Is the exquisite life of Empress Dowager Cixi unmatched?

Later generations have mixed praise and criticism for the achievements of Empress Dowager Cixi in her life. But putting aside political rights and wrongs, she was the most caring and refined woman in the late Qing Dynasty. Today the editor will tell you some little-known stories about her life.

Cixi paid great attention to her personal image. According to the oil portrait painted for her by the American female painter Carl, Cixi wore a yellow cloak embroidered with the Chinese character "Purple Wisteria and Tuan Shou" on a yellow background, and had "big wings" on her hair. There are many pearls and jade jewelry inserted: green hairpins, phoenix hairpins, gold flat squares, gemstone head flowers, pearl headbands, etc., which are very graceful and rich.

Portrait of Cixi painted by Karl.

De Ling recorded in "The Second Year of the Qing Palace" that Cixi also wore two bead bracelets, a pair of jade bracelets and several gemstone rings every day. "On the middle finger and little finger of her right hand, she wore There is a three-inch long gold finger guard, and the same length of jade finger guard is also worn on the two fingers of the left hand. There are also beads on the shoes, and various gems are inlaid in the middle."

Flower-pot-soled shoes worn by the Empress Dowager Cixi.

The flowerpot-soled shoes in the picture above were worn by the Empress Dowager Cixi and are now collected in the Palace Museum. They are studded with gems and can be said to be very particular.

De Ling also recorded in the book that when Empress Dowager Cixi went to the court to meet ministers, she carried a mobile dressing room with her. "There are four fifth-grade eunuchs in front of the sedan, and twelve sixth-grade eunuchs behind the sedan. Each of them holds the Queen Mother's clothes, shoes, handkerchiefs, combs, brushes, powder boxes, mirrors of various sizes, silver and vermilion pens and ink, Yellow paper, dry tobacco and hookah, the last person holding the Queen Mother's yellow satin stool".

This scene is absolutely unrivaled.

The pomp and circumstance of Cixi’s travels.

Every morning, "The Queen Mother always combs her hair and then washes her face. She has dozens of different perfumed soaps. After washing her face, she first wipes it gently with a soft towel, then sprinkles it with flower dew honey and pats it on. Apply light red powder". This is obviously the same as modern women's makeup and skin care, but with the advancement of the times, facial masks still seem too rough compared with flower dew and honey.

The Empress Dowager Cixi takes a selfie in the mirror.

Of course Cixi was very particular about eating. "Records of the Second Year of the Qing Palace" records that "there are one hundred and fifty kinds of food on her table, arranged in several rows...", "Most of the dishes are pork, mutton, chicken, duck, vegetables, etc." There are more than ten different ways to cook pork, and there are two types of meatballs: red and white... A yellow porcelain vessel holds shark's fin in clear soup, whole chicken and duck, and smoked chicken and duck. The chicken and duck are covered with pine and cypress branches. Put them on the fire and smoke them to take advantage of the fragrance of pine and cypress. "

Cixi liked sweets more than meat. Every day during meal time, there would be several palace family members holding yellow food boxes." Take out the exquisite fruit plate and put candied lotus seeds, walnuts, melon seeds, etc." In addition, Cixi always had a cup of sugar tea before going to bed. She believed that sugar tea could calm the nerves.

Empress Dowager Cixi.

Cixi was unambiguous about health preservation. For example, she paid special attention to foot baths at all times. Foot bath has a history of thousands of years, and the earliest documented record is the Jin Dynasty's "Emergency Prescription".

The book "The Palace Maid's Talk" records: "In the Chuxiu Palace, washing the feet of the old Queen Mother was regarded as a very important thing. The foot-washing water is very particular. For example: If you enter the third volt, Now, the weather is very hot and humid, so boil chrysanthemum flowers and let them warm before washing. This can make the old lady clear her mind and improve her eyesight, cool her whole body, and make her armpits windy, so she won’t suffer from heat stroke. If it’s thirty-nine and the weather is extremely If you are cold, use papaya soup to wash your body. It can activate blood circulation and warm your knees, so that your four limbs will be warm and your whole body will be as soft and warm as spring. Of course, you can add or subtract ready-made prescriptions at any time according to the changes in the four seasons and the weather. This can also be regarded as the old lady. The secret to fitness.

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