Empress Dowager Cixi: Built a luxurious bathroom, every time she bathed she would cry out in coldness.

In Chinese history, Empress Dowager Cixi is famous as a powerful woman of the Qing Dynasty.

Information about her daily life always makes posterity curious.

How luxurious was Empress Dowager Cixi's bathroom?

This powerful woman loved to bathe, and every time she bathed, more than 100 palace maids served her and used up to 3 bathtubs. These people were responsible for boiling water, steaming, arranging the bathroom... and had to complete it in half a day. After Empress Dowager Cixi finished bathing, they had to clean up every little thing. This was a complicated process.

Her bathing time is also not fixed, depending on her inspiration. On hot days, she bathes more often, every day, but on cold winter days, she only bathes once every 3 days.

Empress Dowager Cixi did not bathe in a wooden tub like the rest of the royal family, but used two more large tubs. These large tubs were almost like small swimming pools, and if they were empty, it would take eight eunuchs to lift them up.

Every time she bathed, Empress Dowager Cixi washed her upper body in one tub, then washed her lower body in another tub. Finally, she soaked in a third tub. When she bathed, hundreds of eunuchs and maids heated hot water for her. The water she bathed in was also spring water from Yuquan Mountain, which was said to be very good for skin care.

First, she soaked herself in a bathtub. After she was completely soaked, she would sit on a special chair and wait for the servants to wipe her body for the first time. These palace maids first used warm towels to wipe the Empress Dowager Cixi's entire body. After wiping, the towels were thrown away. Then, they used soap. Soap was considered a luxury at that time and was not used by common people.

Empress Dowager Cixi's soaps often contained flowers or essential oils, which could leave a fragrant scent on her body after bathing. Moreover, Empress Dowager Cixi would also use different types of soaps to help herself create different scents. When the weather was hot, she would also add some traditional Chinese medicine that could reduce dry skin, and when the weather was cold, she would add some herbs that nourish the blood and enter the snake.

Empress Dowager Cixi's bath water was also very special, and would be arranged according to the imperial physician's special assignment, so the toiletries that Empress Dowager Cixi used when bathing were also very expensive.

Her bathtub alone was of immense value, because it was not only made of rare wood, but also inlaid with gold and silver jewelry, making the entire tub extremely luxurious and splendid. Not only that, Empress Dowager Cixi also required the eunuchs and palace maids to ensure that the water temperature when bathing was as required, otherwise these people would be severely punished.

After everything was ready, Empress Dowager Cixi's bathing process would move to the wiping and soaping part, at this point, all the towels after wiping once would be thrown away. After the whole process, Empress Dowager Cixi had to throw away at least hundreds of silk towels, these towels were very expensive but Empress Dowager Cixi only considered them as disposable items. Cixi's bathing and wiping time could last from four to five hours, in winter, the frequency of bathing could be reduced but the bathing steps and procedures could not be skipped. Sometimes Empress Dowager Cixi even specifically asked the palace maids to do tasks such as trimming her toenails, fingernails, etc.

Every time she finished bathing, she needed to apply a facial mask. At that time, there were no specialized facial masks. At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi would ask someone to place a warm towel on her face, perhaps soaking it in some pure milk so that her skin could absorb it better. Not only that, Empress Dowager Cixi would also request a special comb to comb her hair and clear her meridians. Finally, to wash her face, she had to use a silver wash basin.

After going through this whole process, the palace maids and eunuchs all felt like "torture", not only having to kneel on the ground to serve her in the first stage but also having to clean up everything in the second stage.

In order to allow herself to feel absolutely pampered, Empress Dowager Cixi often requested to change the servants to make herself feel different, as well as to show her noble status. She was the one with absolute power during the Qing Dynasty, so Cixi wanted that as long as she spoke, everyone would obey. Because of such excessive extravagance and waste, many people were dissatisfied with her.

Why did Empress Dowager Cixi often summon eunuchs to take a bath?

According to Sohu, one of them was that the palace maids accidentally discovered that one evening, Tu Hi summoned the eunuch Ly Lien Anh to serve her to take a bath. A moment later, laughter rang out in the room, followed by screams of pain. The palace maids were extremely worried, and they were also curious about what was happening inside.

The reason why the palace maids were afraid was because from the past until now, Empress Dowager Cixi was famous for being "heartless". If the servants hurt or displeased her, their heads would surely fall off. However, this time, she did not show any anger, only continuously cried out in pain.

For many days after that, every time she bathed, Empress Dowager Cixi asked Li Lianying to serve her. Every time, the palace maids heard her scream. Therefore, rumors quickly spread in the palace about the relationship between the Old Buddha and Li Lianying. Some people said that Li Lianying pretended to be a eunuch to enter the palace, but in reality, he was the Empress Dowager's lover.

Li Lianying accidentally heard about this and felt very angry. However, this was something that Cixi had told him to keep secret, so he could not say it. Therefore, Li Lianying came up with a strange way to prove his innocence. When he went to the toilet, Li Lianying asked a eunuch to go with him to check if he had been celibate. Even so, rumors about Cixi and Li Lianying's ambiguous relationship continued to spread throughout the palace.

Until one day, a palace maid was so curious that she peeked through the crack in the door. Unexpectedly, when this palace maid saw everything that was happening inside, she was extremely scared.

According to this palace maid, she saw Li Lianying pour a large amount of blood-red liquid into the bathtub. Then, he began to massage the Empress Dowager. As for Cixi, she sometimes laughed out loud, and sometimes cried out in pain.

It turned out that Empress Dowager Cixi had many problems with her body due to having to sit in one place all the time and rarely moving. Therefore, Li Lianying found her a medicine to clear her meridians. This medicine required boiling water for bathing and then combining it with acupressure massage. It was because Li Lianying touched an acupressure point on the Empress Dowager's body while massaging that she complained like that. However, thanks to Li Lianying's dedication, Empress Dowager Cixi's health improved a lot.

Concubines in the past had a terrifying "privilege" that even the main wife did not have. Minh Lợi17:19:18 19/03/2025In feudal Chinese society, concubines were seen as mere commodities, bought and sold without any significant rights, and did not even have an official position in the husband's family tree.