More About Palace Life
Memoirs of a Court Lady in the Forbidden City
Hello All,
As you can see, I’m still in my rabbit hole of palace life research. That’s how I found these memoirs.
Imagine that: you are Jin Yi, a Chinese student in the 1940 Beijing occupied by the Japanese. While trying to feed your family, you meet and elderly cleaner. Instead of dismissing her ramblings, you listen and write them down. Much later, as an old man yourself, you publish them.
The cleaner was Rong Er He, who entered Empress Cixi's service at thirteen and lived to tell a tale which few fantasy novels can surpass (I always say that reality is crazier than fiction).
She underwent rigorous training under strict “aunts” (older court ladies, which meant they were 18 or 20), learning elaborate protocols. Discipline was harsh: telling someone off verbally was considered direspectful and disturbing the sacred ambiance of the palace, but beating was OK. The “palace ladies” were released from service at 25.
There were rules governing every aspect of behavior: how to walk as a “gliding cloud” without turning one’s head, how to exit a room without turning your back on people of rank, how to sleep (curled on one’s side to avoid facing the sky and offending the gods), how to communicate through silent hand signals, and how to maintain absolute discretion. They were expected to maintain a "radiant face" regardless of their internal misery, a bit like a hotel clerck. They were forbidden from learning to read, could only wear specific colors except during New Year celebrations, and had to master intricate crafts like embroidery and weaving.
Ah, I nearly forgot: absolutely no laughing or smiling showing teeth. Bad breath, belching and farting was unthinkable, so the girls had to avoid eating their fill and also a whole range of common food (fish, shrimp, chives…). The obvious question was how they managed periods, but the "grand impoliteness" remains undescribed.
After 4-5 years, junior court ladies became “aunts” to new recruits. The empress sometimes married one of them to an eunuch (this was an honor). This was how the poor narrator ended up married to a bitter, drug-addicted young man who made her life miserable.
Family contacts were allowed after 3-5 months of meritorious service. It required finding an old eunuch “protector/father” to arrange meetings. These took place on 2nd day of each month at grilled gate behind the Palace of War Gods.
Some daily routines:
Smoking Service: this was a dangerous job.
Must kneel at precisely two bricks’ distance to the Empress’s left
Must light pipe using flint, tinder, and fire-leaf without letting any sparks fall
Severe penalty: Losing one’s head (and family implicated) if spark touches Empress or floor
Must hold pipe to Empress’s mouth; she never holds it herself
Prepare two tobacco loads per session
Must turn body slightly to avoid facing Empress directly
Night Service
Five ladies on duty, including one chamber leader
Two at bedroom door (outside curtain in summer, inside in winter)
One at wardrobe door
One at meditation chamber
One inside bedroom - highest privilege, must sit against wall, never lie down
Responsibilities: Monitor Empress’s breathing, sleep quality, number of times she woke, coughed, drank water - all reported to imperial physicians
Bathing the Empress
Four ladies assigned to body bathing
Two for foot bathing
Procedure:
Use 100 towels total (4 stacks of 25), each embroidered with dragons
Two silver basins: one for upper body (heaven/clarity) one for lower body (earth/confusion)
Each towel used only once, never re-dipped in water
Must hold breath when wiping Empress’s chest to avoid breathing on her face
Special low chair allowing access from all sides
Post-bath: Soak and file Empress’s nails; apply nail varnish; protect with individual silk finger covers
Toilet Service
Eunuch waits outside with chamberpot (the “House of Mandarins”) wrapped in yellow dragon cloth on his head. The pot was carved in the shape of a large, snarling gecko with ruby eyes and a mouth designed to hold a scroll of fine toilet paper. Its belly was filled with scented sawdust that instantly wrapped and masked waste
Lady brings pot to Empress, spreads oiled cloth on floor
Places prepared toilet paper (ironed damp paper cut into triangles) in dragon-mouth handle
Eunuch cannot enter room during use, but will carry it away
Hair and Grooming for Empress
Liu the hairdresser only male eunuch allowed in Empress’s bedroom
Must carry implements in yellow dragon-cloth bundle on head
Must kneel and present tools
Must entertain Empress with optimistic
stories while working
Special privilege to speak directly to Empress
Protocol Toward Emperor
Emperor’s hairdressing on fixed auspicious days: 1st, 11th, 21st of each lunar month
Must work before noon (sun’s decline symbolically bad)
Hairdresser must strip naked before security, then wear special short-sleeved green robe
Absolute rules:
Hold razor only in right hand
Left hand must never touch Emperor’s head
Must never shave against the grain (“against dragon’s scales”)
Must hold breath to avoid breathing on Emperor
Guards watch razor hand throughout service
Tools kept in sandalwood box, never brought from outside
Food Service Protocol
Minimum 120 dishes presented
Never take more than three spoonfuls from same dish
If third spoonful taken, dish immediately removed and not served again for one month
Purpose: Prevent anyone knowing her preferences (poison prevention)
Food transported in yellow dragon-cloth “packages,” opened only in Empress’s presence
All plates made of solid silver (would turn black if poisoned)
Every step documented: who washed, who seasoned, who cooked each dish
For this last tradition, I suspect there was some rigidification from the previous centuries, as it’s slightly different from what is described in the book I’m reading right now (I’ll write about it later).
Till next time.
