924, the warlord Feng Yuxiang drove the last emperor Puyi out of Forbidden City , and dismissed the palace maids and slaves, and only brought their concubines and confidants to live elsewhere.
As the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Even if it becomes a dog that is stray, Puyi's life is still much better than that of ordinary people. However, those palace maids who were dismissed were facing a more tragic fate than in the palace.
In that era when women should marry and have children, after these palace maids were dismissed to the people, most of them were willing to marry, and even if they just wanted to be a concubine, no one would accept them.
So, why is this?
The victim of feudal society
Whether it is in the Qing palace dramas with high ratings for many years or in historical records, palace maids rarely control their own lives.
almost started with the profession of palace maids since the formation of feudal society. Although the number of palace maids was not large in Han Dynasty , can be seen as Tang Dynasty , and the number of palace maids began to increase significantly.
As the center of imperial power, the imperial palace is naturally the highest existence in feudal society. Similarly, the people walking in it have undergone extremely strict screening.
If you want to become a palace maid, you must first ensure the innocence of your family background. Only "good daughters" can you have the chance to enter the palace. Since what he wants to serve is "big figures", the external image also needs to meet the aesthetic standards at that time.
So, after layer by layer of screening by relevant departments, those young women between the ages of 13-20 who meet the standards will enter the palace and become a palace maid.
These palace maids will be divided into two categories. One is the daily life of being selected to serve the "noble people" in the palace, becoming one of their many slaves, and the other is the lower status, doing some hard work such as weaving maids and serving maids.
No matter what kind of palace maids they are, their lives are no longer something they can control since they entered the palace.
Only a very small number of palace maids may be "popular" from the emperor because of fate. If you are lucky, you may also get a title and turn from a slave into a master.
However, most palace maids are "As soon as they enter the deep palace, they will not see spring every year" , surrounded by the palace walls, and cannot see the future, and gradually become a numb "tool person".
Of course, there are some palace maids that are even more miserable. They were executed for various reasons and there is no tomorrow.
is difficult in the palace, and even more difficult outside the palace
For palace maids, there are only three ways out after entering the palace.
As the saying goes, " Is there a king's land under the world ", naturally, everything under the world is within reach as long as the emperor wants it. , a huge number of palace maids, are one of the reserve troops that the emperor occasionally wants to "hunter".
Therefore, the best way for palace maids is to win the favor of the emperor and be favored, so as to be too high in status and get rid of the fate of serving people.
Of course, is only rare because of the emperor's eyes. Most palace maids have never seen the emperor's eyes until they die of old age.
The second way for palace maids, is to get the love of the "noble people" they serve, thus winning themselves a strong backer , or to marry a "good man" through the "noble man".
Similarly, if you can get such a "recommended" palace maid, you still need to be the best among the palace maids.
Therefore, for most palace maids, there is only the third way left - leaving the palace after they reach age.
Usually, palace maids can leave the palace and start their life again when they are over 25 years old.
However, for some palace maids, they would rather stay in the imperial city alone and live alone than leave the palace to find freedom.
This point is actually easy to understand. In today's society, women at the age of 25 have infinite possibilities for the future, but For women in feudal society, 25 is over-age.
In that era when women were about to marry and have children when they were teenagers, the 25-year-old unmarried woman went against the overall tone of society at that time.
These palace maids can still maintain basic living needs in the palace, but once they leave the palace at the age, the severance money they can get is definitely not enough for them to live in the second half of their lives.
After leaving the palace, the probability that they can marry a good man is infinitely close to zero. After all, wealthy families can marry younger and more beautiful women, while poor families do not have the ability to add more children.
Therefore, it is difficult to be a palace maid, but it is even more difficult to be a palace maid.
is in an awkward situation, with a tragic ending
You should know that when Puyi was driven out of the Forbidden City, there were as many as thousands of palace maids who were dismissed. Since these palace maids left the palace, they were mostly embarrassed and had a tragic ending.
First of all, as mentioned in the previous article, very few of these palace maids were rich when they left the palace, and most of them were too old. Secondly, many palace maids could not adapt to life outside the palace.
Although these palace maids are just serving "noble people" in the palace, they are people in the palace, and they are all "noble people" and those who have seen them are all "babys". When they reach the people, there will inevitably be a gap in their hearts.
Those palace maids who do labor and textile skills can still be considered as having a skill with , and they can barely rely on the experience accumulated in the palace to earn some living expenses for themselves.
And those palace maids who follow the "Nether" to serve tea and water at the "Nether" have no other skills except serving the "Nether".
But in that turbulent era, the probability that the palace maid who left the palace could meet a "noble man" again was extremely low.
Maybe some people will be curious, then why don’t they get married? The reasons for this are different.
Similarly, some palace maids do not agree to marry ordinary people. They have seen the so-called world, so they are unwilling to be a mediocre woman in the future.
The palace maid who had this idea either died miserably or made a living by selling her beauty in the Qinlou Chu Pavilion.
However, Even if it is a palace maid who is determined to marry, few families are willing to marry her.
. Regardless of their age, in general, people who come out of the palace, even the palace maids, are "noble people" that ordinary people cannot reach. In layman's terms, most ordinary people are afraid that they cannot afford such "noble people".
What's more, some materials mentioned that because the work pressure of the uterus after entering the uterus is too high, it takes 24 hours to tighten the nerves. , most of these uterus suffer from a disease called "blood depression".
Women with this disease not only have symptoms of weakness in the limbs and deficiency of qi and blood, but in severe cases may also affect the fertility function .
In that era when a woman's primary responsibility was to pass on her husband's family, no one was willing to marry an older woman with a risk of childbirth.
Therefore, whether these palace maids have their own psychological problems or the public's prejudice against them, will make them extremely embarrassed after leaving the palace, and ultimately lead to their tragic ending.
Conclusion
In feudal society, women had extremely low status, and this also led to most of the women at that time becoming victims of the times.
Fortunately, Today's society is paying more attention to the issue of "equal rights between men and women" , and women also have more social rights and can better determine their lives.
