For love, the emperor is also crazy! (middle)

[Cultural Arena] 2 Competing for favor or looking for love? Viewing love and human nature from "The Legend of Zhen Huan in the Harem"

"Fairness and justice" is what everyone desires, but that can only happen when personal integrity is preserved and valued...

The Chinese-produced "The Legend of Zhen Huan" has caused a sensation in the global Chinese world since it was broadcast on television. This Qing Dynasty costume drama with the historical background of the Yongzheng Dynasty tells the story of Zhen Huan, a Han Chinese woman who was born in an official family and was beautiful and smart. She did not want to enter the palace, but she had to be drafted to participate in the harem draft, and was accidentally left in the palace. . When she first entered the palace at the age of seventeen, she firmly attracted the attention of the emperor's beloved pet, but she was jealous and plotted by the entire harem. After experiencing many ups and downs and narrowly surviving, she saw through the true face of the "harem jungle" where the jungle is dominated by the weak and the strong.

Pastor Su Wen'an used this play as a theme to analyze love and human nature from a Christian perspective. This article is a continuation of the previous issue "Lenovo 1: Talking about the love between men and women from the perspective of human nature".

Lenovo 2: Talking about the struggle of interests from the perspective of human nature
"If a man does not serve himself, he will be punished by heaven and earth"?
─How to take it in a proper way, or even give it in a proper way?

The establishment of the harem in the Qing Dynasty was divided into nine levels: one queen who must be formally canonized, one imperial concubine, two concubines, four concubines, and six concubines; an unlimited number of nobles, permanent, promised, and official daughters, etc. . If there are four people in each of the last four classes, there will be at least thirty people in total.

Imagine this: Thirty beauties with both talent and beauty are kept in a compound, and all of them have only one "full-time job" - "Israel to serve people", and this "person" is the only common goal of all the girls, Emperor Yongzheng. . The concubines are not allowed to leave the palace all year round, and their families are not allowed to meet (the only exception is that after eight months of pregnancy with the "dragon seed", the mother can enter the palace to stay with her until the birth).

So, could Yongzheng be like Jia Baoyu in the Grand View Garden, enjoying himself all day long amid piles of makeup and gentle countryside? Don't be stupid, it's just boys and girls flirting and playing romantic games before they enter the real world. And the harem is a real jungle of humanity and a battlefield of killing!

There is a passage on the Internet that is said to be said by Peng Liyuan, the current first lady of China: "As long as a woman takes care of herself, she is already great, so why should she take care of men? You don't have to take care of obedient men, but you can't take care of disobedient men even if you want to take care of them." "You don't have to worry about men who treat you well, but you don't have to worry about men who treat you badly. Don't worry about men who love you, but it's not your turn to care about men who don't love you." - For the concubines in the harem. , Yongzheng, a man who was neither obedient nor good to them, never really loved them...

The question is, if they have no other way out, can they just ignore it? Do you dare not to "take care" of it? Since she can't control her husband like a normal wife, she has no choice but to think of ways to "manage" him in a big circle. This large harem beauties are each more cunning than the last! Moreover, the deep palace is silent and the days are long. What weird and weird tricks can't be thought of? Tsk, tsk, tsk... Just thinking about it makes all men who have ever experienced women's methods shudder!

Some netizens put it well: "One wife can't stand it. If the main wife and the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress, the mistress." No matter how wise the emperor is, he will still be in a dilemma, be confused and be deceived and misled. We are full of sympathy and sighs for the emperors, queens and concubines who are bound and controlled by feudal traditions, whether they are classified as "good guys" or "bad guys" in the play.

Didn't you see, there are a long list of keywords such as "fighting for favor", "getting favor", "exclusive favor", "losing favor", and "restoring favor" constantly in the play─

Competing for favor:Use every possible means to attract the emperor's caring (or lust, appreciation, surprise, pity) eyes. "Typical methods" include makeup, coquettishness, singing, dancing, playing the piano, playing the flute, skating, cutting pajamas, embroidering sachets... as well as higher-level heart-to-heart conversations, poetry, calligraphy and painting, sharing worries and solving doubts, and meeting with others. And pregnancy, which is not something you can ask for, but can give you a lot of points in one fell swoop, etc.

▲The harem in the Qing Dynasty had a large number of levels and people, and the chess game of "competing for favor" was intricate, like a human jungle or a killing battlefield.

The "SARS method" uses incense and elixirs. Competing for favor means fighting each other. Powerful people such as concubines and empresses will instruct their comrades to fight and destroy the "object of attack" without mercy. ─Harm herself, her fetus, her children, her right-hand assistants, and her family members outside the palace.

How? ─Articles include: deception (for example, Shen Meizhuang, who made the young and innocent Shen Meizhuang think she was pregnant, and then exposed her for lying); framed and false accusations; scared crazy; poisoning; forced to take "contraceptive pills"; casting spells; bribed the imperial doctor and Qin Tian The supervisor or the imperial chef tampered with the situation. Martial arts include: slapping; kneeling under the scorching sun; beatings with sticks (such as the "one-foot-long red" torture in which more than ten feet of blood is spattered and a person is beaten to a pulp); driving cats to hurt people; drowning; strangulation... In addition, it is necessary to form parties so as to protect each other, join forces to attack, etc. (the harem is basically formed into the Hua Fei Party, the Queen Party, and the Zhen Huan Party).

Favored:Being summoned by the emperor at night by reading the name tag is the first step. Not only is the physiological needs met, but more importantly, outside the palace, the father is promoted and the mother is granted a title; in the palace, the emperor is given special treatment such as clothing, treasures, titles, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If you have an heir born or adopted by yourself, you will have long-term hope. However, only a son who becomes emperor in the future can continue to enjoy the glory of himself and his family after the change of dynasty. Therefore, he must collude with foreign ministers to "fight for the throne" for his son or adopted son. ” (competing for the position of prince), and at the same time, he must also frame the sons or adopted sons of other concubines to eliminate competitors.

▲In order to gain favor, the concubines had to compete for power and demonstrate various talents. The picture shows Zhen Huan performing the "Jinghong Dance" at the palace celebration, and her skills shocked everyone.

The Old Testament records several women who had a rivalry with their husband's other concubines due to the birth of children, such as Sarah, the wife of the ancestor Abraham, Leah, the wife of the ancestor Jacob, and Ha, the mother of the prophet Samuel. Take wait. It can be seen that the ability to have a son has always been a very important indicator of a woman's social status and self-worth, both at home and abroad, since the history of mankind. Of course, it has also become one of the important conditions for being favored by her husband.

Special pet:There is power, rewards, and sex for a fixed period of time, but it will also become the gathering place of resentment in the Sixth House. Throughout the play, except for Concubine Hua, who was in the prime of favor and no one dared to provoke her because of the power of the Nian family, the other women would be framed, attacked, and hunted down as long as they were favored by the emperor for a few days or months. And when the emperor is in a mood, he will dote on her as much as he likes. He doesn't care how the girl in the harem will be frightened every step of the way by the concubine Hua, the empress and their followers after he goes to the morning court every day.

Fall from favor:Banned, demoted, relegated to the sidelines. It goes without saying that my father's family will suffer disasters. In the harem, I sometimes even lacked food and clothing. Even the maids and eunuchs would bully me, and no one would care about my illness.

Return to favor:Zhen Huan has repeatedly experienced the cycle of competing for favor → winning favor → exclusive favor → falling out of favor → regaining favor. Therefore, when she was preparing to enter the palace again from Ganlu Temple, Cui Jinxi, her confidant, advised her this way: "Returning to the palace this time... does not mean being 'cruel-hearted', cruelty also means having a 'heart'. What the empress must do is to be 'cruel without heart'" 』!

Perhaps as Xi Yan pointed out in the book "80 Things Zhen Huan Taught Me in the Harem" (Gao Bao, 2013): The Legend of Zhen Huan is a "thick and dark study of human nature" (thick-skinned and dark-hearted):"Perhaps it's because everyone has some shadow of Zhen Huan, those familiar love and hatred, those unavoidable struggles for power, those romantic debts that were gained and then lost..."These words express the impermanence and helplessness of life as well as the darkness and distortion of human nature. As Zhen Huan said: "If you want to be promoted in this harem, you must guess the emperor's thoughts. If you want to survive, you must guess the thoughts of other women."

In the play, Zhen Huan once realized that the enemy seemed to be playing tricks again, and she sighed to her confidants: "I always thought that human nature is good, but after entering the palace, what I saw and heard, nature can also be distorted, so I have to... Such malicious speculation!"

Mr. Mao Leqi wrote this in the May/June 2013 issue of "Campus Magazine":"Just like the women in the harem, our life today is not only for survival, but also for prestige. Working hard is often not just to support the family and survive, but also because we can't afford to lose... In the harem, there is promise and always there , Nobles... You can climb all the stairs to the Queen; we have ladders for elementary school, middle school, university, master's degree, and doctorate (we also distinguish degrees from prestigious schools, ordinary schools, or pheasant schools). After graduation, you can go from section chief, assistant manager, Assistant managers, managers, associate general managers, general managers, etc. work hard for a degree, a bigger house, a flashier car, and a more expensive diamond ring and watch. In the real society where capitalism is the rule, society operates. The law is "self-interested rationality", which shapes us to view the world through the lens of "gain and loss", and even view any relationship. There is no need to talk about "gentleness, courtesy and thrift". In order to get ahead, we have to put aside morality and the word "profit". Put it in the middle.”

The same article also pointed out that"In today's society, we let the short-term law of interests determine things, reducing covenants, commitments, honor, etc. into some kind of tradable commodities. "Competition" is the driving force of life, not "for everyone's benefit" ", but "I can't stand others being better than me." The motivation is jealousy, revenge or the desire to satisfy self-admiration, not the pursuit of common good, nor for the sake of loving others."

"Gathered for profit, they will disperse due to competition for profit." - Yongzheng himself commented on the foreign ministers who formed cliques. Is this not the case between himself and the women in the harem?

Looking at all living beings, we see three types of people: The first type of people fight desperately for their unreasonable, unreasonable, and illegal rights. They dare to say anything and do anything for the sake of a little benefit for their own family. The second type of person strives to protect his legitimate, legal and reasonable rights. I won’t take advantage of you, and you don’t want to make me suffer. The third type of people are willing to give up their legitimate, legal, and reasonable rights because they have abundant inner resources from God and strong self-confidence. They understand the true meaning of "giving is more blessed than receiving" and understand that "the more you share, the more you share." According to the heavenly law of "receiving grace", we do good deeds and help others with love.

Zhen Huan and her best friends in the play are basically the second type of people, while the other characters are mostly the first type. And you? What kind of person do you want to be?

In the Book of Esther in the Old Testament, it is described that Esther, the Jewish queen of the Persian Empire, was in a state of "falling out of favor" because of her uncle Mordecai's words. She still risked her life and broke into the restricted area in violation of regulations. After asking to see the emperor, he was finally "regained favor" and saved the lives of all the clansmen in the empire. She should be regarded as a rare "third type of person" in Chinese and foreign harems in history!

▲Esther, the Jewish queen of the Persian Empire, was in a state of "falling out of favor", but she violated the rules and forced herself into the restricted area to seek an audience with the emperor. She was finally "regained favor" and saved the lives of all the people in the empire.

Lenovo 3: Discussing power corruption from the perspective of human nature
Absolute power brings absolute corruption,
Humble and godly leader
But it will become a bright light in a dark world.

What is "corruption of power"? In addition to corruption and bending the law, and using public weapons for private purposes, it also includes acting arbitrarily, acting against the will, without checks and balances and supervision, or even though there are laws and mechanisms, they are just one-sided and deceptive. Corruption of power may occur in the political, military, corporate, media, religious circles..., and of course it may also occur in families.

"Fairness and justice" are what everyone desires, but that can only happen when personal integrity is preserved and valued.

A healthy social relationship should be a connection between a group of independent and mature individuals. It can be said that fairness and justice means trying our best to protect the meaning of the other party's life. The only way is to look at yourself correctly first, and then you can respect others and let others get the status and rights they deserve. How easy is it to be able to respect others and allocate the resources and opportunities at hand selflessly and fairly, even though you are obviously in great power and surrounded by people who want to flatter you because of your high position and authority?

However, although such people are rare, they are not yet extinct. This "rare race" has a common characteristic - they understand that they are only God's stewards, and that power and position are only a more effective way to glorify God and benefit people. They also understand that everyone is destined to die once, and there will be judgment after death, so they must serve themselves in eternity. You are responsible for everything you do in the world, so you can treat others with integrity and deal with things fairly out of fear of God! As the Bible declares in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:"...Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of everyone. God will judge everything we do, whether good or evil, even the most secret things." (Modern Times) Chinese translation)

Joseph and Daniel in the Old Testament are prime examples.

Let’s talk about Joseph first. The Egyptian Pharaoh obeyed his advice, but Joseph, who was less than ten thousand people, wisely used the power and resources in his hands to save the entire Egyptian people from extinction in an unprecedented famine, and also benefited the surrounding people of all ethnic groups. He even accidentally saved dozens of relatives, old and young, who had been missing for many years. What is even more commendable is that because he fears and trusts God, he regards the persecution he suffered in the past as a step to gain grace. Therefore, he only educates but does not retaliate against the perpetrators who have fallen into his hands and can only be slaughtered by him.

▲Because of his fear and trust in God, Joseph regarded the persecution he suffered in the past as a step to gain grace. Therefore, he only educated but did not retaliate against the perpetrators who had fallen into his hands.

Let’s talk about Daniel again. He held the position of prime minister in the Persian Empire, but he acted with integrity and achieved outstanding political achievements. He was a dedicated and outstanding high-level civil servant. Moreover, he did not abuse his power or become corrupt at all, so that when his political opponents wanted to remove him, they searched hard and could not find any evidence of government affairs or ethics. In the end, they could only use his persistence in his faith to frame him. However, Daniel not only did not cling to power and gave in on the bottom line of his faith, but instead used the eternal legend of the lion's den to bear a very powerful and beautiful testimony for God. Sadly, this is not the case for Yongzheng in the play, and for thousands of people in high positions in modern times.

▲Daniel used the eternal legend of the lions’ den to provide a very powerful and beautiful testimony for God.

In this play, the concubines and the emperor are at opposite ends of a completely tilted balance of power. As a result, the emperor, who was internally poor and had a twisted personality, but who had 100% of the resources and absolute power of life and death, became "the most dangerous man in the world." ─No matter how much effort the person next to you has put into serving and pleasing him, as long as he offends him with a word or a small action, it may bring unexpected disasters to himself and his family outside the palace. As for the noisy arguments that ordinary couples will inevitably have , it would never happen between the concubines and the emperor. In such an interaction model, the entire responsibility for adjustment lies with the woman. Even if she has a miscarriage or lost a child, she must force herself to smile. Otherwise, she will bear the responsibility for falling out of favor. Because the emperor has many things to do and has many wives and concubines, if you are sad and cry beyond the limit of what he can tolerate (the author According to several cases in the play, it is estimated that the average is less than three months), then falling out of favor is inevitable, and "falling out of favor" is a huge disaster for women living in the harem, as has been detailed before.

A scene that is repeated again and again in the play is - when the emperor rewards something, even if the two of them are cuddling on the bed, the woman will immediately kneel down to thank him; when the emperor slightly raises his voice, the woman will immediately kneel down to apologize; the emperor asks: "Do you know your guilt?" "The woman must immediately kowtow to the ground and admit her mistake, and then slowly find out what she has done to offend Tianyan. The emperor has changed from talking about family matters to giving orders or teachings in public. All the women must immediately kneel down and say in unison, "I will obey the emperor's teachings!" For example. :

"It's been hot these days... I asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send you some ice." → Kneel down and thank you;

"It's hot these days... What's your intention in giving me such hot ginseng soup?" → Kneel down and apologize;

"It's hot these days...you know your fault!" → Kowtow to the ground, saying "Your Majesty forgives me", and then "I am stupid, please express my fault...";

"It's hot these days... don't eat anything too greasy." → They all knelt down and said in unison: "I will obey the emperor's teachings."

The audience will never forget that twice in the play the emperor pinched Zhen Huan's slender chin with the thumb and index finger of his right hand and asked in a deep voice, "Why do you treat me like this?" At that moment, he could answer in one sentence. No, not only will he be killed, but it will also be a catastrophic disaster that affects the nine tribes! Let me ask, is there any "domestic violence" in the world that is more terrifying than this! With such complete inequality, how can the two sides communicate sincerely and treat each other sincerely?

One party speaks, while the other party only listens, which naturally shows an unequal correspondence. The emperor has also been called the "Son of Heaven" since ancient times. He is deliberately portrayed as half-human and half-god (or at least the proud son of heaven who is "inherited by heaven"). Therefore, he must be the best in the world in terms of articles, morals, knowledge, and knowledge. This is the highest regard that the Chinese have had since ancient times. The collective false worship of political leaders. Therefore, even if they are as close as bedfellows, when the man speaks, the woman will only listen attentively without speaking. There are occasional exceptions, and the emperor's permission must be obtained first.

Under the unequal role structure without checks and balances, naturally even personalities are unequal. Therefore, including Zhen Huan, there are so many outstanding and intelligent women in the harem, and they are of no use to the learning and growth of Yongzheng's mind, cultivation, and true love. . So, what about those important officials in the previous dynasty who were well-read in poetry and rich in economics? ─Under his supreme imperial power, there is only one thing to do: bow your head and obey orders. In such a distorted feudal system, how could it be possible that corruption of power would not occur?

In traditional Chinese ethical concepts, there is the saying of "Three Cardinal Guidelines". The so-called ruler is the guideline for the ministers, the father is the guideline for the son, and the husband is the guideline for the wife. What they show is this top-down restrictive relationship. In the harem, Yongzheng was both the king and the husband. For the concubines, the three cardinal principles were second to none. What's more, the emperor is also called "the king's father", and even though he treats his wives and concubines, he also adopts a strong paternal attitude. If all three cardinal principles are taken care of, how can we interact on an equal footing? Why don't everyone come out to camp and compete for the resources in your hand? How to avoid creating a bunch of unspoken rules in order to exchange your favor?

Mr. Sun Longji bluntly stated in his book "The Deep Structure of Chinese Culture" (Hua Qianshu, 2005):"This kind of feudal thinking permeates the entire Chinese culture, and it runs through all fields of family, society, politics, and thought. Confucius said: "A gentleman has three fears: fear of destiny, fear of adults, and fear of the words of sages..." ( "The Analects of Confucius" Ji Shi Chapter) The emperor's words are of course "the words of the sages", and the so-called "fearing the words of the sages" means "obedience".By extension, all leaders, bosses, directors, teachers, elders, judges, policemen, doctors... who can allocate benefits and conveniences at their own will must not utter "sage words" from time to time and ask the people below to listen. Therefore, the phrase "absolute power brings absolute corruption" has become an irrefutable insight in the world where "corruption reality shows" are constantly being staged.

However, there is another side to the story! In fact, "power" is neutral. Whether it will become "devil's fire" or "angel's wings" all depends on whether the person holding power has values consistent with biblical truth and the self-control and self-love that stem from it. Character, and whether you are willing to accept supervision calmly and proactively and watch and pray, so as to overcome the weaknesses of human nature. Under this principle, we encourage more children of God to become leaders in politics and all walks of life, following the wonderful footsteps of Joseph and Daniel. Yes, absolute power brings absolute corruption, but a humble and godly leader will become a beacon of light in a dark world.

The next issue will publish the final chapter of this "Cultural Arena" series: Lenovo 4 "Talk about interpersonal relationships from the perspective of human nature" and Lenovo 5 "Talk about life renewal from the perspective of human nature". It is exciting to look forward to, but it is a pity to miss it!

Author profile:
Su Wen'an has been dedicated to extracting the essence of classical literature and popular culture based on biblical truth for many years, integrating it into writing, editing and teaching.

Pastor Su Wen'an also likes to combine family and literary ministry, and is often invited to serve as a lecturer for families or literary camps in various places. He emphasizes that "workers come before work, authors are more important than works, and sincerity is better than everything else."