Tales from Ancient Chinas Imperial Harem

by Yuan Yang, Xiao Yan

This book is more than a series of tales about intrigues, illicit love affairs, jealousies, and murders committed by the various women who populated the harems of China's many emperors. It is a unique retelling of major events in China's more than 3,000-year-old history as seen through the eyes of these courtesans of the rear palace. Each emperor had thousands of beauties at his beck and call. Most of them, separated at a young age from their families, lived in the rear palace in loneliness and seclusion. A few, however, wielded great power or even gained supremacy over the imperial court. Their stories vividly portray the social customs and palace life in ancient China, and give new insights into the important role of women in Chinese history.

Genres: History

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Yuan Yang is an economist, journalist and author. She is contributing to IPPR's research on global trade. Yuan was until recently the Financial Times' Europe-China correspondent, and previously spent six years in Beijing, where she was the FT's deputy bureau chief.

Before becoming a journalist, Yuan co-founded Rethinking Economics, a charity headquartered in Manchester, UK that campaigns to make economics teaching more relevant to the real world.

Yuan has a book forthcoming with Bloomsbury (UK) and Penguin Viking (US) on the rise and fall of social mobility in China, told through the stories of four Chinese women born during the reform era of the 1980s. She was elected MP for Earley and Woodley in July, 2024.

Reviews

[Hazeanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vivid portrayal of life inside the harem of Imperial China. It is a splendid retelling of 25 selected episodes of history and legend through the eyes of consorts from various ruling dynasties.

Harem, or the rear palace; was the quarter where the imperial women lived. The area covering this part was very vast; due to the sheer number of occupants. While it was a standard for one Ruler to have 3 thousand wives of different ranks; a Ruler from the state of Zhao had at least 100 thousand of them including servants during the period of Sixteen States (304-439).

This book pointed out the origin of certain culture. 4500 years ago, people in the tribal kingdoms of China wearing animal skins. According to the legend, this custom stopped after Leizu (the consort of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor) teached her people silkworm's cultivation, and the spinning and weaving process to make fabric and cloth. As time passed by, she was honoured as the Goddess Leizu, the patron of silk.

Some consorts were noted for their benevolence, fairness and wisdom. Deng Sui, the Empress Consort to Emperor Hedi (reigned 88-105) was known for her kindness and consideration. She disallowed the Emperor from elevating her own blood relatives to powerful positions in the imperial court. She stopped the palace practice of accepting precious gifts from officials; only books and writing instruments. She established the first mixed school in China for the imperial children; during the period princesses didn't receive any formal education even a millenium later.

There's no doubt the polygamous nature of Emperors made a very fertile ground for jealousy, competition, and outmaneuvering between various consort in the palace. Lady Qi had her limbs amputated, eyes gorged, tied to a manure pit, and named "pig-woman" by the Empress Dowager Lu after their consort Emperor Gaozu* passed away. Lady Qi had once intrigued and conspired; in failed attempts to displace Empress Lu's son (the Crown Prince) and had her son installed.
* The founder of Han Empire reigned 206 -193 BC.

Reading this enlightened me there's many more, well-known consorts of various reputations along the 3000 historical years of Imperial China, beside Wu Zetian or Cixi.

The simple and clear writing style in this book appealed to me. The story-telling captured my attention and held me fascinated. Most importantly it's easy to follow. As a starter, this book is an excellent choice; if one is interested to gain insights of the palace women of China.

[Joely Burkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these short little stories. Many of them read more like fables, but others echo what I've learned from history. They run in order, ending with Cixi and of course include Wu Zeitan. A pricy book for the size (it's almost pocket size) but I'm glad I've added it to my shelves.

[Oana-Maria Uliu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of "tales" are actually legends. I was particularly interested in those concerning Empress Wu Zetian. Even though this book is relevant, I was disappointed by the writing style. The illustrations are quite good. I may reread this at some point and try to retell some of these stories.