Imperial Harem System of the Chinese Qing Dynasty

Empress (皇后; huáng hòu)

Only one in the imperial harem. The Empress had the highest status. The Empress was the principal wife of the Emperor. She had more power than any other concubines because she could have ten palace maids.

Imperial Noble Consort (皇貴妃; huáng guì fēi)

Only one such position in the imperial harem. Ranked only second to the Empress. The number of the palace maids she could have was eight. But the Emperor has been historically portrayed as sharing more love to her than to the Empress.

Noble Consort (貴妃; guì fēi) 

Only two in the imperial harem. Each of them could have eight palace maids.

Consort (妃; fēi)

Only four in the imperial harem. They are respectively, Gui  means noble, Xian means virtuous, Shu means kind & gentle, and De means moral. They could command a maximum of six palace maids.

Concubine (嬪; pín)

Only six in the imperial harem. They could have six palace maids.

Noble Ladies (貴人; guì rén) 

Normally an unlimited number in the imperial harem. They can have a maximum of four palace maids.

First Female Attendant (常在; cháng zài)

Normally an unlimited number in the imperial harem. And they can have a maximum of three palace maids.

Second Class Female Attendant (答應; dā yìng) 

Normally an unlimited number in the imperial harem. They can have a maximum of two palace maids.

Lady-in-waiting (官女子; guān nǘ zǐ)

Typically granted to female servants whom the emperor has taken to a liking and to accompany him without any official recognition. This rank was also not part of the official concubine ranking.

The Empress, Imperial Noble Consort, Noble Consorts, Consorts and Concubines can live in their own palace. Noble Ladies, First Female Attendants and Second Female Attendants all lived together.

* All the above information were derived from other online sources *

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Yanxi Palace

"Watching the person in the mirror's countenance pale and grow haggard,
Examining love together with regret, both new and old,
Keeping watch still by lantern though it is daylight, drenched with tears, 
Watching others meets as promised, as twilight falls..."


"Mountains look like piles of fabric from Zhang-An,
Hundreds of doors in the palace opening on the top of the mountain,
The consort is smiling when seeing the dust flying by the rider,
No one knows  it's because lychee is coming..."


"The tiger and the bull ran away from the fence.
Tortoiseshell and the jade was ruined in the box, who made the mistake?"


"Have world being world's owner,
Have one country being one country's owner,
I have this idea."


"Listen silently the time is long
Busy with countless work
To describe this scenery
Coincidentally plum blossom delivers cold fragrance."



"Now that the palace gate has softly closed on it's flowers
Beautiful women file out to their pavilion of jade
Abrim to the lips with imperial gossip
But not dating to reveal it with a parrot among them."



* Poems taken from The Story of Yanxi Palace*