenty. Those who carry it back to the harem, choose whether it is possible or not, and use it to ascend the imperial court."

The "selection depends on whether or not" mentioned here refers to the procedure of physical examination. For the emperor's concubine, it must not be sloppy, and the most beautiful and clean girl must be selected for the emperor to enjoy.In this way, it is necessary to conduct naked inspections on these women, so that they can be inspected in more detail.

Nude examination basically includes checking the size of the breasts, the shape of the vagina, the shade of pubic hair, the amount of armpit hair, and whether there are hemorrhoids in the anus. In ancient times, men believed that women with no hair under the armpits were top-grade. If there were such girls, they would definitely be selected. Entering the palace, you can enjoy wealth and honor, but if you don't meet the requirements, you will be eliminated.

Entering the palace to be the emperor's wife looks very beautiful on the surface, but the bitterness behind it is little known.

(End of this chapter)