"due to empress dowager cixi's extr**agant lifestyle in the late qing dynasty, we are naturally curious about the extent of her extr**agance. various habits of her daily life h**e been subject to research. one particularly astonishing revelation is that cixi used to wake up at 3 o'clock every morning, even though the court session didn't commence until 8 o'clock. what could she possibly be doing during these five hours? while we can speculate on the mundane morning routine, including the laborious process of getting up and the ceremonial breakfast, it's worthwhile to delve into the specifics through the following text.
before that, let's take a glance at cixi's overall sleep pattern to understand her sleeping habits. given our modern lifestyle, cixi's early waking time might seem perplexing. nowadays, people typically wake up an hour or an hour and a half before work, engaging in a series of activities such as washing up, getting dressed, and h**ing breakfast before rushing off to work. however, cixi's early wake-up time is closely tied to her habit of going to bed early the night before. in contrast to the prevalent modern trend of staying up late or even sleeping past midnight, she would retire for the night around 9 o'clock.
let's also discuss cixi's bedtime rituals—what she did before sleeping. after finishing dinner around 5 o'clock, cixi would review memorials or take a stroll, starting her bedtime preparations around 7 o'clock. being a woman, cixi had to remove her makeup every night before sleeping. surprisingly, it took her more than an hour to do so. this routine would bring her to bedtime at 9 o'clock, and her sleep quality was exceptional. she could almost fall asleep as soon as she lay down, maintaining a regular sleep duration of about six hours, waking up early and punctually each day.
one might question whether cixi, as the ruling empress dowager, had enough sleep with merely five hours a night. in reality, ancient times did not impose the same pressures and daily hassles as contemporary life. moreover, except for attending the morning court and reviewing memorials, most of cixi's daily activities were taken care of by palace maids and eunuchs. on days without morning court sessions, cixi would wake up around 5 o'clock, *her sleep duration quite reasonable.
now that we understand cixi's overall sleep duration, let's explore how she spent the five hours before attending the morning court. first and foremost, upon opening her eyes, the night-duty palace maid would remind cixi repeatedly that it was time to get up, a routine that would continue until cixi nodded in acknowledgment. speaking of night-duty personnel, it's worth mentioning that throughout history, emperors and empresses had attendants stationed at the palace gate at night. this was a tradition, responsible for assisting the emperor or empress with tasks like fetching water or using the restroom. in cixi's case, she had as many as five attendants. this gives us a glimpse of cixi's indulgence, as it required a considerable amount of human resources to fulfill her desires.
like most people, cixi enjoyed lingering in bed. the palace maid responsible for waking her dared not use various modern methods to rouse her. instead, she would repeat phrases like "the hour has come, your majesty, it's time to rise," at intervals until cixi finally opened her eyes and got out of bed. this routine could last for half an hour to an hour.
once cixi was up, the night-duty palace maid would light the candles in the room. after the room was illuminated, the night-duty attendant would le**e. other palace maids would then enter to help cixi get dressed and freshen up. through many historical dramas, we can observe that ancient clothing was intricate, with numerous layers and complex ways of fastening. it took a considerable amount of time to dress properly. cixi, h**ing completed her dressing routine, would proceed to wash up. interestingly, her bathing water was nothing ordinary—it was breast milk. cixi believed that using breast milk would preserve her youthfulness. even her bathwater consisted of breast milk, leading to the employment of nearly a hundred wet nurses in the palace, exclusively catering to cixi's needs.
following this, cixi would engage in the extensive process of applying makeup. speaking of makeup, any woman today would understand that it's a time-consuming affair, often taking one or two hours. so, this phase alone would consume more than three hours of her time. moving on to the luxurious breakfast, one might wonder how extr**agant it was.
in the modern era, we all know that breakfast is usually the **st meal of the day, especially for working individuals who might settle for a bowl of porridge and a couple of buns. however, cixi's breakfast far exceeded such standards. historical records indicate that cixi's breakfast consisted of more than twenty dishes, excluding porridge and snacks. while she couldn't possibly eat every single dish, a food taster would sample each dish in advance to ensure no poisoning. only after the food taster g**e the green light would cixi eat, and she wouldn't personally pick up the dishes. instead, she would indicate to the palace maids which dish she wanted, and they would feed it to her. rumor has it that cixi would dispose of the leftovers even if she hadn't touched them, prohibiting them from being s**ed for the next meal or given to palace attendants. in ancient times, when agricultural technology was not as advanced as it is now, many regions experienced frequent famines, le**ing numerous people hungry or even dead from starvation. yet, cixi, as a ruler, wasted so much food daily, which is truly disgraceful.
after finishing breakfast, cixi would tr**el to the hall of mental cultivation in a sedan chair to attend the morning court session. the distance from the rear palace to the front court was considerable, and it took her about half an hour to get there. when we consider this entire morning routine, coupled with the time spent tr**eling, it naturally adds up to around five hours. upon reflection, we can't help but marvel at the significant manpower and resources consumed during just these few morning hours. considering the additional activities cixi would undertake during normal days, the resource consumption would be even more substantial.