Life as a Prince in Ancient China: (Written by unidentified)

This doc is not written by me, but by a fellow friend. Enjoy!

Hey very well, you are a prince of some who knows wtf this dynasty is. Wait, all we know you are a prince of China. No, China was not China when it had many dynasties. Many of which you don’t even know, even if you do, you can’t remember them all. So, being a prince of one dynasty is great right? No, no, no, no, you are wrong if you think that way. Being a prince is pretty cruel because you probably will be dead before you are even born. 

Introduction to Status

Oh, guess what, you’re not the only prince here, but one of hundreds or thousands of princes and princesses. The least amounts of sons and daughters that the emperor has are 2 digits like 14 or whatever like 98. So that many daughters and sons need a lot of wives.  Most of them are known as concubines or in Chinese 妾(qiè) or 妃(fēi) if imperial, which I am talking about, so use 妃(fēi). All the concubines live in the back of the palace called 後宮(hòugōng). Concubines are mistresses who look like a wife or whatever but have lower status than the actual wife or wives. In many dynasties, imperial concubines(妃) have different statuses than each other. Some of the statuses are, 貴妃(guì fēi) which almost have the same status as the queen or know as 皇后(huáng hòu), or known as 嬪(pín) or imperial concubines. Due to the fact that there are many dynasties, there are a lot of ways to say concubines are wives. The most recognizable way to say wife or wives is 夫人(fū rén) or concubines as 妃(fēi). Look I cannot name all ways to say wife or wives because it will probably deck this document out. 

Murdering and Deaths Behind The Unseen Eyes of The Emperor

Due to the fact that there are many statuses of what rank one is in many wives or concubines, there are often killing or murdering. Behind the wonderful and beautiful palace walls, a tree may be worth more than a human, a simple mistake as being a tattle teller may cost your life, or even mistreating someone who has a high rank may leave you heavily injured or you might succumb to your injury and die of it.  Meanwhile, outside the palace walls, a day of war can cause massive casualties that can starve many pleasants to death. Businesses such as selling slaves or prostitutes are allowed. Women that now have freedom rights are always stuck in houses either when married or not. Being a doctor now can get you real rich, but the risk back then is higher, because even though you are famous and working for the emperor, if one mistake causes the emperor or his son or daughter(prince and princess) to die, you can be beheaded. 

So back to the concubines and wives that we are talking about. I am not including consorts because I don’t say all synonyms of the word wife. The ranks and stuff have caused many women to die behind the beautiful palace walls. Why do you ask? Jealousy was a thing back then because we are human, yes humans but still kind of ignorant. Being one emperor’s wives or concubine of many behind the palace walls won’t really give you that much profit. Like one saying, what is the point to have money when it is traded for your life. Lords try to kill each other for power, while wives, concubines, consorts try to kill each other for again one thing “power.” Even the so-called dragon which is the emperor is not safe because at any time, any moment there will be someone to betray you. That includes the emperor’s wives, concubines, brothers if they have any, lords, and eunuchs. Yes, eunuchs, men who are slaves that don’t have their dong or testicles to be specifically cut out. 

Cruel Life as a Prince

Princess won’t have danger when they are born, but both princess and prince have danger when they are still in their mother’s stomach. Like they don’t have an ultrasound device to see if it is a boy or a girl.  I mean, power can change a person’s heart. Why not change that person cruelly? By cruel, concubines and wives kill each other for power. They themself may even kill or exterminate another concubine’s or wife’s pregnancy or prince. Growing up as a prince is hard. You have to learn everything that may be needed to be on the throne. Without even your father’s love(emperor), there is no way you are sitting on the throne. Even with your father’s love, other’s jealousy can easily harm you. Most of the time, just like what I say, if you are a prince, your mom will probably go rampage trying to kill other concubines and wives silently. Getting caught in the process will have a consequence. That will make your mother’s palace turn to a 冷宮(lěng gōng) or can be explained as an abandoned palace since the word 冷(lěng) means cool. That happens when your mom loses the trust or love from the emperor.

You know what I mean. Despite the palace is hell itself so no one is there to really help you when your mom dies. You have to escape this hell, I mean sitting on the throne or surviving through your life is the only way to escape. If you want to sit on the throne that is way up there, bodies are the stair to the throne. Luck is a thing too, if your dynasty was a target for bigger and more powerful dynasties, the only thing that the emperor does to save hundreds and thousands of souls, he would bring a prince to that dynasty that is big and powerful to be a hostage. Yeah, if you were chosen to be the hostage, you will have to escape that hell yourself.

Like what I say bodies are the stair to the throne. If you are the youngest of all, you just have to do little killing to sit on the throne because your stepmoms and other princes will kill each other.

If someone targets you, be them. Like a quote from The Art of War said, “To know your enemy you must become your enemy.” I know becoming a thing makes you confused a bit, but what I mean is betrayal. See like what I just said the emperor himself has to be careful of betraying lords, brothers, or wives, and concubines. After murdering people and betraying people like a rampage, be careful of those who treat you extra nice. Their smiling face may be a mask covering their cruel deeds. Those who get mad easily can be easy to defeat. While those smiling, can flip your action to yourself. 

On The Stair of Bodies

Once done slaughtering the people who may block your path without getting caught even once. You may find yourself at a point where it seems nothing is threatening you. At that point be extra careful of the ones around you. Be careful of the ones you trust. Give them plenty of chances where you put up your mask covering your prepared plan, wait for them to strike, and catch them red-handed. That way there is enough proof that they are just a betraying dog. After checking and checking no one else dares to threaten you or no one is threatening you, you may sit on the throne. I mean when every other, older, and popular prince dies. The throne will automatically be yours to take. Just after that, take every step meticulously. Don’t celebrate because that moment is when your enemies are most likely to strike. Just put up a mask and test them.

On The Throne

If you are good at keeping your throne, you get to keep your throne until you die. Being on the throne is just a big headache since you have to stress about warfare, pleasant, supplies, betrayal, your noisy concubines and wives, your daughters and sons, and even your throne. There is more to care about. But was this choice worth it? After all the souls that you took to build this stair, all defeats that you suffer from, and all the things you have to worry about. Was choosing to sit on the throne to control this hell itself to escape hell itself really worth it? Or choosing to not sit on the throne and let else someone do it rather than you better? Just be loyal to that person and don’t have to stress anything else except for your foes.