Cixi, the most tainted woman in the Qing Dynasty, betrayed the national interests many times during her reign because of her extreme selfishness, and her reputation among the people was extremely poor. She is not only an evil devil, but also a shameless slut. An Dehai, Li and even the men in Beijing Hotel are her legendary lovers. The most outrageous thing is that she got pregnant and had an abortion 20 years after her husband died. Whether it is true or not, countless people regard it as a talk after dinner.
Cixi can be in charge of China for half a century without the love and trust of her husband, Emperor Xianfeng. Especially in his later years, Xianfeng handed over more and more government affairs to Cixi, taking the initiative to break the ancestral training that women in the Qing Dynasty were not allowed to go into politics.
Then the question is coming-what charm does Cixi have that fascinates Xianfeng?
There are not many historical traces left by the mystery of the beauty of Cixi, so there have been different opinions about the true face of Cixi. Some people think that Cixi is beautiful and charming, and stands out from the harem with her beauty. Others think that Cixi looks ordinary and ordinary, and there are other reasons why she can get Xianfeng's exclusive favor.
Unfortunately, the history books do not describe in detail what Cixi looked like when she was young. We can only guess a thing or two from some unofficial history gossip.
For example, Cixi recruited a waitress named De Ling in her later years. She wrote in "Royal Fragrance":
"Cixi is an elegant and radiant beauty. She is straight and tall. As time goes by, although her face is getting old, she still has a dignified and elegant temperament. "
Although this passage does not directly describe how beautiful Cixi is, it also emphasizes that Cixi has a proud figure and dignified and elegant temperament. She is a classical beauty.
In addition to De Ling, American artist Carl once praised the appearance of Cixi in The Portrait of Cixi:
"Beautiful and moving, young and beautiful, it doesn't look like a person close to ancient times."
Delingha and Carl's comments seem convincing, but they have no reference value at all. As a waitress of Cixi, De Ling will inevitably beautify her master's image to some extent out of fear or closeness.
Moreover, she did not directly describe how high Cixi's face value was, but turned a big corner and described her figure and temperament, as if deliberately avoiding face value. If Cixi really fell in love with the country, why bother?
Crucially, Mr. Zhu once published an article saying that De Ling's "Yu Xiang Lu" seems to reflect the real history, but in fact it can't escape from the category of novels. Many stories in the book are made up by her. From here on, it is really difficult to persuade her to praise Cixi.
As for the praise of American Carl, it is equally unbelievable. First of all, the aesthetics of foreigners and China people are very different. Can an ordinary cosmetic woman in China become a peerless beauty in the eyes of foreigners once in a thousand years? Even Luo Moufeng is a great beauty in the hearts of foreigners. Such aesthetic differences make it difficult for the author to believe Carl's words.
At the same time, Karl is only a writer, and her "The Portrait of Cixi" is only a literary work, which is essentially different from historical books, and its preciseness and accuracy cannot be guaranteed at all.
Look at the oil paintings handed down by Cixi. Normal people simply don't feel the beauty brought by portraits. Instead, they will be shocked by Cixi's triangular eyes, aquiline nose and angry appearance. How can such a woman be beautiful?
There is a portrait of Cixi in Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University, which was created by huber Huawei. This portrait is on display in Paris. No tourists think how beautiful Cixi looks. On the contrary, many people are frightened by those eyes full of desire, which is an innate fear of superior temperament.
Perhaps Puyi has the most say in the appearance of Cixi. Puyi once made it clear in his autobiography "My First Half Life" that when he first saw Cixi's face, he was not attracted by the so-called charming beauty, but cried in fear.
Even Puyi said that Cixi was full of majesty. What reason do we have to think that she is a truly beautiful woman?
Then let's speculate in reverse: will Cixi be an ugly woman with a ferocious face?
The answer is no, because I can enter the palace through heavy selection, which has proved that Cixi's face value is not bad.
After the Qing dynasty entered the palace, it followed the basic system of the previous dynasty in many aspects, including the draft system. In the early years of Qing dynasty, the recruitment time was not fixed. Later, the rules and regulations of the triennial general election were gradually formed. The object of conscription is usually the words 13 years old to 17 years old, the daughters of Chinese, Mongolian officials and so on.
However, in Xianfeng period, the draft system changed again and the draft threshold was further improved. Among the children of the Eight Banners, only the daughter of an official is eligible to participate in the draft.
Although Emperor Xianfeng raised the threshold to a certain extent and reduced the competitive pressure of the draft, many children of the Eight Banners were the daughters of officials. They stood out from so many people and were elected to the palace, with a face value of at least the upper-middle level.
Moreover, Cixi did not enter the palace with Gexian. Cixi was only 17 years old when she entered the palace, which was the best youth. Coupled with her confident and lively personality, it quickly attracted the attention of Xianfeng.
So Cixi not only passed the general election, but also passed the re-examination. She was made a nobleman by Emperor Xianfeng, and was given residence in Palace of Gathered Elegance, and was regarded as one of the ladies in the harem.
Cixi can get a title as soon as she enters the palace. From this point of view, there is no doubt that her face value is not low, but she has not fallen in love with the country.
The mystery of Cixi's favor is that, compared with ordinary people, Cixi's face value can be considered above average, but compared with other women in the harem, Cixi's face value is somewhat dwarfed.
You know, concubines in the harem of the Qing Dynasty can be divided into the following grades: Empress, Imperial concubine, Imperial concubine, concubine, noble, constant servant and infinite. Cixi's "Lan Guiren" is only the penultimate echelon, and the number is unlimited. There is a queen, an imperial concubine, two princesses, four concubines and six concubines in front.
In this case, how did Cixi break through many obstacles, stand out from the harem beauties and win the favor of Emperor Xianfeng?
The author believes that Cixi can turn a black-bone chicken into a phoenix, mainly due to the following two points:
First, enhance your internal and external charm.
There is a good saying: "Congenital deficiency is cultivated the day after tomorrow". The face value is given to her by Cixi's parents. She can't change it, but Cixi can make up for the lack of charm caused by the lack of face value through the efforts of the day after tomorrow, such as maintaining the skin and learning talents.
In order to maintain the skin, Cixi almost exhausted all means. For example, drinking human milk, according to historical records, Cixi began to eat fresh human milk at the age of 26. This habit has persisted for nearly 50 years. In order to meet the needs of Cixi, there are usually three wet nurses in the palace to provide fresh human milk for Cixi, and at most there are even eleven!
Another example is masks and homemade cosmetics. In order to keep the skin on her face firm and smooth, Cixi used egg white as a mask at night, and then washed the eggs with hot air in the morning. Day after day, Cixi's face gets smoother every year.
In order to further enhance her charm, Cixi also made many cosmetics such as rouge and foundation, and the raw materials used were all natural. No way, at that time, her harem status was not high, and those high-end cosmetics were beyond her reach. In desperation, she can only help herself to have plenty of food and clothing.
In addition, Cixi is also very keen on skin care products prepared by various traditional Chinese medicines. For example, when brushing your teeth, you should use a tooth-fixing formula prepared by more than ten kinds of Chinese medicines such as raw rhubarb and gypsum. When washing your face, grind angelica dahurica, white morning glory and other traditional Chinese medicines into powder and apply it to your face. Even the secret recipe of washing hair such as chrysanthemum powder, sipping head and fragrant incense can be said to bring women's modification skills to the extreme.
In addition to the construction of external charm, Cixi also attaches great importance to the cultivation of internal charm.
Although Cixi has a bad reputation, many historical materials admit that she is a versatile woman. For example, The Legacy of the Qing Palace once recorded Cixi:
I suddenly fell in love with calligraphy, learned to draw flowers and learn to write Chinese characters.
Simply put, it is to praise Cixi's painting and calligraphy skills. Cixi in history books really likes painting and calligraphy. She always sends words to ministers to show her affection. If she didn't have a certain foundation, she wouldn't do it.
The most commendable thing is that Cixi is proficient in Manchu and Chinese languages, familiar with history and has her own unique views on politics, which makes her unique in the harem.
Most of the harem of Emperor Xianfeng are vases, which are nothing but beauty. They all have some talents in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, but only Cixi can show her talents in politics.
Although Xianfeng was an emperor, he was lazy by nature and was not active in handling government affairs. Besides, he is often ill and in poor health, so he very much hopes to have a wife who can help him share the troubles in government affairs. As it happens, Cixi meets this requirement, so she often hands over government affairs to Cixi.
Over time, Cixi's ability to handle government affairs has become stronger and stronger, and Xianfeng has become more and more dependent on her, which is also the reason why Cixi is favored.
Second, the belly gave birth to a prince.
It is also a very important reason why Cixi can be loved by Xianfeng.
Xian Fenggui is an emperor and has eighteen wives in his harem, but because of his weak constitution, he can have few children for him.
Emperor Xianfeng had three children in his life. A daughter is Rong An Gongzhu born by Li Feisheng, a son is Cixi born by Tongzhi Emperor Zai Chun, and a child died shortly after birth.
As we all know, in ancient times, carrying on the family line was a top priority, and Cixi gave birth to the only surviving prince for Xianfeng. Even mother and son, Cixi deserves to be loved. Moreover, as a wife, she often helps Xianfeng handle government affairs.
To sum up, judging from the oil paintings handed down from past dynasties and Puyi's autobiography, Cixi is definitely not a beauty, at most, she is above average, and her appearance is more intimidating than her charm.
It is no accident that Cixi can stand out from the beautiful harem, but by virtue of her unremitting efforts, she constantly enhances her internal and external charm and increases her attractiveness. In addition, she has already given birth to a prince in her stomach, and it is reasonable for Xianfeng Emperor to be unable to extricate himself.
Readers, what do you think?