The process of selecting the princess for the king: Extremely strict

The selection of the maidens in the palace is usually held very solemnly. As usual, the imperial court will hold it every 3 years. Tu female candidates must meet very strict standards and requirements. The person chosen to become the emperor’s concubine must go through many rounds of rigorous review. In it, there is a request of the emperor that makes the maidens immediately shy when they hear it. What is that?

The basic standards that the maidens must meet

The emperor’s harem has thousands of beauties, but the woman does not want to easily become one of them. The nuns must meet the following basic criteria:

First, the background and position of the clans of the clans in society. In feudal society, status was always put first. In the royal palace, this issue was even more focused by the court. Kings choose concubines often to produce heirs, in part to solidify their own power.

Therefore, when selecting a female elite, the court will consider her background first. Coming from a family with a high or low status can affect the position of that high priestess in the harem. The more prestigious they have, the more likely they are to be conferred a noble title, and even the conditions on appearance for them are therefore reduced.

Second, appearance and appearance. The Emperor who is the Son of Heaven will of course enjoy the best treatment. The women next to them must be the most outstanding women. The name of the selection period itself is “recruiting excellent women” and it can be seen that the selected people must be beautiful girls, with a better appearance than people.

However, the concept of beauty in each era is different, and the selection of beautiful women through appearance still needs to be based on the preferences and standards set by the emperor. For example: King Chu set the standard that the chosen beautiful woman must have a slim waist. The Tang Dynasty before the 690s favored fullness, the Tang Dynasty after 705, the emperor required the maid to have typical features such as three-foot-three-foot legs… Each request was made depending on the aesthetic. of that time.

Third, the age requirement. This condition varied from dynasty to dynasty. Most of the concubines when they first entered the palace were girls under 18. The reason for this was because right from the first round of selection, the court relied on age criteria to filter out unsatisfactory girls. bridge. Specifically, each era had the following requirements: during the Eastern Han Dynasty, women were only allowed to participate in the selection of elite women between the ages of 13 and under 20, the Three Kingdoms period only selected those between the ages of 15 and 16, the emperor Emperor Chu Nguyen Chuong of the Ming Dynasty asked to recruit beautiful women from 15 to 20 years old…

The final condition makes the maiden embarrassed

After the high school girls pass the rigorous selection round, they still have to face the decisive final test. This is also always an obsession for them: Physical examination.

The physical examination must follow a strict sequence. First, the maidens have to take off all the clothes they are wearing. The nurses will use a tape measure to measure and check each part of the body. The size of the parts must be in harmony and balance, neither too fat nor too thin, their measurements of their shoulders, hips, legs… they must meet the beauty standards of that time.

These things are not allowed on a woman’s body: moles, scars on the skin, skin diseases… After these steps, there will be a prerequisite test that is checking the virgin’s virginity. This is also the most important step in the whole selection process. There are many methods to assess the virginity’s chastity.

In the book “Du The Minh Ngon” by Phung Mong Long, the inspection process is recorded as follows: the young ladies have to take off all their clothes and step into a large water tank covered with a layer of fine ash on the surface of the water. The nannies would burn paper, smoke it up their noses, or do any other way to make the maids sneeze. The nanny stood outside to observe, if the ash powder on the surface of the water was moved by air bubbles, it means that the princess is no longer pure, this person will be immediately disqualified.

After that, the maidens who passed this rigorous test would be made a list to present to the emperor. If a maidservant is chosen by the emperor, empress or empress dowager, they will become the emperor’s concubines. The chosen one will be taught by the nanny about etiquette in the palace. Finally, they will wait for the set date to say goodbye to their families and enter the palace.