The 'Filthy' Secret Lives of Imperial Chinese Concubines

In the summer of 1424, when Ming Emperor Yongle passed away, thirty concubines who were living among many others in the royal harem were handed the dreaded blood red piece of silk clothing in a square shape. This little piece of fabric meant that these thirty concubines were considered his favorite by the Yongle emperor. It also meant that they were supposed to not live after the emperor.
The life of a concubine in the forbidden city was as dangerous as lavish, as forced as frivolous, and as punishable as pleasurable. How lonely and depressing were their lives? What cruel selection process did they have to go through? What did it take to survive as a concubine in Imperial China?
Welcome to Nutty History and today let’s find out how depressing were the lives of Imperial Chinese Concubines.

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[NuttyProductionsOfficial]

Would you have survived life as a Chinese Concubine or risked escape? Let us know in the comments any other topic ideas you may have !

[CordsZ]

I find it interesting that no one ever considers that maybe the concubines were happy to be ignored by the emperor and left to their own devices in the company of other women

[parhutahian]

I remember reading a novel where the female character was taken to a general’s house as gift and she was among his harems. Other women were busy killing and plotting things against each other while she never did anything to gain people’s attention and quietly enjoy her life with her servants. She even managed to climbed walls of her pavilion cause the guard almost forgot her existence 😂😂

[Marie-AnnOG]

Although historic Chinese dramas are considered fiction, the constant fear, jealousy, plotting and conniving in the imperial harem feels so real. It looked like a concubine's only option was to either gain favour from the emperor and give birth to an outstanding heir, or go unnoticed till old age and become a nun. Sad. I'd hate to live in that era. The Forbidden City just seemed like a luxurious prison.

[darquequeen]

That sounds depressingly oppressive. Not a life, but a living hell.

[gf-ryqz]

16 concubines joined up to murder the emperor over food. He must’ve really made them mad

[pippa]

Yikes. I think I’d scar myself to get out of this kind of life

[lerneanlion]

Such lives are tragedy. The only Emperor who did not practice such nasty selection is the Hongzhi Emperor because of what he went through as a child.

[trbes]

My Chinese great grandfather has 4 wives. Total of kids were more than 18 kids. Last I heard was the last wife die around 2010 (98 years old) living in California. She is a servant of the main wife. If she was still alive, I would be the 4th generation and my grandnephew and niece the 6th generation in US.

The 2nd wife of my great grandfather bear 7 children and one of them is my grandma. This 2nd wife is Vietnamese. I do have Vietnamese blood in me but majority is Chinese.

Oriental cultures are different than Western counter part. We address each other of a ranking system. No name though because of Respect attitude. When I address an upper ranking person, I have to refer to uncle, aunt, grandpa, grandma and etc. No name but only through position. Sometime it's awkward not knowing the name like for wedding purposes and invitation.

[badmashdogesh]

Women today are so lucky to be born in this modern era. Imagine so many of those poor women in past centuries living under this hell for whole life..

[SeattleSeaDragon]

I appreciate the quick info packed history lessons. Thank you

[johannacannata]

The fact that the women were locked in should tell people something about the lives of the concubines . Going there meant you disappeared forever from your family ....

[eliu]

This is the first time I learned about the practices in the Ming and Qing dynasties (last two dynasties of China, roughly corresponding in time to the European High Medieval Period to 20th century). The rules and restrictions for concubines seem to have gotten much, much stricter than from, say, the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.

[ericchionh]

Assuming the emperor were to visit each of his 9, 000 concubines each night, he'd had taken 25 years to visit them all. Some might had died while waiting. Lol 😆 this is insane

[zeusathena]

I love all history videos. Especially when it's about things they don't teach in school. 😉 Like eunuchs, & concubines, etc. So please make a video about eunuchs.

[brianchancellor]

If beauty was a curse for hundreds of years, and these concubines were both selected as most beautiful and also removed from the breeding pool wouldn’t this select against sexualized traits? Sounds like a way to make the population average looking overall…

[annfisher]

It would be interesting to compare and contrast Asian concubines to Middle Eastern harems. 🤔

[RedCharlie]

I’m too outspoken to be a concubine. I would have been made un-alive in a hurry

[oliviablackburn]

I imagine so many families dreaded their daughters being seen by the emperor or anyone who might turn them in. Some probably tried to hide them or make them look ugly. So sad. That would be terrible.

[StopMotionMakr]

Characterising Cixi as a "despot" could not be further from the truth. She was in fact rather progressive figure for her time and spearheaded multiple attempted reforms at modernising China and the Chinese monarchy itself whilst forging strong ties with rising powers like the US and Britain in order to maintain her country's relevance. Of course she was human after all and made plenty of mistakes in her decades as the unofficial ruler, but certainly no more than the average emperor that came before her, and especially not when you consider just how difficult it was to navigate the complex political environment of the late 19th century, all from behind a yellow screen! Her legacy is very complicated but of course, being woman in charge of a man's world will necessarily give others plenty of reason to smear her name and judge her in the harshest light possible.