Imperial Chinese harem system

The ranks of imperial consorts have varied over the course of Chinese history but remained important throughout owing to its importance in management of the inner court and in imperial succession, which ranked heirs according to the prominence of their mothers in addition to their strict birth order. Regardless of the age, however, it is common in English translation to simplify these hierarchy into the three ranks of Empress, consorts, and concubines.^[1]

Early history

There exists a class of consorts called (媵; yìng) during early historical times in China. These were people who came along with brides as a form of dowry. It could be the female cousin or sister of the bride, or people from other countries (not necessarily from another race).

Worth noting is the fact that during the Shang Dynasty, there were times where two Empresses reigned at the same period.

The Rites of Zhou contains great details of an imperial consort ranking system. However, as the Rites of Zhou is considered by modern scholars to be merely a fictitious constitution for a utopian society, the system listed in that work of literature cannot be taken word for word. Rather, it offers a rough glimpse into the inner harem during the time.

Qin Dynasty

From the reign of King Huiwen:

1. 1 Queen (王后; wáng hòu), which became Empress (皇后; huáng hòu) from the reign of Shi Huang
2. (夫人; fū rén)
3. (美人; měi rén)
4. (良人; liáng rén)
5. (八子; bā zi)
6. (七子; qī zi)
7. (長使; zhǎng shǐ)
8. (少使; shǎo shǐ)

Han Dynasty

Three Kingdoms

Jin

The system was based on the systems used in Cao Wei and the Han Dynasty, as follows:

1. 1 Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. 3 (夫人; fū rén)
   1. (貴嬪; guì pín)
   2. (夫人; fū rén)
   3. (貴人; guì rén)
3. 9 (嬪; pín)
   1. (淑妃; shū fēi)
   2. (淑媛; shū yuàn)
   3. (淑儀; shū yí)
   4. (修華; xiū huá)
   5. (修容; xiū róng)
   6. (修儀; xiū yí)
   7. (婕妤; jié yú)
   8. (容華; róng huá)
   9. (充華; chōng huá)
4. (美人; měi rén)
5. (才人; cái rén)
6. (中才人; zhōng cái rén)

Southern and Northern Dynasties

Sui

In the beginning, there existed a simple system of rankings for imperial consorts:

1. Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. Imperial Concubine (嬪; pín)
3. 9 (世婦; shì fù)
4. 38 (禦女; yù nǚ)

There also existed a system of (女官; nǚ guān) to manage ceremonial affairs in the harem. The system was based on similar systems in the past.

After the death of Empress Dugu, Emperor Wen expanded the ranks of the consorts to the following:

1. 1 Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. 3 (貴人; guì rén)
3. 9 (嬪; pín)
4. 27 (世婦; shì fù)
5. 81 (禦女; yù nǚ)

During the reign of Emperor Yang, the ranking system was expanded yet again, based on systems in the past, to the following:

1. 1 Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. 3 (夫人; fū rén)
   1. (貴妃; guì fēi)
   2. (淑妃; shū fēi)
   3. (德妃; dé fēi)
3. 9 (嬪; pín)
   1. (順儀; shùn yí)
   2. (順容; shùn róng)
   3. (順華; shùn huá)
   4. (修儀; xiū yí)
   5. (修容; xiū róng)
   6. (修華; xiū huá)
   7. (充衣; chōng yī)
   8. (充容; chōng róng)
   9. (充華; chōng huá)
4. 12 (婕妤; jié yú)
5. 15 (世婦; shì fù)
   1. Beauty (美人; měi rén)
   2. Regular (才人; cái rén)
6. 24 (寶林; bǎolín)
7. 24 (禦女; yù nǚ)
8. 37 (採女; cǎi nǚ)

Tang

1. 1 Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. 4 (夫人; fū rén)
   1. (貴妃; guì fēi)
   2. (淑妃; shū fēi)
   3. (德妃; dé fēi)
   4. (賢妃; xián fēi)
3. 9 (嬪; pín)
   1. (昭儀; zhāo yí)
   2. (昭容; zhāo róng)
   3. (昭媛; zhāo yuàn)
   4. (修儀; xiū yí)
   5. (修容; xiū róng)
   6. (修媛; xiū yuàn)
   7. (充衣; chōng yī)
   8. (充容; chōng róng)
   9. (充媛; chōng yuàn)
4. 9 (婕妤; jié yú)
5. 9 (美人; měi rén)
6. 9 (才人; cái rén)
7. 27 (寶林; bǎo lín)
8. 27 (禦女; yù nǚ)
9. 27 (採女; cǎi nǚ)

During the reign of Gaozong:

1. 1 Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. 4 (夫人; fū rén)
   1. (貴妃; guì fēi)
   2. (淑妃; shū fēi)
   3. (德妃; dé fēi)
   4. (賢妃; xián fēi)
3. 9 (嬪; pín)
   1. (昭儀; zhāo yí)
   2. (昭容; zhāo róng)
   3. (昭媛; zhāo yuàn)
   4. (修儀; xiū yí)
   5. (修容; xiū róng)
   6. (修媛; xiū yuàn)
   7. (充衣; chōng yī)
   8. (充容; chōng róng)
   9. (充媛; chōng yuàn)
4. 9 (婕妤; jié yú)
5. 9 (美人; měi rén)
6. 9 (才人; cái rén)

During the reign of Xuanzong:

1. 1 Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. 1 (惠妃; huì fēi), 1 (麗妃; lì fēi), 1 (華妃; huá fēi)
3. 6 (儀; yí)
   1. (淑儀; shū yí)
   2. (德儀; dé yí)
   3. (賢儀; xián yí)
   4. (順儀; shùn yí)
   5. (婉儀; wǎn yí)
   6. (芳儀; fāng yí)
4. 4 (美人; měi rén)
5. 7 (才人; cái rén)

The principal wife of the Crown Prince is called Crown Princess (太子妃; tài zǐ fēi), which is held by only one person at any given time. There are 5 other ranks of consorts:

1. 2 (良娣; liáng dì)
2. 6 (良媛; liáng yuàn)
3. 10 (承徽; chéng huī)
4. 16 (昭訓; zhāo xùn)
5. 24 (奉儀; fèng yí)

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

During these times, governments were replaced frequently, and as a result, it is difficult for modern scholars to derive any solid information on ranking systems during these times.

However, it is known that the Later Tang used the following system:

1. (昭容; zhāo róng)
2. (昭儀; zhāo yí)
3. (昭媛; zhāo yuàn)
4. (出使; chū shǐ)
5. (禦正; yù zhèng)
6. (侍眞; shì zhēn)
7. (懿才; yì cái)
8. (咸一; xián yī)
9. (瑤芳; yáo fāng)
10. (懿德; yì dé)
11. (宣一; xuān yī)

Whether there were any limits to the holders of these titles are unknown.

Liao, Song, Jin Dynasities

Yuan

The ranking system was at its simplest, and only consists of Empress, Consort, and Imperial Concubine. No limits were set on the number of people who could enjoy the title, but only one empress can exist.

Although the number of ranks were few, there existed a subsystem of ranking by prestige inside the Yuan harem. The tent (Chinese: 宮帳, translated term from Mongolian: 斡兒垜) that a consort lives in often determines their status. These tents often contain multiple Empresses, Consorts, and Imperial Concubines. In the many tents that existed, the first Empress of the first tent is considered to be the most prestigious consort.

Massive numbers of Korean boy eunuchs, Korean girl concubines, falcons, ginseng, grain, cloth, silver, and gold were sent as tribute to the Mongol Yuan dynasty,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} such as the Korean eunuch Bak Bulhwa and Korean Empress Gi. Goryeo incurred negative consequences as a result of the eunuch Bak Bulhwa's actions.^[8] The tribute payment brought much harm to Korea.^[3] It was considered prestigious to marry Korean women.^[9] Korean culture was brought by Korean women who were taken as concubines by elite males in Yuan China. Korean food and clothing were spread in the Yuan China capital by Korean eunuchs and Korean women like Empress Gi in Yuan China.^[10] Korean concubines were taken by the Yuan Emperors.^[11][12][13] Yuan officials and envoys took concubines and wives in Korea while they were stationed in Korea for the invasion of Japan.^[14]

The entry of Korean women into the palace affected relations between Korea and the Yuan.^[15] If anything negative happened to their families, Korea itself was blackmailed by the Yuan Mongol's Korean concubines.^[16] Great power was attained by some of the Korean women who entered the Mongol court.^[17]

King Ch'ungson (1309-1313.) married two Mongol women, Princess Botasirin and a non-royal woman named Yesujin. She gave birth to a son and had a posthumously title of "virtuous concubine". In addition 1324, the Yuan court sent a Mongol princess of Wei named Jintong to the Koryo King Ch'ungsug.^[18] Thus, the entry of Korean women into the Mongol court was reciprocated by the entry of Mongolian princesses into the Korean Koryo court, and this affected relations between Korea and the Yuan. Imperial marriages between the royal family of Mongol Yuan existed between certain states. These included the Onggirat tribe, Idug-qut's Uighur tribe, the Oirat tribe, and the Koryo (Korean) royal family. This intermarriage between royal families did not occur between the deposed Chinese and Mongols.^[19][20]

Ming

The system was simple with five commonly used titles:

1. Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. Imperial Noble Consort (皇貴妃; huáng guì fēi)
3. Noble Consort (貴妃; guì fēi)
4. Consort (妃; fēi)
5. Imperial Concubine (嬪; pín)

Other known titles including:

1. (婕妤; jié yú)
2. (昭儀; zhāo yí)
3. (昭容; zhāo róng)
4. (貴人; guì rén)
5. (美人; měi rén)

For the Crown Prince:

1. 1 Crown Princess (太子妃; tài zǐ fēi)
2. (才人; cái rén)
3. (選侍; xuǎn shì)
4. (淑女; shū nǚ)

Human tribute, including servants, eunuchs, and virgin girls came from: China's various ethnic tribes, Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Central Asia, Siam, Champa, and Okinawa.^[21] During the early Ming period, Korean concubines and eunuchs were occasionally demanded as tribute by Ming Emperors,^{[22][23][24][25]} such as the Xuande Emperor,^[26] for the imperial harem in imitation of the previous dynasty's precedent,^[27] as were Vietnamese women and eunuchs.^[28][29] Joseon Korea stopped sending human tribute after 1435.^[25] A total of 98 virgins and 198 eunuchs were sent from Korea to Ming.^[30] The Korean royal hats were the hats of Ming eunuchs because Southeast Asia and Korea supplied eunuchs to the Ming dynasty.^[31]

There were Korean, Jurchen, Mongol, Central Asian, and Vietnamese eunuchs under the Yongle Emperor,^[32][33] including Mongol eunuchs who served him while he was the Prince of Yan.^[34] Muslim and Mongol eunuchs were present in the Ming court,^[35] including Zheng He.^[36] Muslim eunuchs were sent as ambassadors to the Timurids.^[37][38] Vietnamese eunuchs like Ruan Lang, Ruan An, Fan Hong, Chen Wu, and Wang Jin were sent by Zhang Fu to the Ming.^[39] During Ming's early contentious relations with Joseon, when there were disputes such as competition for influence over the Jurchens in Manchuria, Korean officials were even flogged by Korean-born Ming eunuch ambassadors when their demands were not met.^[25] Some of the ambassadors were arrogant, such as Sin Kwi-saeng who, in 1398, got drunk and brandished a knife at a dinner in the presence of the king.^[40][41] Sino-Korean relations later became amiable, and Korean envoys' seating arrangement in the Ming court was always the highest among the tributaries.^[25]

Zhu Shuang 朱樉 (Prince Min of Qin 秦愍王) had some boys castrated and women seized after a war against minority Tibetic peoples and as a result was reprimanded.^{[42][43][44][45]}

On 30 January 1406, the Ming Yongle Emperor expressed horror when the Ryukyuans castrated some of their own children to become eunuchs in order to give them to Yongle. Yongle said that the boys who were castrated were innocent and didn't deserve castration, and he returned the boys to Ryukyu and instructed them not to send eunuchs again.^[46]

An anti pig slaughter edict led to speculation that the Zhengde emperor adopted Islam due to his use of Muslim eunuchs who commissioned the production of porcelain with Persian and Arabic inscriptions in white and blue color.^{[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]} Muslim eunuchs contributed money in 1496 to repairing Niujie Mosque. Central Asian women were provided to the Zhengde Emperor by a Muslim guard and Sayyid Hussein from Hami.^[56] The guard was Yu Yung and the women were Uighur.^[57] It is unknown who really was behind the anti-pig slaughter edict.^[58] The speculation of him becoming a Muslim is remembered alongside his excessive and debauched behavior along with his concubines of foreign origin.^[59] Muslim Central Asian girls were favored by Zhengde like how Korean girls were favored by Xuande.^[60] A Uighur concubine was kept by Zhengde.^[61] Foreign origin Uighur and Mongol women were favored by the Zhengde emperor.^[62]

There was much speculation that the Yongle Emperor's real mother was a Korean^{[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]} or Mongolian^[72] concubine.^[73][74][75] Relations between Ming China and Joseon Korea improved dramatically and became much more amicable and mutually profitable during Yongle's reign, who also had a strong penchant for Korean cuisine and women,^[67] as did his grandson, the Xuande Emperor.^[76][77]

There were 100,000 eunuchs at the height of their numbers during the Ming.^{[78][79][80][81]}

Qing

Imperial Noble Consort Keshun, better known as Consort Zhen or popularly as the Pearl Concubine, was a consort of the Guangxu Emperor.

The system was among one of the simpler systems in Chinese history. Officially, there were eight classes:

1. Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)
2. Imperial Noble Consort (皇貴妃; huáng guì fēi)
3. Noble Consort (貴妃; guì fēi)
4. Consort (妃; fēi)
5. Imperial Concubine (嬪; pín)
6. Noble lady (貴人; guì rén)
7. Mistresses (常在; cháng zài)
8. Answerer (答應; dā yìng)
9. Palace Lady (官女子; guān nǘ zǐ), typically granted to female servants whom the emperor has taken to a liking and to accompany him without any official recognition. This rank was also not part of the official concubine ranking .

For an Empress who lived well into the reigns of at least two subsequent Emperors, she would be referred to as Empress Dowager (皇太后; huáng tài hòu) if her husband's son was the Emperor, or Grand Empress Dowager (太皇太后; tài huáng tài hòu) if her husband's grandson was the Emperor. If a consort was never an Empress during her husband's reign but her son became the next Emperor, she would be referred to as Holy Mother, Empress Dowager (聖母皇太后; shèng mǔ huáng tài hòu) and be posthumously honoured as an Empress. On the other hand, if a consort held the rank of Empress but had no son or her son does not succeed the throne, she would be honoured as Mother Empress, Empress Dowager (母后皇太后; mǔ hòu huáng tài hòu) and is officially honoured as an Empress.

The prefixes Dowager (皇考; huáng kǎo) or Grand Dowager (皇祖; huáng zǔ) are sometimes added to a consort's rank (for Imperial Noble Consort and below) if she was a consort of the reigning Emperor's father or grandfather respectively.

The system was solid, but the number of consorts an emperor actually had during the Qing dynasty was subject to wild variations. The Kangxi Emperor holds the record for having the most consorts with 79, while the Guangxu Emperor holds the record for having the fewest consorts, with one empress and two consorts – a total of just three consorts.

The tradition of ranking concubines ended when the Qing dynasty was overthrown. However, the practice of giving rank to people who "unofficially" (lives with, but never marry) have more than one wife is still widespread. In addition, the term (夫人; fū rén) is still used, albeit rarely and only in very formal settings, as an honorific title towards another person's wife in China.

After the Second Manchu invasion of Korea, the Joseon kingdom was forced to give several of their royal princesses as concubines to the Qing prince-regent Dorgon.^{[82][83][84][85]} In 1650, Dorgon married the Korean Princess Uisun, a distant relative of the king, who was adopted and given the royal princess title so she can be married off to Dorgon. Joseon court revoked Princess Uisun's title and royal privileges after Dorgon died.^[86][87] Dorgon married two Korean princesses at Lianshan.^[88] There is no evidence of Dorgon marrying any other Joseon princess besides Princess Uisun in Joseon records and it is extremely unlikely as Dorgon died in December 1650, only few months after his marriage to Princess Uisun.

• Imperial consorts of Tang China

References