The colour yellow symbolizes royalty in many cultures especially in South-east Asia. In China, yellow was the symbol for the Emperor, commoners were not allowed to wear yellow then. If they were caught wearing the colour, they would be beheaded.
For the Chinese, yellow is associated with prosperity, happiness and peace because it is a bright, cheerful colour. However, it is not a compliment if a Chinese describes you or a movie as 'yellow', it means pornographic. haha....
The royal throne
The residence of the Emperor, Empress and Concubines and their children
The above photos were taken on a trip to Shenyang Imperial Palace (沈阳故宫) where the early rulers of the Qing Dynasty lived.
The palace was huge but cold and uninviting. The chambers were simply furnished, unlike the elaborate scenes depicted in modern day films and television series.
The thought of having 3,000 concubines in the palace just to serve the Emperor is so bizarre! The Emperor is a dirty fellow! :P
That's a lot of yellow. ;)
ReplyDeleteLina,
ReplyDeleteYeah, a dirty post. bwahahahahaha.....
I love all things Chinese. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
Why does the Emperor get all the concubines? I think the Empress should have her own gigolos. ;P
ReplyDeleteCloudia,
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese has a history dating back more than 5000 years, so there are lots to learn about our race. :)
AVCr8teur,
ReplyDeleteDo you know the Emperor is the only MAN in the enormous palace?
All the male servants called eunuchs in the palace had their dicks and balls cut off so the concubines cannot have fun with any other men except the Emperor. :P
Actually the reason for castrating the male servants was : Since the eunuchs were incapable of having children, they would not be tempted to seize power and start a dynasty.
Cruel. Very cruel. :(
Hmmm I did not know that being described as yellow is suggestive of porn LOL! Here it could mean a person is a coward or scaredy cat :) Great post ECL and I always enjoy learning new stuff.
ReplyDeleteFluffy and I have a lot of yellow in
ReplyDeleteour costumes. What does that mean?
If they do that to Eunuchs. . . . .
what do they do to court jesters?
Please be gentle!!!
Didn't know about these meanings of yellow, how interesting!! enjoy your weekend, ECL!
ReplyDeleteyellow
The concubines are considered lucky if they ever got to sleep with the emperor just once!
ReplyDeletehahaha, a great and insightful post^^
ReplyDeleteGreat info. I thought the emperor wore red.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous weekend.
Liz @ MLC
Great take on the theme and it raises an interesting point regarding cultural differences in the attribution of colour. For us blue is the colour associated with porn and bad language.
ReplyDeleteAll the things to learn from other cultures!
ReplyDeletelove the yellow color..
ReplyDeleteI learned a lot of things today. I loved your yellow photos!!
ReplyDelete3,000 concubines! that would be 8-9 concubines a day. i wonder if the emperor remembered all their names.:p
ReplyDeletei enjoyed this post!
So it fits that a dirty fellow should wear yellow. :) I can't imagine he'd actually be able to avail himself of that many concubines.
ReplyDeleteWow 3000 is too many. It is the quality not quantity that counts :P
ReplyDeleteIt is great that there is no more such tradition nowadays. Thanks for sharing the nice photos.
ReplyDeleteSure glad I don't have much yellow in my closet. It really don't do a thing for me.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on.
Like the little emperor. Your royal colors are yellow, here it's mostly red !
ReplyDeleteBeheaded for wearing yellow? A tough penalty
ReplyDeleteHi ECL! How are you?
ReplyDeleteOnly now I get to sneak again... juggling work and baby + wife duty isn't easy..hehe
that's a lot of yellow, such a bright and pronouncing color
Ooops Bananaz is yellow haha.
ReplyDeleteUnderstand most of the Emperors over the various Dynasties die young. Too much fun being 'dirty' with 3000 concubines or due to power struggle they got murdered? Only a few Emperors lived above 60's.