Chapter 16 Lecture 26 Kun Ning Empress Zhang

The emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties selected queens, the Ming Dynasty selected ladies from the whole country, and the Qing Dynasty selected the ladies from the Eight Banners.In the Ming and Qing dynasties, according to the records in "History of the Ming Dynasty: Biography of Empresses" and "Manuscripts of Qing History: Biography of Empresses", there were 19 empresses in the Ming Dynasty and 13 in the Qing Dynasty, for a total of 32 empresses.In this lecture, we will take Empress Yi'an, who will become Emperor Qi tomorrow, as an example to see the fate of this empress in her life.The material mainly refers to the Qing Dynasty's "Queen Yi'an's Biography" and other court historical materials, and the sources are not indicated one by one.

There is a precedent for choosing a queen from among the ladies in the world.When Emperor Xianzong Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty chose the queen, the empress dowager ordered the Ministry of Rites: "The list tells the inside and outside of the capital, in the family of officials and people of all sizes, to choose a woman whose parents are virtuous, known for her family law, aged 15 to 18 , clean in appearance, pure in nature and capital, serene in speech and actions, and polite, ask his parents to send it, and I will read it personally." ("Ming Xianzong Records" Volume 3) Tomorrow Qidi also follows the ancestral system , Order the Ministry of Rites to choose a lady, choose as the queen, and fill the palace. (Volume 6 of "Records of Emperor Xizong of Ming Dynasty")

Empress Yi'an of Emperor Tianqi of Emperor Xizong of the Ming Dynasty, named Yan (yan), styled Zu'e, and small styled Baozhu, was born in Xiangfu County (now Kaifeng County), Henan.Her father, Zhang Guoji, was born in the Ming Dynasty.Empress Zhang was born. There is a legend: Zhang Guoji's family was very poor. When he got up in the morning and went out, he saw an abandoned baby girl lying in the frost and snow beside the road. She didn't die or cry. It was very strange.At this time, a monk passed by and said to Zhang Guoji: "This girl is a noble girl, you can adopt her." Zhang Guoji picked up the abandoned baby and went home to raise him.The time was the sixth day of October in the thirty-fifth year of Wanli (1607), and this baby girl was later Queen Yi'an.

Zhang Yan was pure and demure when she was a child, smiling without showing her teeth.When I was seven years old, I worked hard, cleaned the yard, washed and cooked, and knew everything.When I have nothing to do, I stay alone in a room, learn to be a female celebrity, and read book history.Thirteen or fourteen years old, slim and graceful, peerless.After Zhang Guoji was widowed, Zhang Yan kept the house in good order, took care of his younger siblings, and was friendly and kind. In March of the first year of Tianqi (1621), Zhu Youxiao, the Emperor of Tianqi, was going to marry, and he ordered to choose a lady aged 13 to 16 from all over the world.About 5,000 ladies including Zhang Yan were recruited for the election, and they arrived in Beijing.Complicated processes such as primary elections, secondary elections, and final elections are carried out in Beijing.

In the first round, every group of 100 people stood neatly in order of age, and the eunuchs checked each group one by one.The eunuch inspected and said, "Someone is a little taller, one is a little shorter, one is a little fatter, and one is a little thinner."About a thousand people were eliminated in this round of ladies. The second round is still in groups of 100 people.The eunuchs checked the ears, eyes, mouth, nose, hair, skin, waist, collar, shoulders, and back of the ladies one by one, and those who failed in one item were eliminated, about a thousand people. The third round is still a group of 100 people, and the inner supervisor will check again, and the words are the voice of the heart, and the voice is reviewed.Let these ladies recite their surnames, hometowns, and ages by themselves, and listen to the voices of the ladies. Anyone who is slightly stronger, weaker, thicker, turbid, faster, or slower will be eliminated, about a thousand people.

For the ladies who participated in the first round of re-selection, the eunuch took a ruler and measured the hands and feet of the ladies one by one.Check their wrists, and eliminate the ladies with slightly thicker or shorter wrists, longer or larger toes, and then order dozens of steps in a circle to observe the posture and demeanor of the ladies when they walk. About a thousand people were eliminated in total. In the second round of 5,000 people, 4,000 people were eliminated, leaving about 1,000 people, all of whom were called into the palace for selection.Elderly maids were introduced into the secret room to observe their bodies, check their breasts, smell their armpit odor, and caress their skin. About 700 people were eliminated.

About 300 ladies should be selected in the third round, and they will live in the palace for a month.Carefully observe their temperament, speech and other items, and generally evaluate their personalities-hardness and softness, stupidity, virtuousness, thickness, and finally only 50 ladies were selected.These ladies can be the emperor's concubines, chosen servants, etc. In the final election, it was Liu Kejing, the eunuch who was in charge of ceremonies, and the prime minister, the emperor, who chose to marry him.In the harem, concubine Liu Zhaofei (87 years old) of Emperor Wanli who lived in the Palace of Compassion and Ning, was a concubine at the time, and was in charge of the Queen Mother's seal.Finally, it was determined by Emperor Tianqi.

The first round of interviews: Liu Kejing presides over their calligraphy, oral arithmetic, poetry, music, singing and dancing, etc., and evaluates their cultural literacy. Three people are selected from them, namely Zhang Yan, Wang Shi and Duan Shi.These three people: "The face is like Avalokitesvara, the color is like the morning glow reflecting the snow, and like a hibiscus coming out of the water; It is pleasant; the neck is white and long, the shoulders are round and upright, the back is thick and flat; the walking is like blue clouds coming out of Yuanxiu, and the sound is like the drops of flowing water from a secluded spring; there are no hemorrhoids or ulcers, and there are no sunspots to trap various diseases. The description is a bit like a novelist's words, but it can reflect the aesthetic taste and bodybuilding standards of that era.

The second round of re-examination: The maid leads Mrs. Zhang to the secret room for re-examination.Concubine Liu covered Zhang Yan with a green gauze handkerchief, and tied her arms with gold and jade tokens. As mentioned above, Concubine Liu selected three people. Where did she choose them?What kind of temple is this temple?Portuguese Jesuit An Wensi wrote "Yuen Hoen Tien" "New History of China", page 157, Elephant Publishing House. "Ming Shilu" records it as Yuanhui Hall.To the north of Wenhua Hall is the Ciqing Palace area (reformed as Nansan Institute in the Qing Dynasty).Inside the Huiyin Gate is the Linzhi Gate, and behind it is the Ciqing Palace. To the east of the Linzhi Gate is the Guanju Zuo Gate, which has a palm print on the inside.To the west of Linzhi Gate is the right gate of Guanju, and outside the gate is Yuanhui Hall.This temple is now gone.Anyone who is selected as a queen or concubine must live here first, so that the auspicious ceremony will be held in sequence.This may be a mistake made by foreigners according to transliteration records.The three people selected in Yuanhui Hall will temporarily live in this hall, pending the imperial decision. (Liu Ruoyu's "Zhuo Zhong Zhi", Volume 17)

The third round of imperial decision: In the end, Zhang Yan was introduced to Emperor Tianqi, who liked Zhang Yan very much.This year Zhang Yan was fifteen years old, with a slender, plump, fresh and beautiful body.According to historical records: Tomorrow, on the third day of April in the first year of Qi (1621), "on this day, three ladies were selected in the Yuanhui Palace, the Zhang family in Xiangfu County, Henan, the Wang family in Daxing County, Shuntian Prefecture, and the Duan family in Yingyangwei, Nanjing." . (Vol. 9 of "Records of Ming Xizong") Zhang, Wang, and Duan, who is the empress and who is the concubine?One lobbyist objected to Zhang's empress, and the reason was: "This girl will grow up in the future, and she will be fatter and less funny. Ande is the right choice?" : "If you talk about being upright and blessed, and being chaste and not frivolous, then Zhang's daughters are especially the best." Finally, it was appointed: Zhang is the queen, and Wang and Duan are the concubines.

Zhang Yan was selected, canonized, and became the queen of Emperor Tianqi.