Imperial concubines were used to award the most beloved and distinguished concubines in the harem in the Ming Dynasty.

The imperial concubine of the emperor was second only to the empress in the Qing Dynasty. It was designed by the emperor shunzhi when he conferred the title of Dong E Fei, a favorite concubine, and later it was gradually customized. Later concubines, if they want to continue to be established as the middle palace, will generally be named as the imperial concubine of the emperor in charge of the sixth palace, temporarily acting as the harem, and then be named as the queen after the expiration of the queen's funeral.

After Kangxi, emperors of all dynasties basically continued the practice of Shunzhi and Kangxi on the issue of conferring empresses. At the same time, harem concubines bear more examples, virtues, responsibilities and other higher moral standards, which are almost equal to the requirements for the queen.

In addition to being favored by the emperor, some empresses were also given deputy duties in the Qing Dynasty, especially the establishment of the "six palaces to take concubines", the position of which was vacant, while the former empress assumed the responsibility of presiding over the harem affairs before the funeral period expired.

This power has been institutionalized, and many concubines who are candidates for the queen have to be inspected for a period of time in the position of "taking pictures of the imperial concubines in the Sixth Palace" before becoming full members. Therefore, this system effectively guarantees the excellent quality of the queen's mother-in-law, a beautiful, dignified, knowledgeable and capable sixth house. These are the right choices for the ideal queen.

It should be noted that there is a difference between the imperial concubine who took pictures in the Sixth Palace and the ordinary imperial concubine. The imperial concubine who takes pictures in the sixth house will write "Taking pictures in the sixth house" in the book, which is designated by the next queen.

This system was initiated by Qianlong. In the Qing Dynasty, only two concubines took pictures of the Sixth Palace: the successor of Emperor Gaozong, Queen Nana and Queen Xiao Quancheng. They all did a good job in this position, and finally got the position of the harem, and the harem in the Qing Dynasty was relatively peaceful.

Extended data:

The historical origin of Huang Fei Huang;

Imperial concubine, as recorded in Ming history, the first imperial concubine was Ming Xianzong's favorite concubine Wan. In fact, the first person to win this title was Emperor Xuande's favorite concubine (Empress Zhang Gong).

Zhu Zhanji, Emperor Xuande, was the first grandson of Judy, Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and was very popular. When he was the first grandson and great-grandson of the emperor, Sun Shi grew up in the palace, and he fell in love with Zhu Zhanji. After he acceded to the throne, he was named the imperial concubine and Hu was named the queen. According to an example, the imperial concubine only has a golden book, but no treasure.

Because Zhu Zhanji loved Sun Guifei, she made an exception and enjoyed the golden book like a queen. The name "Guifei" also started from her.

Since then, it has become a practice for the imperial concubine to enjoy the golden book like a queen. Soon, Emperor Xuande, because Hu Huanghou had no children, and the imperial concubine Sun Shi had Zhu Qizhen (Yingzong), abolished Hu Huanghou and made the imperial concubine Sun Shi the queen.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Huangfeihuang