The palace maid left the palace, 25 years old, still young and beautiful, but no man dared to marry her, why?

In the ancient Chinese royal palace, palace maids (maids or maids) were the overwhelmingly numerous class because they were responsible for chores, laundry, serving tea and water, and taking care of the owner's meals and daily activities.

In feudal Chinese society, women after leaving the palace were considered to have given up all the best things of a gir.l in the palace. They had to live a restricted life, abstaining, following rituals and rules... Some girls even had to do heavy work, lacking all kinds of things, these things devastated the bodies of these palace maids terribly.

That's why, after leaving the palace, many Qing Dynasty Chinese palace maids could not find a husband to marry even though they were only 25 years old.

The status of "worms, ants"

Most of the palace maids were chosen from the common people. They came from families with good character. In addition, there were palace maids whose families committed crimes and were forced to become palace maids who specialized in menial tasks. In addition, there were some palace maids donated by local officials or smaller countries. They were very beautiful, could dance, sing, embroider...

Palace maids entering the palace had to undergo the instruction and training of the group of managers. They were trained in everything from walking, combing their hair, applying makeup to eating and sleeping. Every action had very strict rules. If they committed even the slightest mistake, the palace maid could be punished by the emperor and the concubines with beatings, making them knee.l, or even deat.h.

Not only serving the masters of the palace, the newly-arrived palace maids also had to serve and be under the management of the older palace maids. All the daily personal tasks of the older palace maids, such as washing their faces, combing their hair, washing their feet, bathing... were all taken care of by the newly-arrived palace maids.

If a palace maid did not commit any major mistakes while serving, she could leave the palace by the ag.e of 25. However, leaving the palace did not mea.n that she was freed. On the contrary, a bigger "storm" was waiting for her outside.

Difficult to integrate

In his autobiography The First Half of My Life, Pu Yi, the last emperor of the Chinese feudal dynasty, wrote that after being expelled from the palace, the palace maids did not dare to marry. They mostly lived the rest of their lives in misery and poverty, and rarely returned to being commoners and reintegrating into society.

The reason is that in ancient times, the court often selected palace maids who were 13-14 years old, but they had to be 25 years old before they could leave the palace. At that time, this ag.e was considered too late because people in the past usually got married and had children at the ag.e of 15. Therefore, after the palace maids left the palace, it was difficult for them to find a single man, they only had two options: becoming someone else's concubine or remaining single.

The second reason is that their health is seriously affected. After many years of working in the palace, the disrupted daily routines have caused the health of the palace maids to deteriorate significantly. Moreover, during their working hours, they inevitably make mistakes and suffer severe beatings that leave physical sequelae. Many palace maids even lose their ability to reproduce due to the cruel punishments. This is also one of the reasons why it is difficult for them to get married. The ancient Chinese placed great importance on continuing the family line, and no man would accept marrying a wife who could not bear children.

Some palace maids had to become prostitutes in brothels to survive. Most palace maids were lonely for the rest of their lives after leaving the palace. It was not uncommon for former palace maids to be ignored by outsiders. Therefore, it was very difficult for them to successfully reintegrate into society.

Even the elderly palace maids who had no home to return to were forced to wander far away, living a miserable life without support until the end of their lives.

Another reason is that living in the palace, the maids are used to harsh rules, used to being controlled by others, do not know how to choose, cannot decide their own destiny. This gradually leaves many limitations on their personalities, making them unable to integrate into the lives of ordinary people when they step outside the Forbidden City. There are also many cases where concubines proactively find good husbands for their maids before they leave the palace. However, this case is very rare.

The palace maids of ancient times were considered the most pitiful group of people in the harem. Whether they lived under the orders of others or when they returned to their families, they were unable to integrate into society and had to live alone and without support until the end of their lives.

Không ai dám cưới cung nữ dù trẻ đẹp, lý do đằng sau khiến ai cũng sốc! Thảo Mai17:09:13 27/03/2024Trong hoàng cung thời cổ đại của Trung Quốc, cung nữ (thị nữ hay a hoàn) là tầng lớp có số lượng áp đảo vì họ là những người đảm nhiệm các công việc tạp vụ, giặt giũ, bưng trà nước và lo việc ăn uống, sinh hoạt cho chủ nhân.