Royalty 101: Harems & Palace Women 

Those beautiful young girls were assassinated all the time by the established higher ranking odalisque and concubines just to remove the potential risk of hierarchy and succession. It was a literal prison with a lot of lurking danger.

That was maybe one out of hundreds that would happen

I wish that’s how it worked, most of the times the ones that mind their business and don’t fight for favour they die first

Probably not so easy lol..

@@alantesDuring the Qing dynasty, if you were a maid to a concubine/consort and the emperor hadn’t slept with you, you were free to leave the palace once you reached a certain age and your mistress might find you someone to marry. The age when you were allowed to leave the palace was 30 during the reign of the Kangxi emperor and 25 during Yongzheng’s reign.

I heart you for this 🫶🏼

Still… murdering her own son? I agree with you but I think there should be limit

@@baliratsirarson11 morally? Yes. Fr power? There isn't one

@@baliratsirarson11 murder was normal in those times.

@@baliratsirarson11 She was a good empress, and a horrible mother.

I'm Asian too! Nice to see someone from the same continent here.

Would be nice, if picture depicted showed Han dynasty

@@qiaowang7147 what dynasty does the photo provided depict?

Most of them were homeless due to the wars so it's the less of two evils

@@youssrairene9280 still evil that women during that time literally had to be sex slaves to survive

@@youssrairene9280 Death sounds preferable.

They lived better lives than 95% of the other population at the time

I mean they were probably miserable but usually not *poor*

U serious? Sexual slavery was good. Look at these female slaves. They lived a life a free human couldnt even dream of.

A bit of consolation (I guess) I can give you, is that in Japan, with the establishment of the shogunates, the imperial harem system became functionally defunct as the imperial family were no longer truly running the country. They were instead replaced by the samurai, who by and large were very faithful to their wives, but still did keep a few concubines (usually less than 4 and especially daimyo) though for the really good reason that death was always ever present not just for themselves but for their wives too as their wives (called onna-bugeisha) were also considered samurai and as such had (mostly) the same martial expectations as their husbands but mainly in the realm of home and domestic defense which includes the duty to commit seppuku alongside their husbands if and/ or when necessary. As such, the concubines were kept around as an insurance policy for their families in case both the main husband and wife died without leaving an heir borne of themselves.

It is very sad but also the bright side is the ones not killed lived a much more luxurious life than the rest of the population

@@hyunjinsmyfavtwink7627 it's NOT sad. They lived a lavish and rich life which the poor could only dream of

@@hashimfarrukh4670 There's always a catch though. Trading freedom for fear of death (always feeling like walking on egg-shells caused by a higher ranking concubine/empress/the emperor) and for the life of riches and luxury or vise versa.

100th liker

Tbh from what I’ve heard about her she seems to be no more or less ruthless than your average Chinese Emperor and with all the good stuff she did like promoting people based on merit I would’t say it’s fair to paint her as satan

@@jamesy8217 I think because she was a women, Chinese historians wanted to portray her as this horrible person. Demonize her as a warning to future generations not to let it happen again. Nevermind all the good that she did. There's a Chinese drama based on her life that portrays her in a more human light called Empress of China from 2014.

@@jamesy8217 If I recall correctly, the vast majority of the Chinese populace (that is to say, the peasantry and middle class) considered her rule to be a Golden Age. But... A Golden Age rule over by a WOMAN?! Oh, horror! We MUST discredit her in history, so that no other woman EVER gets a chance to try the same thing!

@@jamesy8217 I'd say she was better than most average Chinese emperor's. Sure she schemed, killed people like other Chinese emperor's. But her achievements are much more than an average Chinese emperor. Tang dynasty flourished under her rule, it was the golden age of tang dynasty.

Bet it was an easy job

Hey, if I could avoid sleeping with a self-entitled twat and just enjoy the luxurious life simply because I was good at a specific skillset (like making really good dresses or organizing a really good supply chain of goods), I'd do it too!

I want this as kdrama please

There were many concubines that were favored because of their skills in music, literature, and calligraphy. There were also lots ladies of noble birth and daughters of prominent officials who were adopted into the harem for political purposes.

@@exu7325 True most people like @irondragonmaiden don't understand some Concubines aswell hold certain amounts of power it just really depended on if the Emperor, Sultan or King was a asshole or someone decent and understand's their importance and benefits in not just sex but also in other aspects.

Turkey is technically in Europe but I get what you mean

@@kenna163 Ehh, only Istanbul is really European, majority of Turkey is in Asia

@@kenna163 Its mainly Asia.

@@kenna163 97% of Turkey lies in Asia while only 3% of its territory lies in Europe.

Same! Love Asia.

What about noble lady. I believe guì rén is six and imperial concubine is 5

@@kimsmells1 yes lol, I forgot to add gui ren. I'm not sure about the number of people. I think it's unlimited but we'll have to see.

Thanks for adding this as I was about too. Xx

I think Lindsay did a wonderful job explaining everything. It doesn't have to be that accurate as nobody can remember the complex hierarchy anyway :).

@@sleepybunny2 I like lindsays videos and I think she does a overall good job but as a channel which talks about historical figures and events it is important that we fact check and get correct information. Many people as myself look up to channel like hers to understand more about history. Besides Qing dynasty has the simplest and clearest harem system and there are many sources original to the dynasty which can give us accurate information. It might be because she usually covers European Royalties that she made such a mistake?

Should a 21 year old king date 45 year old women or 21 year Olds. Same question, different perspective.

If you loved The Pillow Book you should read The Tale Of Murasaki

@@MaggieFKeen You mean Tale of Genji which was written by Lady Murasaki. The first and only surviving novel by woman written in 11th century.

christ…

It was so brutal that those young girls rose up and tried to strangle the tyrannical Emperor to death. Shame that they didn't succeed.

ikr

If you are interested in fashion history I recomend checking Karolina Zebrowska, Bernadette Banner and Mina Le's channels

Yesss!!!.... The Irish are just viewed as jolly drunks who beat their doormat wives!!!... BOTH are FIERCE and the women ran THEIR homes AND are loyal as , I have not heard of the ladies you mentioned... but, I WILL NOW!!. THANK you for showing the women ACTUALLY had voices ❤️👏👑

@@mollybrolly4717 fr fr I’ve only been exposed to irish history after watching derry girls

@@reginadizon9276 I'll have to watch it!!!. My partner is the 2nd eldest of 8,6 boys,2 girls. His 46 on July, the only one who left Ireland and his mam is STILL FIERCE as👑👑👑. She's still going strong and he can't wait for me to meet her, neither can I!!... They are STILL farmers,a few anyway.

@@mollybrolly4717 ohh thats interesting since hispanic mothers are also as fierce as the husbands- or maybe sometimes more fierce XD. its probably one of the reasons why i really liked watching derry girls since the characters are so relatable even if we have totally different cultures.

Can I get that to go?

Would you like to add fries to that?

Loll 🤣

Yeah I heard that part and I physically recoiled lol...

@@saranimi7117 I lowkey screamed like I'm a girl so period blood obviously isn't the worst thing but I'd never DRINK IT, I hate touching it that shit is nasty 💀💀

We’re trying to forget it.

because it is utterly repulsive. thanks for bringing that up!

My first thaught was, how the heck did he survive such a idiocracy? That blood containes arsenik, so it must have done at least some kind of harm to his stomache. Wouldn't be supriced though if he had heard of the Romanian Queen bathing in blood, but the story had gained more and more changes for every person that spread the history before it had reached him

"part of men to make her seem evil" like they did with any male emperator that they didn't liked? Can people stop pretending this was only made to females in power when so many males in power where also written as way more evil than they actually where because the imperator that came next didn't liked them. This fixation on trying to make female imperators or dictators seem like good people just because they are women it's not only sickening but also dangerous.

@@paulogaspar8295 my original comment had nothing to do with men making male emperors evil when they didn’t like them. this isn’t a “all genders matter and suffer the same thing” moment. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but next time please improve your interpretation skills. My comment is about Wan and the truth only.

The Chenghua Emeror really loved Consort Wan. So much so that when she passed, he was unable to speak for an entire day, and finally choked out a sentence: "Zhen'er is gone; I'm not long for the world myself." Sure enough, he died a few months later.

Do you have any links where this theory is talked about and explained further? Hopefully in English as I cannot find anything related to this. It’s really interesting and I’d love to know more :)

men ☕

Total abusive behaviour.

She absolutely slept her way to power. And there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when it was literally the only way to gain power

That was a myth isn’t?

@@moumuooo.o2283 It sure ain't a myth cuz they literally have Tamil in Korean language

Ayuta* not Ayodhya as they don't speak Tamil in Ayodhya also the princesses name and area was 100% in Tamil

@@moumuooo.o2283 yeah

I think it is a myth cause she live till at the age of 157 Like how?

Manchu costumes worn in the harem of Qing Dynasty are actually inaccurate. All previous dynasties wore Hanfu! South China still wears Hanfu, and Manchu people have completely destroyed the Han culture in the north.😅

I absolutely love that show! It was so heartbreaking to see her journey and how it all ended though. Her love for him was so pure and he just destroyed her.

I'm sorry to break it to you, but it's not that historically accurate. Don't fall for the window-dressing of the set and costumes, there were many liberties taken with history to form the plot.

如意传 Ruyi’s royal love in the palace is not that accurate. For example there is no “cold palace” in the forbidden palace. Most of their hairstyles are from late qing dynasty.

I was just thinking that. she's top notch💯

Empresses in the Palace en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empresses_in_the_Palace

Thanks lily.👍 I'm not a fan of this channel but, love asian traditions.

It’s awesome, I’ve watched it twice. Fascinating.

Probably but they couldn't tell the stories cause well then they they'd be caught lol

fun fact for the ottoman harem: sultan ibrahim -who was known for being so fond of his women that he'd order that markets and stores close down during specific times so that his wives wouldnt get disturbed by the noise- ordered to drown all 280 of his concubines when an unnamed consort tried to rebel by sleeping with another men. sultan ibrahim tried to question the ladies, but when nobody pointed a finger, executed them all.

I learned about the first three from the spin off of the Dear America series, the Royal Diaries. They were very fascinating women.

@@andromeda331 I read about the first 3 through the same series too. I love that series I wish they didn’t stop writing them.

@@biancarose1992618 So do I. There were so many great royals left.

@@andromeda331 oh definitely. Which Royal Diaries books were your favorites? Which royals do you think they should do next if they ever decide to write more?

@@biancarose1992618 I loved Elizabeth I, Marie Antoniette, Anastasia, Catherine the Great, Jahanara, Kazunomiya, Sondok, Kaiulani, Cleopatra and Eleanor of Aquatine. If they ever do more Aoife, Maria Theresa, Anna Komnene, Hatshepsut, Anastasia's mother Alexandra, and Catherine Medici. What where your favorites and who would you like to see if they write more Royal Diaries?

Considering it practically, it may have something to do with how European royal families were all intermarrying. There was never a shortage of successors, as there was always a third or fourth cousin related to your deceased monarch somewhere, whose claim to the throne is considered valid. It was mentioned in the video as well: a harem system is useful if you want to ensure a single, stable dynasty and focus on preventing disputes over succession. Europe, conversely, just kind went more with a mixed-and-match vibe. You might note this gave European monarchs a way to expand their territories by marrying women successors of other countries. Which is, when all goes well, a relatively peaceful method, the alternative being conquest.

Europe contained bunch of states. Each kings often took another king's daughter as their wives. If the king took a concubine, his wife's family clearly disagree with this action and lead to war. In other hand, Chinese and Japanese Emperor took consorts from their subject or own relatives, so they didn't have diplomatic issues like Europan counterpart.

Probably due to polygamy being taboo in Christian societies, the Pope having authority in royal life across Europe, (ex. Henry XIII couldn't get the Pope's permission for a divorce, so he founded the Anglican church) royals were expected to marry fellow royals/aristocrats (often related) so that the bloodline would stay "pure", the royal families were pretty inbred so after a while it'd be rare for a succession crisis to happen even if you died with no heirs because your cousin-uncle or whoever could take the throne, and since many European kingdoms believed that their kings were chosen by God (and were also crowned by the Pope) many kings wanted to keep up a pious public image--meaning taking mistresses would have to be a lot more discreet to the general public than openly having a big harem. Interestingly enough, in the days of Versailles, the French aristocracy encouraged the kings to openly have a harem of many mistresses. Louis XIV created Versailles as a way to keep an eye on the aristocracy so nobody could defy him. So the more time he's being distracted with wooing and banging his numerous mistresses, the less time he's breathing down your neck. (Plus, are you really going to tell someone as authoritarian and powerful as Louis XIV that he can't have a harem?) Not to mention that in French court, you did everything you could to gain the king's favor so he'd give you what you wanted. So if you're a French aristocrat and your sister/daughter/wife/etc. becomes the king's new favorite mistress, that could be a huge opportunity for you if you can to get her to convince him to give you what you want. One of the many reasons the French court antagonized Marie Antoinette was because unlike his father and grandfather, Louis XVI wasn't interested in mistresses. His marriage to Marie was monogamous and faithful. The court didn't like this because they felt this meant that one woman (a foreign woman too, they did not like the fact that she was Austrian) had way too much influence and power over the king.

Christianity played a big part because in several European traditions, the king or emperor was seen as either a representative of God on earth or approved by God via the pope. However, the complex and relatively egalitarian noble families played a part as well. The queens were usually scions of powerful noble or royal families not (much) weaker than the king's . Disrespecting them meant disrespecting a powerful ally. Ottoman Turkey, imperial China and Japan all had an imperial family that was more or less unique (though there was a long period in medieval Japan where the Fujiwara family basically ensured only its daughters became empresses). Of course, most kings had women on the side - especially as dynastic marriages were made for political reasons and the pair's emotional or sexual compatibility was not seen as a big factor. However, these were favorites and mistresses and usually unofficial. Presumably, a few queens had "favorites" of their own if their husbands' interest was elsewhere (what happens if the king is gay, for example), but did not advertise them.

Did they rise independently? There was always an exchange of ideas within Asia.

The Empress Dowager wasn't necessarily head of the harem but she had sovereignty and the Emperor had to be filial to her. Originally the Empress was head of the harem.

I watched enough Empress Ki to confirm that

In Indonesia (Dayang) are palace maids, while in the Philippines and Brunei (Dayang) are noble women.

@@cinna_sultan yes, that’s why i placed the e.d first ^-^

The Empress Dowager wasn't necessarily head of the harem, she was just the current emperor's birth mother

I'll be your 1st

@@andrewcoons8060 Alright LOL

You would love the manga Ooku. That's literally the plot of the manga.

​@@andrewcoons8060dam! Down bad?!

It's literally putting women against each other

And worse yet thats the only way to rlly gain power as a woman bacl then, And they probably had to flirt with someone they dont even like- 💀

Topkapı palace is in continental Europe.

Yang Guifei en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Guifei

Yes, there were quite a few. The Hongzhi Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had only one wife and they basically lived as a nuclear family with only one son. Emperor Yingzong of Song also remained completely loyal to his wife the Empress Gao because they genuinely loved each other and married for love. Emperor Yingzong had 4 concubines but he never slept with them as these women only entered the harem when he was on his deathbed for 沖喜 (an ancient Chinese practice of holding a wedding when someone was gravely sick to pray for their recovery). Wu Zetian's husband Emperor Gaozong of Tang abolished his harem after Wu Zetian officially became his wife, which was why Wu Zetian was angry at him for being disloyal and sleeping with her niece. Emperor Wen of Sui, on the account of his love for his wife Dugu Qieluo and an oath they made when they were young, did not have any concubines for the most of their marriage. Of course, he cheated at least once, which gave rise to a famous story of how Dugu Qieluo found out he cheated and got so scary when she was angry that the Emperor Wen had to run away from the palace on a horse to hide from her.

​​@@soniatsui7606 ok not to bash in but like srsly? From...like literally hundreds n thousands of years of dynasties n kingdoms there were only them whos just actually faithful for once? And even by that one or two of the most "faithfull" have still cheated once or twice-

@@inazuma2332 Heh, absolute power always corrupts people, and this is what happens when there is a major imbalance of power in a marriage where one person holds absolute power over the other person. Talk about human nature. That’s why Hongzhi is one of my favourite historic figures. Not only was he known as a benevolent and wise leader but he was also known to be a kind person with great moral integrity. His temple name was Xiaozong which means “filial”, and is a temple name only given to Emperors with high moral integrity (I think there are only two Emperors with this temple name in history). Fun fact, he was the person who invented the toothbrush because his wife had a toothache. Gaozong of Tang cheating on Wu Zetian is more debatable. This story comes from the New Tang History, whose author is well-known for hating Wu Zetian and Gaozong and making up slander stories about this couple in his history books as a political move to discourage women from entering politics. He made up the story about Wu Zetian killing her daughter, the story of Gaozong wanting a divorce with Wu Zetian because he felt Wu Zetian was too power-hungry, and also the story of Wu Zetian killing her firstborn son for power too, and all these three stories have been proven untrue in recent times. The story of Gaozong cheating has always been controversial as it is believed the author of New Tang History made it up to make Wu Zetian seem like an evil woman who would kill her family out of jealousy. The only “sort-of” proof of Gaozong cheating is that he gave Wu Zetian’s sister the title of royal concubine posthumously and buried her in his father’s grave, but in the Tang dynasty royal concubines are more of ladies-in-waiting instead of actual concubines to the Emperor, and it might have just been given as an honourable title (Wu Zetian’s leading advisor Shangguan Wan'er was a lady-in-waiting and given the concubine title of a higher rank by Wu Zetian as an honour, but she wasn’t actually a concubine), so believe what you will…

Men don’t endure gender bias?

@@msi8311 get off it

@@msi8311 yeah they don't. men are not the victim. never were, never will be.

​@@msi8311 very few in comparison to women thanks for asking dickbag, and the next time u tryyy to ask "b-b-but men get this gender bias t-too!" U should think twice on mens privilige in general and how the social gender norms n bias are made by themselves ,toxic masculinity?by men(i mean just look at all those alpha male podcasts-) double standard like a dad getting assumed to be 'babysitting' their own kid? Men made em by how mostly incompetent they were n are at raising a baby and leaving the housework and child caring to the mother or maids, cant compliment because ppl think its creepy coming from a man? Thats from how too many times men do that just to hit on a girl that when the girls refuse they would be too persistent or desperate on the poor girls and worse case the get cat called or stalked, higher suicide rates?also by men literally generations to generations the father always tells the son to 'man up' dont cry dont show any emotions n yada yada, men were also pressured to have an heir? By men thinking (and i also quote from this video of what the male critiques were saying) that the more girls and babies/heirs u make ud be more healthy/potent/etc and men still had more power over who they get to choose as said sex slave to get the heir, having to enlist in the military? Men made the law for men to have to enlist in wars despite the fact some women wanted to enlist but was denied or sexually assaulted for it, So, shut up. Men, rarely if ever, were the victim ESPECIALLY in ancient harems. And the men who have gender bias are again, made by themselves. Does this mesn theyve NEVER been abused? No Does it mean We actually hate aLl mEnN-? No , o-b-v-i-o-u-s-l-y Does thise mean men get no gender- shut up they do we knooow but very few in comparison.

​@@kyon-kyon-wdym?

Topkapı palace is in continental Europe.

Why do you have to specify you are science student? 😅🤣😂 that’s so cringe 😬

​@@PriyankitaPant jelous much?

​@@PriyankitaPantwhy not?

I feel that 🤧

@ Aja Christian,I love your name Aja its the title of the 1978 album by Steely Dan.You area the first person ive seen with the name.

@UCtHsMVNrbVYPYT3MzLq6HcQ Thank you! I am actually named after the Steely Dan album 😁 I always love it when someone makes the connection 😍 There was a FB group I stumbled across a few years ago that was aimed at connecting all the people named after the Aja album, there was at least 2 dozen of us! Aja Jackson, Aja Mendez, Aja Kim, Aja O'Reilly....very diverse group!

Um you literally have never read about Harems especially ones obtained by slavery from war or listened to this video. It was not about education or fun.

@@beehungry6190 I did not say that they were there voluntarily. How Harem maintained its human resource is a different subject, and you are right some of those women were so-called 'trophies' of wars or so-called 'gifts' from other kingdoms or ministries.

There is a turkish drama about the harem during the ottoman empire called „the magnificent century“ and it‘s continuation „the magnificent century: kosem“. Seems like you‘d enjoy that:) the latter is even fully uploaded on RU-vid with english subtitles.

Purple Heart en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Heart

Then you should watch magnificent century