A Chinese ruler (not necessarily an emperor) must have one first wife, 3 first-rank wives, 9 second-rank wives, 27 third-rank wives and 81 concubines. Odd numbers correspond to the forces of nature that are favorable for men and male potency (even numbers are favorable for women). So three means strong male potency, three times three, or nine, means super strong potency, and so on. Court women, nu-shi, were responsible for maintaining the schedule of visits to women by the Ruler in accordance with the days of the lunar calendar and the rank of women. He visited wives of lower ranks more often than wives of high ranks, and usually before meeting them. The first wife had sex with her husband only once a month, and his seed, ching, should not be exhausted by women of lower ranks. The ruler communicated with his concubines, locking the ching to preserve a precious gift for wives.
Taoist manuals imply the obligatory orgasm of a woman so that a man, along with vaginal juices, can receive yin needed for it yang. This is what all sex techniques are aimed at. To warm up, they recommended kissing, caressing with hands and mouth. The idea that the Chinese did not know kissing is completely false, they simply did not kiss in public.It was recommended to start intercourse when the woman was aroused. But foreplay played a modest role on a woman’s path to orgasm. The sexual act itself meant much more. It used a change in the type of shocks jade peak, a variety of positions and, most importantly, delayed ejaculation, giving a reserve of time to bring the woman to orgasm.
The 7th century physician Li Dong Xian, known as the Most Noble Dong Xian Tzu, devoted 7 of the 16 chapters of his book to the technique of pushing (friction) of the “jade rod”. He describes 9 types of tremors:
1. Direct to the right and left, as if a brave warrior is trying to break through the ranks of enemies.
2. Move up and down like a wild horse kicking in a river.
3. Pull it out and bring it closer, like a flock of seagulls playing on the waves.
4. Quickly alternate deep thrusts and small, teasing blows, like a sparrow pecking at the remains of rice in a mortar.
5. Monotonously apply deep and shallow blows, like a large stone sinking into the sea.
6. Approach slowly, like a snake crawling into a hole for the winter.
7. Push quickly, like a frightened rat rushes into a hole.
8. Balance, then strike, like an eagle grabbing an elusive hare.
9. Raise, then sink, just as a large sailing boat braves a storm.
The Most Noble Dun described different types of shocks: deep, shallow, straight, oblique, fast, slow. Every description looks like a metaphor. The slow thrust is like "the movement of a carp playing with a hook"; fast - like “the flight of a flock of birds flying against the wind.” The Tao teachers attached particular importance to the alternation of shocks of different depths. All Taoists agreed that nine small shocks and one deep one were the best combination, dating back to ancient times. After all, it's still pure maiden Su-nyu talked about them To the Yellow Emperor:
"Emperor Huang Di: - And what is the method of nine shallow and one deep?
Su-nui: - This means simply pushing 9 times shallowly and 1 deeply. Each stroke must correspond to your movement. Depth between lute string And black pearl(from 2.5 to 10 cm) is called small; between small stream And own gutter(from 7.5 to 12.5 cm) deep. If you push too shallowly, the couple may not get full pleasure; if it’s too deep, they can get hurt.”
The total number of shocks is also important. Taoist literature often speaks of a thousand thrusts required to satisfy a woman. This may seem excessive, but in fact, it is half an hour of intercourse (1800 seconds), and even at a slow pace. For a man who knows how lock ching, half an hour of sex is a completely feasible task. Considerable importance was also given to love positions. The manuals on “The Art of Marriage” describe 4 basic and 26 variants of postures for bringing a man and a woman closer together. The main poses are: 1. Close union(man on top), 2. Unicorn horn(woman on top), 3. Tight attachment(man and woman lie on their sides, face to face), 4. Moon fish(a man enters from behind). Variants of poses are named after animal movements:
1. Silkworms bind tightly- the woman hugs the man’s neck and intertwines her legs on his back.
2. Dragons twist themselves into a noose- the man on top, with his left hand, bends the woman’s legs to her chest; enters with the right jade stem V jade gate.
3. Pisces connect eyes- a man lies on his side, face to face with a woman, lifting her leg with his hand.
4. Loving swallows- the man lies on the woman, hugging her neck, and she hugging his waist.
5. United piebald kingfishers- the woman lies with her legs relaxed; a man sits on his knees with his leg crossed, like northern barbarians xy, and holds her by the waist.
6. Tangerine ducks intertwined- the woman lies on her side with her legs bent so that the man can enter from the back.
7. Butterflies tumbling in the air- a variant of the woman on top pose.
8. Rolling over flying mallards- the man lies down and the woman sits facing his feet.
9. Bent pine tree- man on top; a woman crosses her legs and entwines them with a man; with their hands they hold each other by the waist.
10. Bamboo clinging to the altar- a man and a woman stand face to face, hugging and kissing.
11. Dance of two female phoenixes- a man and two women participate; one lies on her back with her legs raised up, the other lies on her so that her yin was over yin the first woman; a man sits with his legs stretched out and spread jade rod militantly attacks the upper and lower yin
12. Phoenix carries a chick- the pose is especially suitable for a large woman and a small man.
13. Sea gulls soaring- the man stands at the edge of the bed and, holding the woman’s legs, enters her.
14. Galloping wild horses- man on top; the woman's legs are on his shoulders.
15. Galloping horse- the woman is lying; the man is squatting, hugging her neck with his left hand, and lifting her legs with his right.
16. The horse kicks its hoof- the woman lies down, the man puts one of her legs on his shoulder, the other leg sways.
17. White Tiger Leap- the woman is kneeling, her face is on the bed; the man is kneeling behind her and holding her waist with his hands.
18. Dark cicada clings to a branch- the woman lies on her stomach with her legs stretched out; the man holds her shoulders and enters from behind.
19. Goat in front of a tree- the man sits with his legs stretched out and spread, the woman sits with her back turned, he holds her by the waist.
20. Yellow heron at the site- a man sits on his knees with his leg crossed, like northern barbarians xy, and enters a woman sitting facing him, and the other one from behind, pulling the first by the skirts of her clothes, accelerating her movements.
21. Phoenix flutters in the red cave- the man is on top, the woman lies on her back and holds her legs raised up with her hands.
22. A huge bird reigns over the dark sea- the man holds the woman’s legs on his forearms, wrapping his arms around her waist.
23 Screaming monkey hugs a tree- a man sits with his legs stretched out; the woman sits on his lap, hugging the man with both arms; he supports her buttocks with one hand and her back with the other.
24. A cat and a mouse share a hole- the man lies on his back, legs relaxed, the woman lies on him; his jade pillar penetrates deep into her.
25. Donkey in the last jump- a woman stands on all fours, bending upward; a man holding by the waist enters from behind
26. Dog in early autumn- a man and a woman on all fours with their buttocks facing each other; man enters jade pillar V jade gate.
From the listed positions, "Dog in early autumn"seems physically impossible, and “very entertaining,” according to the Most Noble Dong, “Dance of Two Female Phoenixes” and “Yellow Heron at the Playground” required the participation of a man and two women, which was not a problem in old China with its harems and prostitution. At the end of intercourse, a female orgasm must occur. The conversation goes back and forth between Yellow emperor And Pure maiden:
"...Huang Di: How does a man observe a woman's satisfaction?
Su-nui: There are five signs, five desires and ten instructions. A man must observe these signs and respond accordingly. The five signs are:
1. Her face turns red, her ears are hot. This means that thoughts of lovemaking have taken over her mind. At this point, the man should begin intercourse moderately in a teasing manner, insert very shallowly and wait, observing the further reaction.
2. Her nose becomes sweaty and her nipples become swollen. This means that the fire of her passion has increased somewhat. Jade Peak can go deep own gutter(12.5 cm), but not deeper. ...
3. When her voice lowers and dry and hoarse sounds come out of her throat, it means that the passion has intensified. Her eyes are closed, her tongue is hanging out, she is breathing quickly and noticeably. At this time male jade stem can enter and exit freely. Ecstasy gradually approaches.
4. Her red ball it is abundantly lubricated and the fire of passion is close to the top, and each thrust causes the flow of lubricant. His jade peak easy to touch valleys of water-chestnut teeth(5 cm). Now he can use one push to the left, one to the right, one slow and one fast, or something similar, depending on his desire.
5. When golden lotuses rises as if she wants to hug a man with them, her fire and passion have reached the peak. She wraps her legs around his waist and holds his shoulder and back with her hands. The tongue remains protruded. Here a man can enter the valley deep vault. Such deep thrusts allow her to achieve ecstasy with her entire body."
Another Inquisitive Advisor Yellow Emperor - Maiden Witch, advises him to choose women depending on the seasons:
"A woman with a high entrance, shifted forward, is more suitable for intercourse in the winter. A man can be on top of her as soon as they go to bed, covering his back with an embroidered blanket. He can enjoy without getting off, at his own convenience, and since she will be warmed by its warmth, then she will not be dissatisfied. In summer, a woman with a low entrance is preferable. She can sit on a cool marble slab in the shade of bamboo, lying on her side, and the man can sit behind her. , called Build a fire behind the mountain. The woman for all four seasons is the one whose entrance is in the middle, having carefully studied the postures, she will be good in love in spring, summer, autumn and winter."
The Taoist "Arts of the Marriage Chamber" are intended for men to gain longevity and even immortality, an example of which Yellow Emperor, ascended to heaven after the 1200th woman. But there are references that women can achieve similar things. So Queen Mother of the West, personality similar to The yellow emperor repeated his feat of immortality, having absorbed the seed from countless young men unfamiliar with the art of locking ching. A woman can greatly “strengthen her blood” (achieve health and longevity) by receiving semen from boys, but without falling into orgasm herself. Taoist sages believed that in sex there is a war of the sexes, where the winner is the one who brings his partner to orgasm, but retains his own fluid. Out of fear that women will start beating men with their own weapons, The Art of the Marriage Chamber generally remains silent on the techniques of female sex.
Taoist teachings from the very beginning implied that life and health arethis is harmony yin And yang, and diseases arise when harmony is disturbed. Death marks the destruction of the connection of these substances and the release of their energies. A person has a ratio yin And yang changes throughout life, and those living in it three worms contribute to illness and decrepitude. You can get rid of them if you follow the advice on health and longevity received in due time Yellow Emperor: -
"copulate with a large number of young women, allowing only one ejaculation."
To maintain health, the Immortal Liu Jing recommended having sex with girls who have not yet given birth:
"You should take a young woman with developed but not yet formed breasts. She should have smooth hair, small and calm eyes, glossy skin and a euphonious voice; her bones and joints should be thin and not protruding, there should be no hair, but if they are, they should be thin... It is best to deal with an inexperienced one. A man should always sleep with young girls: this will make his skin soft, like a girl's. But his partners should not be too young. : It’s best if they are between 15 and 18 years old. In any case, no more than thirty. If she has already given birth, then intercourse will be a waste of time for a man.”
The Most Noble Tung Xuanzi ,
The luminary of medicine of the 7th century, the author of the treatise “The Art of the Marriage Chamber,” held similar views on the age of women, noting the importance of orientation and timing of intercourse:
"Harmony in the battle between yin And yang can be achieved when a man is twice as old as a woman. If a woman is twice the age of a man, he will suffer during intercourse. Next we list the most favorable conditions for copulation. In spring, you should lay your head to the east, in summer - to the south, in autumn - to the west, in winter - to the north. Odd numbers on the calendar are preferable; morning hours are especially beneficial. Even days, especially after noon, can be harmful."
Taoists believed that sex in the right positions cures certain diseases, and causes them in the wrong ones. To improve blood circulation they recommended that the woman lie on her side, bend one leg at the knee, and extend the other. The man enters from behind, leaning on his hands, and makes six times nine thrusts. Must be repeated 6 times a day for 20 days. Blood circulation improves and the woman gets rid of frigidity. General strengthening- the woman lies on her back, with her legs attached to her stomach, and the man suddenly pounces on her and makes nine pushes nine times. Repeat 9 times a day for 9 days. The course strengthens bones and relieves women of vaginal odor. Against constipation- the man lies on his back, and the woman, leaning on her hands, sits astride him. They start to move. When a woman reaches orgasm, she should stop. Repeat 9 times a day for 10 days.
The Chinese were extremely concerned about the problem of impotence. I was also interested in the mystery of male impotence Yellow Emperor. The mystery of the transition from the terrible jade rod to the flaccid process occupied monks, scientists and poets. Below are poems on the topic written by a 17th century author:
“What kind of mushroom rose from the black moss here?
Then the Jade Stalk rose to its full height.
His tender flesh trembles with impatience,
Hot blood often pulsates in the veins.
There will be a meeting with a girl of thirteen years old
Or with a young boy - he is ready for battle.
But this fruit lives a short life,
Every time it fades like a flower.
A modest skinny shrimp curls up in the grass
And he will remain pitiful, motionless and quiet."
To strengthen male power, the Chinese ate tiger meat, shark fins and swallow's nests, used potions and powders containing ginseng, algae, pine needles, wapiti antlers and rhinoceros horn, urine and semen of humans and animals, and the feces of predators. One of the best remedies was considered to be “chicken bald powder.” This powder was taken by Prince Chen Jingda after he turned seventy years old. Thanks to the powder, he became the father of three sons, and his wife even developed ulcers in her vagina from too frequent sex, and she threw the powder into the yard. There the rooster ate him, after which he immediately jumped on the chicken. For several days he did not get off her and all this time he pecked at the top of her head, until she was completely bald. The composition of the powder is known: three fenya(1.1 g) Cistanche salsa, three fenya Schisandra chinensis, three fen of Japanese dodder seeds (Cuscuta japonica), three fenya thin-leaved springweed (Polygala tenuifolia), four fenya(1.5 g) seeds of Monnier root (Cnidium Monnieri). Pound the substances, sift, mix and take every day on an empty stomach with a tablespoon of wine.
The Chinese were inferior to the northern barbarians, especially the “raw barbarians” (whites), in the size of their male assets. Perhaps this is where a kind of inferiority complex and the desire to increase the “jade stalk” by any means originates. Fearing that the “stem” would dry out during the heat, peasants in Guangdong province in the 14th century carried bags of water in their pants and soaked their property in them. To lengthen the “stem”, a wide variety of means were used - from savage ones, such as implanting pieces of an excited male’s penis into a dissected “jade stem,” to Taoist stretching exercises. Medicines were also used, not only to increase the “stem”, but also to narrow the “jade gate”. Products for women are striking in their ease of manufacture. You need to take sulfur - 4 fen and thin-leaved water - 2 fen. Grind and place in a taffeta bag in the “jade gate”. Another remedy is even better - sulfur 2 fenya; cattail flowers (Typha angustata) - 2 fenya. Throw three pinches into one sheng of boiling water. Wash the “jade gates” with this infusion. In 20 days they will become like a girl's.
For a long time, Confucianism and Taoism did not intersect on the issue of sex. The Confucians did not invade the Taoist domain (the “arts of bed,” feng shui, astrology, manual martial arts), limiting themselves to the teaching of government and relationships in society and family. Confucius (551-479 BC) considered the attractions of the flesh to be a natural property of people. He wrote: “Eating, drinking and sexual intercourse between man and woman form the basis of human desires.” He pointed out the importance of sex in the family and considered it an obligatory duty of the husband:
“Neglect of wives and concubines is a violation of the harmony of Heaven, earth and man. Until the age of fifty, a husband must visit the pleasure pavilion of his wives every three days, his concubines once every five days, and visit other maids at his discretion. The main wife can be present in the bedroom during the husband’s intercourse with the concubine, who after that has the right to send back, but she herself can stay with her husband until the end of the night. This shows respect for the position that the wife occupies.”
In family life, Confucius placed women certainly lower than men, but called for sincere and harmonious family relationships. Over time, Confucians adopted Taoist ideas about the health benefits of sex, but avoided the mystical extremes of the teaching. So, they didn't believe that Yellow Emperor ascended to heaven because he had a harem of 1200 women. For one and a half thousand years, Confucianism and Taoism coexisted peacefully, and the restrictions of Confucianism in matters of sex came down only to the prohibition of ancient rituals with group sex and the requirement of virginity for brides getting married.
At the end of the 1st millennium of the new era, Confucianism underwent a reformation and turned to its original sources - Confucius and his disciples. For family and society, problems of ethics and morality were put at the forefront. Neo-Confucians condemned the upper strata of society for their passion for sex, which undermined their health and made them incapable of government activities. Persecution began against Taoism, as a result of which it turned into a secret teaching, and Taoist manuals on sex disappeared in China and were preserved only in Japan. The separation of the sexes in everyday life and in society has increased; it has become indecent to enter the women's half of the house without warning, touch the hand of a stranger and expose one's body. The changes taking place were also influenced by Buddhism, which spread in China from the first centuries of the new era. Buddhism introduced into Chinese consciousness the concept of sin and sinful sexual behavior, Hell for sinners and the virtues of sexual abstinence. Buddhist monasteries for men and women appeared, where monks and nuns lived in asceticism.
Taoism, persecuted by the Confucians, retreated to monasteries created following the example of Buddhist ones. Like Buddhist monks, Taoists became ascetics, albeit in a unique way - with a tense member they engaged in erotic meditation. Unity yang And yin Taoists searched in their bodies. Considering that the pole yang- heart and pole yin- genitals, they sought their unity in a mystical union. In accordance with the transformation of energies, the essence yang heart gives rise to an immaculate girl, and the essence yin the womb produces a divine boy. For a Taoist to achieve immortality, a girl and a boy must get married. The wedding should take place in a place located 3 cm below the navel - the matchmaker, “The Good Yellow Woman,” lives there ;
then the young settle in the “red chambers” of the heart; as a result of their union, an immortal embryo is born, which gradually grows and fills the mortal body.
At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries. Neo-Fucianism became the official ideology of China. Buddhism and, especially, the disgraced Taoism, turned into auxiliary religions for private life. The arrival of the Manchu Qing dynasty in the 17th century further strengthened the dominant position of the Neo-Fucians. The personal lives of the Chinese became increasingly closed to outsiders, and Taoist works on sex were often destroyed. These persecutions did not lead to the triumph of asceticism in China, but they deprived sex of the religious significance that it had during the heyday of Taoism.
It was not for nothing that the Neo-Confucians criticized the powers that be for their licentiousness. Sex was the main occupation of emperors, who served as role models for the upper classes of society. Chinese emperors bore numerous titles - Son of Heaven, Lord of the Universe, Dragon. The latter title implies the draconic sexual capabilities of the emperor. At birth, the dragon ruler received a supernatural amount of life force qi, which constantly had to be fed with female substance yin The Dragon's sex life was not fun, but a matter of state, and the most important. The emperors and their court treated it this way. The list of sexual exploits could go on for a long time. Dragons(and also Dragon), but to save space, we will dwell on some (only some!) achievements of Emperor Sui Yan-di (VII century AD).
The famous emperor began by ordering the construction of the “Dragon Palace” - the greatest palace that history had ever known. The palace was built in a walled park stretching over a hundred square kilometers, in the center of the park there was an artificial lake five whether(two and a half kilometers). There were sixteen palaces on the shore for wives, concubines and servants (the emperor had 91 wives and 3,000 concubines). While walking through the park on horseback or in a palanquin, Yan-di was accompanied by a thousand concubines. For sudden urges dragon passions at a distance of two whether Small pavilions were lined up from each other. When Yan-di entered one of them in the company of selected girls, the rest of the entourage sang the emperor’s favorite songs.
With the completion of the Grand Canal, Yan-di built a fleet of two thousand boats and set sail along it. The most beautiful were the ten "dragon rooks". Each boat, ninety meters long and fifteen meters high, had four decks. One hundred and twenty cabins were lined with jade and decorated with gold. The furniture was covered with the skins of tigers, bears and leopards. A thousand wives and concubines, musicians and jesters were placed on the “dragon boats”; part of the imperial treasures was also transported here. Five hundred second-rank rooks carried servants and provisions. The movement of the squadron was closed by a thousand rooks of the third rank. Ministers, military leaders, monks, foreign ambassadors, scientists, and eunuchs sailed on them. Yan-di had clear ideas about the criteria for the value of his subjects.
Traveling on water allowed Yan-di to appreciate the virtues of sex on a swinging boat. He decided to have something similar on land and ordered the construction of a one and a half kilometer long road around one of the palaces. The entire surface of the road consisted of bumps, and when the carriage rolled along it, thanks to the shaking, lovers could copulate without moving. There were also seven "glorious chariots" -
carts shaped like coffins, each containing a concubine, ready to receive the emperor. Yan-di began his walk early in the morning and after breakfast in the royal carriage he moved into the first of the “glorious chariots.” During the day he visited all the chariots and, according to legend, “usually returned to the palace after dark.”
The highest embodiment of Yang-di's sexual fantasies was the palace Labyrinth, Mi lou ji. The palace consisted of a labyrinth of corridors and passages with walls covered with polished bronze mirrors. There were no windows, and the hidden lamps emitted a uniform, muted color. There, naked beauties reclined on couches and there were fountains with wine. When the emperor appeared in the palace, the eunuchs stripped him of his clothes and put a leopard skin on him. The Emperor, to the accompaniment of gongs, bells, drums and the singing of naked palace girls, began his rounds Labyrinth. Having drunk wine from a four-liter golden mug and aroused dragon spirit, he moved on to water procedures. The emperor spent ten days in the palace, overcame countless final limits(female orgasms) and left the palace for a short time to accomplish other great affairs of state.
Water procedures in the imperial palaces meant not only an introduction to juices yin, but also real games on the water. And not only emperors. Often a nobleman with his concubines swam in a boat in a vast pool, and the eunuchs on the shore drove the wave, rocking the boat to give the owner additional sensations. Were with the rich and glorious chariots. A lumpy path was made in the garden and an ox or donkey pulled a cart with a copulating couple. Sometimes, as can be seen in the old drawing, dogs were harnessed to the cart, which, however, hardly influenced the process. But let's return to the imperial court. According to the ceremony, which remained until the beginning of the twentieth century, the emperor, in addition to his wife-empress, could have one Huang Gui Fei -"Imperial Precious Mistress", two Gui Fei -"precious lovers", four fairies -"mistresses", six binh -"cohabitants", and numerous "helpful ladies" of various ranks. Their names in Chinese are flowery: low-ranking concubines were Guizhen,“precious people”, and the girls from the palace servants are “accepting”. To make a concubine happy, the emperor needed his wife’s permission, both written and stamped. The concubine was stripped naked, anointed with incense, wrapped in a blanket of heron fluff, and the eunuch brought her straight to bed. Dragon. After a decent time, the chief eunuch, who was on duty outside the door, shouted: “Has the great deed been accomplished?” Having received confirmation, the eunuchs entered, wrapped the concubine and carried away. But before that, the chief eunuch, kneeling down, asked: “Should I leave it or not?” If the answer was "no", then the eunuch pressed the woman's stomach and squeezed out the "dragon seed". If the emperor said “leave,” then the month, day and hour when the Dragon made the concubine happy was written down in the palace book, in case she became pregnant (the Chinese count life from the moment of conception).
Despite the triumph of neo-Confucian morality, wealthy townspeople enjoyed the joys of a sensual life. In addition to wives and concubines, prostitutes were at their service. Brothels - "green houses" - appeared in China back in the 7th century BC. Their foundation is associated with the official Guan Zhong, who made prostitution a source of income for the country. State "green towers" existed for almost 2 thousand years. They especially flourished during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 906), when emperors, scholars and poets sought the company of the best of the "fallen leaves". These courtesans not only sang, danced and played music, but were well educated, they themselves composed poems and songs, and one of them, Yu Xuanji (844 - 871), became an outstanding poetess. But most fallen leaves, also called “quails,” “partridges,” or simply “hens,” served the townspeople. They were divided into categories - from kept women of rich merchants to "barracks girls" .
At the lowest level were the “sea whores,” serving, in addition to the Chinese, foreign sailors and other “overseas devils.”
However, not only “sea whores” worked near the water - in China, with its rivers, canals and sea bays, floating brothels called “flower boats” were common. The best of them were real floating palaces, with their own baths and restaurants, and the most modest were simple sampans, curtained along the sides with sails. Regardless of the class of "flower boats", the client was always treated to tea, was polite to him, and a preliminary conversation about money was considered impolite. The services of prostitutes were used not only by young men learning the art of “clouds and rain,” but also by fathers of families. Sex with prostitutes was considered not only pleasant, but useful - after all, “partridges” or “hens,” as the prostitutes were called, through their labors acquired a powerful yin that strengthens a man’s yang. Only in the 16th century did Chinese doctors realize that, in addition to yin, “chicken” brings sexually transmitted diseases. Gradually, state-owned “green houses” are replaced by private ones, and with the advent of the Manchu Qing dynasty (XVII century), the state abandoned the management of prostitution.
We have all heard about harems, but Chinese harems and the life of concubines have their own amazing features. Many concubines, a special way of life and several examples of the amazing ascension of mistresses to the Imperial throne.
The imperial family should correspond to a service where several cups belong to one teapot. The Chinese harem was distinguished by a clear distribution of roles, the absolute influence of traditions and submission to the strictest instructions stemming from natural philosophical erotological theories and boiling down to maintaining a balance of yang (male) and yin (female) energies in the partner’s body.
It was believed that the predominance of yin over yang led to early aging of potency, and also influenced the weather, bringing with it torrential rains, earthquakes and other disasters.
The Empress had the highest energy, but the Emperor could have sexual intercourse with her no more than once a month in order to produce the strongest offspring. The main one among the women in the palace was the empress, or the main wife of the Son of Heaven (huan hou), followed by four additional “wives” (fu ren) - each of them had a special title: precious (guifei), virtuous (shufei), moral (defei). ) and a talented (xianfei) concubine.
The emperor could have three lady favorites who occupied the first highest level, nine “senior concubines” or “concubines” (jiu bin) who occupied the second level; 27 “junior concubines” (shifu), which, in turn, were divided into: nine jie yu (maids of honor), nine mei ren (beauties) and nine cai ren (talents), occupying the third, fourth and fifth level, another 81 so called the “harem girl” (yu qi). They were also divided into three categories: 27 Bao Lin (precious wood) girls, 27 Yu Nü (imperial women) and 27 Sai Nü (women pickers), making up the sixth, seventh and eighth stages.
During the last Qing dynasty, the emperor's concubines were divided as follows: huangguifei - concubine of the first rank, gui-fei - second rank, fei - third, bin - fourth, gui-ren - fifth, dain - senior maid of honor, changzai - junior maid of honor, and finally, servants - shine.
The number of imperial wives in the Xia Dynasty was supposed to be 12 (three taken four times). During the Shang-Yin dynasties, the sovereign was given 27 more (that is, three times nine) concubines, so that the emperor now had 39 wives and concubines. This number was also explained by the consideration that a woman’s age ends at forty. During the Zhou Dynasty, the number of female inhabitants of the imperial harem increased to 120. Each of them was required to be provided with their own house on the territory of the Imperial Palace. Each was assigned maids and eunuchs.
Their number varied from dynasty to dynasty - the maximum number of maids provided to the Empress was 12, then concubines of the first category - 8, second category 6, third category - 4, ordinary concubines - 2.
They all lived together and therefore the number of women in the harems reached 40 thousand people!
The ruler was entitled to four concubines of the 1st rank. They were called: precious venerable friend (guifei), kind venerable friend (huifei), beautiful venerable friend (lifei) and graceful venerable friend (huafei). Concubines of lower rank were called “exemplars” (yi), and there were six of them: an exemplary purity (shuyi), an exemplary virtue (deyi), an exemplary virtue (xianyi), an exemplary meekness (shunyi), an exemplary beauty (wanyi), and an exemplary fragrance (fangyi).
A concubine was chosen for the night like this - the Emperor had a huge vessel with jade tablets with the names and numbers of the concubines, as well as albums with drawings of the concubines. Numbers were assigned to all concubines, and the higher the number, the more shameful the concubine’s life was. There is a saying in China - she is the daughter of the fifteenth concubine, which roughly means our saying - the seventh water on jelly. By the way, intrigues in the harem were present in full force and some concubines could persuade the artist to paint the most beautiful concubines as ugly so that the Emperor would never choose them. Being in a harem and being a virgin was considered a mortal disgrace.
The Emperor took out a tablet, beat the gong and silently gave the tablet to the eunuch, who noted in a special journal who the Emperor had chosen, the concubine was sent for, she was stripped naked (in order to avoid the presence of any weapons), washed, a cloak made of heron fluff was put on her and carried on their backs to the Emperor's chambers.
The concubine had the right to be in the chambers only for a certain time. If time ran out, the eunuchs sitting outside the doors shouted that time was up. Not a single concubine was allowed to stay until the morning; this was a privilege only for the wife. The concubine quietly slipped under the blanket to the Emperor, and at the end of the pleasures, the eunuch asked permission to leave the seed. If the Emperor allowed, then the date of intercourse was recorded in a special journal, and if not, then a specially trained person pressed the concubine’s stomach in a special way so that the sperm flowed out.
All the Emperor’s visits to his wife, the only woman to whom he could go himself and stay with her overnight, were still recorded in a special journal. After the Emperor left the bedroom, he was always asked whether intercourse had taken place or not. If not, then the column in the journal remained empty, but if yes, then the column was filled in - on such and such a date, such and such a month, such and such a year, intercourse took place.
Even the number of sexual acts was regulated. Once every five days the Emperor was obliged to call a concubine. Only the death of the parents freed him from this duty for three months.
The cruelest etiquette and conventions determined even this side of life.
The large number of concubines required increasing efforts to keep track of them. So, concubines who visited the Emperor’s bed were given a special seal on their palm, rubbed with cinnamon, and it was preserved forever. Without this seal, remaining in the harem was considered a disgrace for a long time.
Pregnancy was the highest good and for this purpose any intrigues, bribes, even murders and secret abortions of already pregnant concubines were used.
Girls for harems were selected separately by specially trained people from among the daughters of governors and princes. At the age of 12-14, they passed the examination, which was arranged by the Emperor’s mother, and if successful, they entered the harem. However, knowing the terrible morals going on in harems, many parents deliberately mutilated their daughters or gave their daughters to maids instead.
In addition to intrigue, masturbation in the absence of the Emperor's caresses and walks in the garden, the concubines took care of their toilet and jewelry every day - the concubine should always be ready to be called by the Emperor. High hairstyles - hair to hair were put in every day and pinned with a huge number of hairpins. No wonder the hairpin in China is considered a symbol of a woman.
Wu Zetian is the first and only woman in China to rule the Empire for 15 years. On the left - this is how she was in life, on the right - this is how modern Chinese cinema sees her.
As a concubine of Emperor Taizong, she showed too strong a nature and was exiled to a Buddhist monastery, but managed to become the mistress of the Emperor’s son, who later became the Emperor, Gaozong. She removed all competitors from her path, including the Emperor's main wife, and became his only woman. According to legend, Wu Tzetian strangled her own newborn daughter with her own hands, but pointed to the Emperor’s wife, for which the latter, who was never able to give birth, was punished and expelled. She also got rid of all competitors among her relatives by drowning them in wine and executing them in other ways. She expelled the Emperor's son and for many years ruled with a firm hand a country for which a woman on the throne was an unprecedented case.
Another concubine who reached the top of the board is also known - Cixi. She was unusually beautiful, and although the Emperor did not pay attention to her for a long time, she nevertheless dragged the aging ruler into her bed and charmed him so much with singing and dancing that he stayed with her for several days, thereby unimaginably raising her status. She gave birth to her only son, Tongzhi (and even then, according to legend, it was the son of one of the concubines, who was killed immediately after giving birth), and after the death of the Emperor, having eliminated all competitors, she herself ascended the throne.
Cixi was famous for her cruelty. One day she ordered cannon fire on a Catholic cathedral in which there were women and children. She brutally dealt with everyone who was against her rule. During the Boxer Rebellion, Cixi ordered the extermination of foreigners whom she considered a threat to ancient Chinese traditions. Foreign powers sent troops to save their citizens. The Empress fled. She lost money and power. Chaos began in the country. In her old age, Cixi became addicted to drugs.
Modern China is a strong and dynamically developing country. Many of the gadgets we use are assembled by the Chinese. The clothes we wear are made by the Chinese. The mark on toys and things “made in China” is familiar to us. China has moved far forward and can now easily compete with developed countries such as the USA or Germany. A century ago, China was an empire led by Pu Yi.
It's hard to imagine how the last emperor of China felt as he saw his mighty empire slowly crumble before his eyes. And it was even more difficult for the women who were next to him all this time. The official last Chinese empress and wife of Pu Yi was Wanrong. She was born into a wealthy and respected family, and became the emperor’s wife because Pu Yi chose her, looking at the photo.
More precisely, he didn’t even choose it himself. This is quite an interesting story. The Emperor was offered 4 photographs of very young girls. The quality of the photo left much to be desired, the faces were almost impossible to see, and they seemed the same to the emperor. Only the outfits were different. He chose the girl with the brightest outfit, to whom his heart lay most. But it was not Wanrong, but 12-year-old Wenxiu, who came from a poor family.
Wenxiu
Pu Yi was influenced by his father's first concubine, who was considered his adoptive mother. Her protégé was 16-year-old Wanrong. She persuaded the emperor to change his choice. Thus, Pu Yi married Wanrong, but did not leave Wenxiu, but made him his younger wife - in other words, a concubine.
Wenxiu did not remain Pu Yi's beloved for long; they, at her request, ended the relationship. They had no children together. Wenxiu was deprived of all privileges, but the woman was lucky enough to get married a second time.
Empress Wanrong was also unable to give the emperor an heir. There were rumors that the husband and wife did not even spend time together. And later Wanrong generally treated her husband with hostility.
The Empress was addicted to opium, and sometimes her doses were so high that everyone wondered how she survived. Perhaps in this way she wanted to drown out the pain of an unhappy marriage.
Then Wanrong became pregnant either from her personal driver or from her bodyguard. Pu Yi, having learned about his wife’s betrayal, cruelly got rid of the child. Because of this, they say, the empress went crazy.
Emperor Pu Yi and Empress Wanrong
In addition to his legal wife, Pu Yi also had concubines. For example, Tan Yuling became the emperor's concubine only because Pu Yi wanted to punish his wife. Pu Yi even married Tan Yulin. However, their marriage did not last long. She died of typhoid fever. And there is certain evidence that suggests that the Japanese had a hand in her death. The girl was opposed to the Japanese and had a certain influence on the emperor.
Tan Yuling was also unable to give birth to a child from Pu Yi. However, the girl was posthumously promoted from fifth concubine to second. Still, the emperor valued and loved her very much.
The fourth wife of Emperor Pu Yi was Li Yunqin. She was a 15-year-old Chinese girl studying in a Japanese school. The Emperor never loved her. He treated her rather like an unreasonable child. He often asked her to sing and dance for him, to entertain him, and then he loved to give instructions like a teacher. They lived together for about 2 years. And then, when Manchuria fell, Pu Yi was captured and his wife was sent home.
Pu Yi probably had more concubines; officially there were about 70 of them in the palace. Of course, not all of them had relations with the emperor. Many were simply servants. And historians are now studying the version that the emperor was not interested in women at all, but preferred young men. And all his wives were needed only for cover.
However, this version can be refuted, since he entered into his last marriage with a simple nurse when he was 56 years old, and he had not been emperor for a long time. However, he had no children with her either. This gives reason to believe that Pu Yi was infertile.
In all centuries, the Chinese believed that a woman transmits the vital force of “qi” to a man - this is a fundamental concept of the Chinese picture of the world. Therefore, it is no coincidence that Emperor Xuanzong, who at the age of 60 fell under the spell of his son’s charming young concubine Yang Guifei, kept about 40 thousand women in his palaces. And even such an orthodox communist as the Chairman of the CPC Central Committee, Mao Zedong, firmly believed in this Taoist dogma and had a harem - with the full understanding of the masses.
The author, the famous sinologist Viktor Nikolaevich Usov, in this original study, tells the story of the life of the wives and concubines of the Celestial Empire from ancient times to the beginning of the twentieth century, when the last emperor Pu Yi reigned. The book contains a lot of interesting information about the structure of the imperial harem.
Victor Usov
IN THE HAREM OF THE SON OF HEAVEN
Wives and concubines of the Celestial Empire
Secrets of Chinese harems
All Chinese women, whether empresses or maids, were essentially concubines. Since ancient times, one of the main signs of the power and might of the Son of Heaven in the Celestial Empire was a large harem. It was intended to demonstrate and realize male potency, the possession of which was an obligatory quality of a ruler from the point of view of the cult of the “sacred king.”
“The intimate life of the emperor was also subject to the strictest instructions, stemming from natural-philosophical erotological theories and boiling down to maintaining balance in the partner’s body Yanna(male - V.U.) And other(female - V.U.) energies, writes M. Kravtsova. - It was believed that the predominance yin over yang leads to depletion of male sexual potency, premature aging, illness and death. At the level of the sociocosmic universe, this caused various natural collisions associated with water: heavy rains, floods, premature frosts, as well as military conflicts."
The status of each inhabitant of the harem was determined by the degree of activity of her energy yin. Highest degree of activity other the empress was endowed with energy. However, this energy of hers was not limitless. Therefore, the Son of Heaven could enter into intimate contact with her no more than once a month, thereby, as it was believed, providing the opportunity to become pregnant and give birth to smart and strong offspring from the emperor. Other women of the harem had the right to more often enter into intimate contacts with the Son of Heaven, and, according to the author of the book “Palace Eunuch Women” Wang Yaping, the lower the rank of the concubine, the more often she could do this, and earlier than a concubine of a higher rank . As a result of this, the actual rulers of the harem became, as a rule, concubines of lower ranks, who had constant access to the emperor’s chambers.
Eunuchs served as an indispensable attribute of the harem in the East. However, in China, the use of eunuchs was the exclusive right of the ruling dynasty, that is, the emperor and princes from the imperial family. The rich commoners of China, unlike Turkey and other countries of the East, were forbidden, on pain of death, to have eunuchs in their homes and estates. Therefore, the term “harem” is fully applicable here only to the imperial and princely courtyards with their wives and concubines.
We know that the direct responsibilities of the eunuchs were to protect the women of the harem from contact with other men. However, from the stories "Zozhuan"(“Mr. Zuo’s Commentary”) it follows that in the early period of Chinese history, eunuchs clearly failed to cope with these direct responsibilities. According to the Russian historian L. Vasiliev, “perhaps the reason was that the strict orders of harem life had not yet been established, were not sufficiently institutionalized” compared to the future, and eunuchs were more often used to carry out assignments not related to the protection of the harem. That is why married women from among the nobility, and especially widows, had considerable freedom in behavior in those years and often abused this.
L. Vasiliev notes that the women of the harem (especially those involved in politics) during the Chunqiu period, in contrast to later times, felt quite free and were sometimes very active. Their activity was manifested not only in weaving intrigues and an active struggle for real power in order to transfer the throne to their sons, but also in possessing lovers. This “applied not only to widows, whose connections with high-ranking courtiers are recorded in sources and sometimes played a decisive role in politics, but also to married ladies. Moreover, it was adultery that served as a reason for conflicts, especially between lines of the same clan and in general among close and people who knew each other well."
Ming Dynasty Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City (Gugong)
It is known that later attempts were made repeatedly to limit the activities of the wives and concubines of the Son of Heaven, especially interference in the affairs of governing the Celestial Empire. Thus, the founder of the Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, in his “Testaments of the Ancestor” wrote: “...Never allow the willful power of the inhabitant of the main court (that is, the empress. - V.U.), any of the minor wives and concubines... For each nightly visit by them to the chambers of the sovereign, a queue has been established. If wives appear who make unfounded speeches, then when the harmfulness of what is said is revealed, they should be reprimanded. There should be no jealous women in the imperial palace."
How many women is a man supposed to have?
It is known that any wealthy man in the Near and Middle East could have several wives - this was a sign of his wealth. In order to afford such luxury, he only had to provide each wife with her own home, or at least a separate floor, or at least her own special hearth.
Summer Imperial Palace - the summer residence of the emperors of the Qing dynasty on the outskirts of Beijing
Homer called polygamy an eastern custom. Greek kings and heroes had only one wife, but Priam, the king of Troy in Asia Minor, had many wives, although his main wife Hecuba did not feel disadvantaged:
I had fifty sons during the invasion of the Achaean Rati,
There were nineteen of them from the mother;
Others were given birth to by other kind wives in the palaces.(Translation by N. Gnedich)
King Solomon (10th century BC) was said to have had from three hundred to a thousand wives from different countries, among them was an Egyptian princess, taken, however, only for political reasons. When this king entered into an alliance with any neighboring country, he took the daughter of the corresponding king as his wife. Each of the queen wives had her own house. As follows from historical materials, such a house was significantly different from the “classical” eastern harem, the type of which emerged only later in Persia.
Islam limited the number of wives: a man could have no more than four. “Your wives are a field for you; go to your field whenever you wish, and prepare for yourselves,” says the Koran. Although the prophet Mohammed himself did not observe these restrictions - he had nine wives. How did things stand with this in the Middle Kingdom?
According to legend, the son of the progenitor of Chinese civilization, the Yellow Lord, had one official wife and three concubines. The presence of four wives for the ruler of Ancient China was (as in the countries of the Islamic world) the norm of palace life. As the Russian sinologist V. Malyavin notes, the four wives of the emperor symbolized, according to the court scribes, the four directions of the world and the four seasons, and together with the Son of Heaven they made up the sacred number five: five elements, five colors, five taste sensations, etc. “From this point of view,” notes V. Malyavin, “the imperial harem was a prototype of the universe. According to a later and more extravagant explanation, the imperial family should resemble a tea set, where one teapot is accompanied by several cups.” However, according to the Chinese historian Wang Yaping, the wise King Shun had only three wives, and three times three form a nine - the peak of male power yang
From time immemorial, harems were popular not only in eastern countries. The Celestial Empire has had its own traditions of polygamy throughout the long history of this state. Of course, harems were the prerogative of only rich and noble nobles - harems that were record-breaking in scale and sometimes numbered up to several hundred young concubines.
However, unofficial harems were common even among beggars, like church rats, and temporary workers. Without a single penny in their pocket, ragged, dirty, arriving in another city, their first duty was to find a traveling woman who would feed, look after and wash her new stern master. Despite everything, the husband he met not only did not leave yuan, but also fulfilled his marital duty once a year according to schedule.
In principle, in the medieval period, harems were commonplace in China. No one noticed absolutely anything unusual about this, and neither did the concubines themselves. Placing a young girl in the harem of a rich man or nobleman was considered the dream of almost all poor parents. Thus, she was guaranteed food, clothing, and sometimes even life itself.
Despite everything, difficulties arose here too. What can we say about others, if the numerous concubines of the emperor himself from time to time lived from hand to mouth. There was an internal hierarchy in the harem. Therefore, those concubines who were not at the beginning of the “sexual chain” received so much food that they simply did not stretch out their legs from hunger. Those girls whose diet included half a chicken or a piece of beef for the whole month were unconditionally considered the most lucky. Often, poor concubines made do with only the bare vegetables. Thus, their problem of excess weight disappeared once and for all. As, perhaps, an excessive life expectancy...
The older wives and concubines in the Chinese harem had some minor rights only when they gave birth to a child - of course, a boy; the fate of female children did not bother anyone. It happened that some girls never got their turn; they watched their own royal husband only from afar. When a girl, in despair, dared to cheat, she was sentenced to death. In addition, simple suspicion of such an act was sometimes enough for execution.
A huge number of disturbing stories have reached our times about concubines and simple wives of emperors and local princes who committed suicide due to a difficult life. As a rule, they hanged themselves or jumped into full wells - these wells still exist in every large estate to this day.
There were, of course, situations in which ordinary concubines, thanks to their own intelligence, agility, resourcefulness and perseverance of character, came to the very pinnacle of power. The most striking example is the famous Empress Cixi. But still, Cixi is only an exception. Usually the fate of the harem women of old China was completely unenviable.
And not all girls even ended up in harems.
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