Dumu’s “a Fang Gong Fu” describes the life of women in the harem of Qinshihuang: “Concubines and concubines, princes and grandsons, left the hall downstairs and came to the Qin Dynasty on chariots. They sang all day and night and were members of the Qin palace. The stars were shining and the makeup mirrors were on. The green clouds were disturbing and the servants were combing. The Wei River was getting tired, and the fat and water were being discarded. The smoke was slanting and the fog was horizontal, and the pepper and orchids were burning. The thunder was startled, and the palace car passed by. They heard from a distance, but they did not know where they were. One muscle and one face were all beautiful. They stood far sighted, but looked lucky. They had not seen for 36 years.” Such a description looks detailed and vivid, but it is generally based on the romantic imagination of the writers themselves. Of course, this kind of imagination is based on the author’s knowledge of court life in the Tang Dynasty.
It is a pity that the relevant records in history are limited and can not provide us with real information about the life of the empress of Qinshihuang.
Some people have noticed that there is no sign in historical records that Qinshihuang once set up a queen. They think that Qinshihuang did not set up a queen, and have made various guesses about the reasons. Did Qinshihuang really not establish a queen? What is the cause? What is the situation of Qinshihuang’s personal emotional experience and sexual life?
The latter issue can be discussed first.
We know that the number of sons and daughters of Qinshihuang is not small.
Sima Zhen’s Suo Yin in the historical records of emperor Gaozu wrote: “Shanwen says that the hermit Yun Zhao Gao killed 17 brothers for the second and established the present King, so the second is the eighteenth son.”
According to the records of the historical records of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, after the accession of the second Qin emperor Hu hai to the throne, the power that might shake his power and status in the upper echelons of the ruling group of the Qin Dynasty was purged, and the nobles of the imperial clan were the first to bear the brunt. “The ministers and princes who executed the ministers and all the princes arrested a few officials for their sins, but the six princes were killed by Du. The princes imprisoned the three younger brothers Lu Kun in the inner palace and discussed their sins. The second envoy ordered general Lu to say: the princes are not ministers, but their sins should be dead, and the officials should pay attention to the law. General Lu said: I have never dared not to praise the rites of Que ting; I have never dared to break the integrity of the position of langmiao; I have never dared to resign when I was ordered to deal with them. What is it? I am willing to die after hearing about the sins. The emissary said: the minister should not be involved in planning, but should be engaged in the book. Jiang Lu was the third one who looked up to the sky and called out to the sky. He said: Heaven! I am not guilty! The three brothers all shed tears and pulled out their swords to commit suicide. ” “The biography of Lisi” wrote: “it is more legal for the second emperor to speak highly. Therefore, the ministers and princes were guilty, and they often went down high and ordered Ju to rule them. They killed Minister Meng Yi and others. Twelve princes died in Xianyang City, and ten princesses died in Du. Their property went to the county officials, and countless people sat next to each other.” Another young master Gao was killed in another special way. “Young master Gao wants to run away and is afraid to accept his family. It is said in the book that when the emperor was healthy, he would give food when he entered the Imperial Palace, and take advantage of the public opinion when he left the imperial palace. He would give him clothes for the imperial palace. He would give him a BMW in the stable. He should never die. He is unfilial and disloyal. The disloyal person is unknown to the world. He is willing to bury the feet of Mount Li. Fortunately, Hu Haida said in the book that he called Zhao Gao to show it. He said: it is urgent? Zhao Gao said: people should be loyal If you worry about death but have no time, how can you change your mind! Hu Hai gave him a hundred thousand yuan to bury. “
The so-called “six princes killed and died in Du” in the book of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty and the so-called “twelve princes died in Xianyang city” in the biography of Lisi are likely to be repeated. If only according to the biography of Lisi, there are at least 25 children of Qinshihuang, including Prince Fusu and Hu Hai. If you add “three younger brothers of Lu Kun, the young master”, and the young master Gao, there will be a total of 29 people.
If “six princes died in Du” and “twelve princes died in Xianyang city” are not repeated, the number of children of Qinshihuang is as many as 35.
In fact, this is just our statistics based on the relevant data of Hu Hai’s killing of his brothers and sisters. The actual number may be even higher.
According to the statistics of some scholars, “the first emperor had 30 sons, 15 women and about 45 children in total”, and “the first emperor had 30 sons, 15 daughters and 45 children in total”.
Zhangwenli: biography of Emperor Qinshihuang, Shaanxi people’s education press, 1996, pp. 325 ~ 326.
In this way, it seems that Qinshihuang should dispel his suspicion that he might be abnormal in his sexual ability.
According to the records of the historical records of Qinshihuang, Lu Sheng said to the first emperor of Qin, “people who ask for Zhiqi medicine and immortals are often met by people who are harmful to things. In the square, when the people are the masters, they do little to ward off evil spirits. Evil spirits can ward off evil spirits. If the people are the Masters and the officials know it, it will be harmful to God. The real people, who do not soak in the water, do not smoke in the fire, do not smoke in the mausoleum, and have a long relationship with the heaven and earth. Today, the world is governed, but they can not tranquilize. May the palace where the people live be unknown, and then the medicine of immortality can be obtained.” Therefore, the first emperor of Qin said, “I admire real people. I call myself real people, not me.” Then he ordered that “the palace and the temple within two hundred miles of Xianyang are connected by two hundred and seventy corridors, with curtains, bells and drums, and beauties, and the offices of all cases do not migrate”. There are “beauties” in each of the “270 temples”. It can be seen that the emperor not only “governs the world, but also has no” tranquility “in love. According to the previous historical records, “every time Qin broke down the princes, he wrote about their palaces, which were painted on the North Bank of Xianyang, facing the Wei River in the south, from the east of yongmen to Jing and Wei River, and the halls and houses were connected to the Zhou Pavilion. The beauty bells and drums of the princes were filled in.” The successive “filling” of “princes and beauties” enabled the number of servants in the harem of Qinshihuang to reach an unprecedented scale. Zhang Shoujie quoted the old stories of the three assistants in his book justice, and said: “the first emperor thought the east gate of Qin, the west gate of Qin, and the hundred and forty-five temples at home and abroad. There were more than ten thousand women in the harem. They were so angry that they rushed to heaven.”
When the anti Qin forces led by Liu Bang entered Xianyang, there were still thousands of women in the imperial palace of the Qin Dynasty. “Shi Ji ยท liuhou aristocratic family” wrote: “when Duke Pei entered the Qin palace, there were thousands of women in the palace who wanted to stay. Fan Kuai advised Duke Pei to leave, but Duke Pei did not listen.” This says that “there are thousands of women in the palace curtain, dogs, horses and treasures”, Pei Yun cited Xuguang in his collection and interpretation as another saying: “Pei Jian said: do you want to be evil in the world? Do you want to be evil in the rich family? Pei Gong said: do you want to be evil in the world? Pei Yun said: I want to have the world. Pei Yun said: when I came to the Qin palace, I saw the curtain, pearls, jade, heavy treasure, bell and drum decorations in the palace. There were thousands of beautiful women in his back palace. This is why Qin died in the world. May Pei Gong return to the throne in a hurry and leave no room in the palace. Pei Gong would not listen.” The so-called “thousands of beautiful women” clearly indicates that the number of women in the harem can be thousands. It should be known that this is the harem cleaned by Hu Hai, the second Qin Dynasty. According to the records of the historical records of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty, “the crown prince Hu Hai took the throne and was the second emperor. In September, the first Emperor Li Shan was buried.” “The second said: the first emperor and the second Palace are not suitable for those who have children. They are all ordered to die. There are many dead people.”
Unlike some other successful emperors, it seems that none of the women of Qinshihuang left their names in the official history records.
When Jing Ke assassinated the king of Qin, it is said that a “Guqin” woman used “Qin Yin” to remind the king of Qin to save himself. It happened in Volume II of yandanzi. It is said that Jing Ke “put the sleeve of the king of Qin in his left hand and his chest in his right hand” and criticized the atrocities of Qin. Ying Zheng said: “today’s business, follow the son’s advice! Beg to listen to the sound of the piano and die.” So, “summon Ji people to play the zither, and the sound of the zither says: Luo Yu’s single clothes can be pulled away. The eight foot screen can be crossed. The sword of Lu and Lu can be pulled out when it is negative.” Jing Ke doesn’t understand the music. Ying Zheng finally escapes according to the hints of the music. Jing Ke’s heroic career ended in tragedy. The woman who saved Ying Zheng’s life belongs to the service staff of the harem. She can be called a true “bosom friend” with the king of Qin. However, her name is not recorded in Yan Danzi. In the book of three qins, cited in Volume VII of the book of the peaceful imperial survey, she was called “the beauty of the king”: “Jing Ke came to Qin to avenge Prince Yan. He dressed the king of Qin and said:” it is better to be a ghost of Qin than a prisoner of Yan. The beauty of the king played the piano and said: “why don’t you pull the three foot Luoyi? Why don’t you cross the four foot screen? Wang was exempt from wearing clothes.” The story of beauty Wang is too legendary to be read by history.
There is a passage in the notes to the water classics – Mianyang water, which says that there is such a text in the records of Taikang tunnel: there is Yanguan County in the land of Wu. Le Zi’s Jiuzhou annals says that there is qinyanshan in the county. Qinshihuang once passed by here, and the accompanying beauty died and was buried on the mountain. There is a beauty temple at the foot of the mountain. The article “Haiyan County” in “mountains and rivers III”, volume of general annals of Zhejiang Province, says: “Qin Zhushan, Zhiyuan Jiahe annals: it is 18 miles south of the county. The chronicles of nine states by Lezi, says that there is Qinjing mountain in the county, where the first emperor of Qin passed by, where the beauty was buried at the foot of the mountain, and there is a beauty temple. The note to the water classics says:” there is Qinwang mountain in the south of Haiyan County, where the first emperor of Qin climbed to look at the sea. ” There are also two poems of pengshaoxian’s Qin garrison on the mountain: “the water is shallow, Penglai is a few years old, and ordinary people are very popular. The air education overseas stays in Xufu, which is named after the barren mountains and waves.” “Cui Gai and Jin Zhi imagined that the water was still flowing in the past. The beauty seemed to miss this temple and would not return it if she died as a mountain flower.” Volume 6 of the general annals of Shandong says that there is “shaoche ridge” in the north of Wendeng county. According to the ancient and modern book collection – work prescription code, Emperor Qinshihuang passed through this place during his Eastern tour. A concubine gave birth to a son and died, so he burned his car.
If these legends are close to the historical truth, the first emperor of Qin would have traveled thousands of miles, accompanied by women.
Some scholars’ discussion on the life of Qinshihuang once involved the issue of empress. The commentator wrote: “It seems that Emperor Qinshihuang never made a queen. There is no trace of a queen from many historical documents and later works. Is it because he didn’t want to make a queen or didn’t have time to make a queen? I think the former is very likely, that is, he didn’t want to make a queen. There are only two reasons why he didn’t want to make a queen. First, there are too many wives and concubines. It seems that no one is suitable. Second, he thinks that the world is one person’s world, and the queen doesn’t matter of This is his character: paranoia and dogmatism. “
Zhangwenli: biography of Emperor Qinshihuang, P. 316.
In recent years, some researchers have raised the question of “why Qinshihuang did not establish a queen”, and believe that this is a “mystery of the ages” and “a great mystery of ancient and modern times”. The researchers point out that, “Few commentators have discussed this issue. In fact, this issue is also related to the political power construction of the Qin Dynasty, and it is not a small issue in the Qin Dynasty. Why did the first emperor of Qin not establish a queen? The fundamental reasons should be considered from his historical background at that time, the first emperor’s personal character and family environment. There are five reasons: suspicious, headstrong, not willing to establish a post; hoping to live forever, enjoy honor for a long time, not willing to establish a post; mother and son disagree, The plot of blaming the mother makes the queen unintentionally; Beauties are like ants. There are too many in the inner palace to choose the queen; The queen is so expensive that it is difficult to set standards, and there is no basis for retreat. The first emperor did not set up a queen, so the crown prince was absent, resulting in a non human successor. In a hurry, the emperor died and the throne was vacant. Zhao, Li zuomou, Hu Hai stole the throne, and internal strife triggered external chaos, triggering the inherent political crisis of the Qin Dynasty, which is also one of the incentives for the early death of the Qin Dynasty. “
It is said that, “The people of Qin should have been born after Duke De, but the queen who appeared earlier in the text was Huiwen, the mother of King Wu. The queen of King Wu had a female daughter of Wei and had no children. His half brother was the king of Zhao. The king of Zhao was the king of Qin, and his biological mother was the empress dowager, the famous empress dowager Xuan of the empress Qin. The queen of King Zhaoxiang was empress Ye Yang. Later, King Xiaowen named his mother, Tang Bazi, the concubine of King Zhao, as the Empress Dowager of Tang. The Empress Dowager Huayang was the love of Prince an. The state of an After you became king of Qin, you took madam Huayang as your queen. The stranger was Queen of Qin, Queen Huayang was honored as Queen Mother of Huayang, and her biological mother Xiaji was honored as Queen Mother of Xia. Qinshihuang’s mother was empress dowager. From the situation seen in the words, the Qin people have attached great importance to opposing the queen and establishing heirs after Qin Xiaogong. The system of empress and heir was established during this period. ” “In the process of Qin’s development and expansion, various national systems have been improved. After Qin’s reunification with China, various systems have been established in an all-round way, and the system that the emperor’s first wife is the queen and his mother is the Empress Dowager has been established. However, the first emperor of Qin has never established a queen, which has become a mystery for thousands of years.”
In fact, it seems that there is no sufficient argument to say that the state of Qin has been institutionalized since the time of Qin Xiaogong. The information we see now is not enough to explain that such a complete system has existed in the Qin state since the Qin Xiaogong era. In fact, the true wives of Qin Shihuang’s ancestors, the so-called “empress”, are rare in historical books. “Historical records ยท Qin Benji” said that “(Queen Huiwen) should not die a good death. Mourn the return of Queen Wu to Wei.” In the second year of the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin Dynasty (305 BC), their actual identities at that time were no longer queens. The use of the name “Queen of Huiwen” was actually after she had the status of Empress Dowager: “Queen of Huiwen, the mother of King Wu.” “When King Wu ascended the throne, his wife said,” Queen Huiwen. “
When we read the history of Qin, we often see how the “Empress Dowager” of Qin, but rarely see the activities of “Empress Dowager”. As a matter of fact, there were seven kings from Duke Xiaogong of Qin to the first emperor of Qin. We only saw the names of two queens, one of whom was “empress Ye Yang”. According to the biography of Zhang gondola in the book of Han Dynasty, Zhang Chang, a famous minister in the Western Han Dynasty, said: “I heard that the king of Qin was fond of prostitution. Empress Ye Yang did not listen to the music of Zheng Wei.” Yan shigu cited Meng Kang’s explanation: “Ye Yang, Queen Qin Zhao.” The other is queen Xiaowen. “Historical records ยท Qin Benji”: “in the 56th year of the reign of King Zhao of Qin, Prince an Guojun was established as king, madam Huayang as Queen, and Prince Chu as Prince.” However, this is the text left by the author of Qin Benji in order to explain the change of the identity of the son Chu, which can be regarded as a special case for Qin history to retain the deeds of the “Queen”. In fact, this lady Huayang has only been a queen for one year. “In the first year of King Qin’s reign, he was crowned king of Xiaowen. The crown prince Chu daili was King Zhuang Xiang. The queen mother of King Zhuang Xiang, Huayang, was the Empress Dowager of Huayang.”
With regard to “empress Ye Yang”, wangxianqian quoted shenqinhan in his supplementary notes to the book of Han Dynasty, holding that “Duke mu of Qin liked to indulge in obscene music, and the empress Huayang did not listen to the voice of Zhengwei” in the Lunheng ยท scolding report, so “Ye Yang” in the biography of Zhang Beng was a mistake of “Huayang”. The characters “Ye” and “Hua” are indeed similar in form, so it is possible to write and read them by mistake. If shenqinhan’s statement is true, then in the records of Qin history, in the 151 years from the reign of Qin Xiaogong to the reign of Qin Shihuang, we only see one queen who has been a queen for only one year. “Madam Huayang is the Queen” was mentioned only when describing the rise of Prince Chu of Qin Zhuangxiang, and did not mention her political performance as the queen.
The deeds of the queens of Qin are not recorded in historical books, which may be related to the cultural tradition of Qin. Perhaps the queen could not participate in politics. After becoming the queen mother, the situation was different. Qinshihuang probably inherited such a tradition. Therefore, it is natural for the empress of Qinshihuang to remain silent in the historical records, which does not seem to constitute any “puzzling mystery of the ages” or “great mystery of ancient and modern times”.
Some scholars said, “after all, the Warring States period was an era of women’s liberation. At that time, women had far more freedom and power than the previous and future generations, especially after the Shang Yang reform.” “Han Feizi, loyalty and filial piety” said: “the minister is the king, the son is the father, and the wife is the husband. If the three are obedient, the world will be governed, and if the three are against, the world will be in chaos. This is the common way of the world. It is also the case that the wise king and his ministers will be changed The principle of “wife as husband” is emphasized. These three points should be the starting point of the moral standard history of the later “three guidelines”. In the opinion of the critics, “In the Qin Dynasty, the patriarchal autocratic rule in the family generally did not exist. The centralized monarchy was not connected with the patriarchal rule in theory and in practice, and Han Fei’s family theory was not adopted by the Qin Dynasty. The traditional national policy of the Qin Dynasty did not emphasize the patriarchal rule of the family, but made the family supervise each other, so as to achieve good social and political effects, and reached the ideal state of national rule through mutual agreement.”
Zhangjinguang: family system of Qin after Shang Yang’s reform, historical research, 1988, issue 6; On Qin’s patriarchy, paternity, husband’s power and women’s status, Journal of Shandong University, 1988, issue 4; Research on Qin system, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2004, pp. 512, 511.
It seems that there is still a need to discuss such a research conclusion. In the 28th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (219 BC), Mount Tai carved a stone: “there is a clear distinction between high and low, men and women are courteous and obedient, and they should be careful in their duties.” The corresponding relationship between “male” and “expensive”, “female” and “cheap” is clear.
At least in the upper class society of Qin Dynasty, there were historical signs that the mother’s right was manifested while the wife’s right was obviously weak. Even if the historical change of the so-called “women’s Liberation” in aristocratic life lags behind, it still needs to be demonstrated.
According to the book of the Han Dynasty, the list of all officials and ministers said: “Zhan Shi, an official of the Qin Dynasty, is in charge of the queen and the prince’s family. There are Chengs. There are Chengs in charge of officials, including the prince’s leading official, the family’s leading official, the servant, ZHONGDUN, Wei’s leading official, the kitchen and stables’ leading official, as well as zhongchangqiu, private office, Yongxiang, warehouse, stables, ancestral temple, and the food officer’s leading official. All eunuchs belong to Yan.” Since the “Zhan affair” official set up in the Qin Dynasty had the function of “taking charge of the queen Prince’s family”, it shows that there was a “Queen” in the Qin Dynasty. This series of “Zhan affair” belongs to officials. Yan shigu noted after the sentence “all eunuchs belong to Yan”: “since then, all the above are officials of the queen.” We can clearly see “private official seal” (837 ~ 838), “Yongxiang seal” (563 ~ 565), “Yongxiang seal” (566 ~ 574) in the unearthed Qin seal mud,
Fu Jiayi, a textual research on Qin Feng Ni Hui, Shanghai Bookstore press, 2007, pp. 121, 83 ~ 85. It can be seen that the Qin Dynasty did have these “empress officials”. “Baiguan Gongqing table” also said that “Jiang Xing” official position: “Jiang Xing, Qin official.” Yan shigu notes: “Ying Shao said: Empress Qing also.” Volume 1 of beginner’s learning records, zhonggongbu, empress No. 1, wrote: “Qin was called the emperor, and zhengdi was called the empress, which was the result of Han Dynasty.” If Qinshihuang did not set up a queen, there would probably be no saying that “Qin is called the emperor and zhengdi is called the Queen”. It seems that we can’t conclude that “Qinshihuang has never set up a queen” just because we haven’t seen the deeds of empress Qinshihuang. Just as we can’t conclude that the monarchs of all dynasties except Qin Xiaowen didn’t have empresses just because we didn’t see the records of other queens except Qin Xiaowen in the history of Qin. Without seeing the relevant historical records, it is easy to conclude that there is no certain fact in history. Some scholars have criticized this method, calling it “silent evidence”. Mr. zhangyinlin pointed out: “if you want to prove that there is no historical concept in a certain era, you can point out that there is evidence contrary to this historical concept in the era. If you conclude that there is no such concept in a certain era because there is no description of a certain historical event in a certain book or in a Book of a certain era today, this method is called argumentfromevidence. Western historians have long concluded the application and applicable limits of silent evidence.” And cited “chseignobos, a historian of law, on the formation of tacit evidence”: “In our daily life, every time we say that this is true, we should have heard of it. Tacit evidence is born from this feeling. There is a common argument hidden in it that if a hypothetical fact really exists, there must be a written record of discipline. To make this inference not contrary to reason, we must have seen and heard all the facts, and recorded all the records. Although, most ancient events are lost, and many of them are lost, in most cases Under such circumstances, the tacit evidence cannot be valid; It can only be applied when the conditions it contains have been met. It is not enough to prove that there is no mention of something in the existing books, but it must never be known. If the books are annihilated, no conclusion can be drawn. Therefore, in the era when more and more books are annihilated, the tacit evidence should be used less. “
Zhangyinlin: comment on modern people’s discussion on ancient Chinese history, academic, No. 40, April 1925; Ancient history discrimination, Vol. 2, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1982, pp. 271 ~ 272. Mr. xuxusheng once criticized the school of “distinguishing ancient history”: “their hard work is very respectable and their achievements are great, but the method they used is very problematic. Mainly, Mr. zhangyinlin, who died, has pointed out that tacit evidence is used too indefinitely. This method is to conclude that there is no such concept in a certain era because there is no description of a certain historical event in a certain book or in a certain era today.” “The workers of the school of extreme skepticism of antiquity used tacit evidence extensively in an era when there were so many books annihilated. The results can be predicted.”
Xuxusheng: legendary times in ancient Chinese history (Revised Edition), Cultural Relics Publishing House, 1985, pp. 24-25. In the study of historiography, we should really avoid this method that may lead to misunderstanding in order to pursue the true knowledge of history.
It is easy to “prove its existence” and difficult to “prove its nonexistence” in historical investigation. In the book of artistic talent by dengboyang, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, there is a note that “Cai Yong, Fang Xiaoru, and Chen Dong have empresses”, which reads: “Bai Letian said that Cai Yong had no children and had a female Wenchi. Wang Yuanmei said that in the past, people said that Yong had no children and learned to teach Wang can by writing. According to the yongzhuan, it is not said that there were no children and daughters. The Zhuan of can says that this prince and grandson also had talents, and our books and articles should match it. This is not enough to prove that he had no children.” “Yang Hu Zhuan” said, “Hu, the grandson of Cai Yong, begged Wu for meritorious service. He would enter the noble land and beg to give his brother-in-law Cai an attack.” Cai Chong biezhuan “Zu mu, the grandson of Cai Yong. This is enough to prove that he had a son.” So we come to the view that “secretaries of ancient and modern times have to consult to get the truth.” Such opinions can be referred to when we want to “prove its absence” in the process of discussing historical facts.
When discussing the issue of empress Qinshihuang, Mr. zhangwenli said: “it seems that Emperor Qinshihuang has never set up a queen.”.
Zhangwenli: biography of Emperor Qinshihuang, P. 316. Among them, the use of the word “seems” roughly conforms to the rules of historians, which can be said to be more appropriate.