THE CONCUBINE…THE REAL STORY – PART 2
Part one summarizes briefly the real history behind the Pageant of Fertility that I used in The Concubine. Today’s blog is about what I changed and why. The more I read about the women in the Forbidden City, the more horrified I became by what their lives were like. Hundreds of concubines lived in the Forbidden City and none of them were allowed to leave. Ever. Every girl aspired to become the new Empress, and yet the moment she walked into the Forbidden City, she would lose all contact with anything and anyone outside the walls. She might never be given news of her family, of their lives or deaths. She would be trapped inside (my words) with hundreds of other women all fighting for one thing: to get pregnant with the Emperor’s baby. A horrible life, and yet to be selected as an Imperial Concubine was an enormous honor and would bring great benefits to one’s family. After all, so the thinking goes, what is a woman for but to bring honor to her family through her marriage? Forget the life she had to live to do it. Forget what she wants. All is done in the name of family honor.
Within moments of reading about this contest to become Empress (again, my words), I had the idea of Ji Yue—a smart woman born way ahead of her time. She would be raised to serve as a political wife, her brain her best asset. But unfortunately, the Emperor was not predisposed to look at his wives as anything more than a womb. What was she to do? I had to create a political man, also dependent upon the Emperor, but someone who would see Ji Yue’s strengths, know her beauty, and want her for his own. So came the Emperor’s best friend, Bo Tao.
Both Ji Yue and Bo Tao were completely my fabrication. Truthfully, women were not educated in China, certainly not in terms of politics. And any man close to the Emperor would need to be an eunuch. Since I really didn’t want to castrate my hero, I bent the truth and allowed the Emperor’s best friend to be a whole man.
Other things I changed included putting Bo Tao in charge of the Festival. Truly, that was something that the Dowager Empress handled on her own, along with the help of her favorite eunuchs. The “tests” I created were extrapolated from research on appropriate female assets and signs of fortune or fertility. Also, the…um…extra-curricular activities that happen in the book, especially those by the dead Emperor’s concubines were completely made up. Totally, wholly fiction. Though in my defense, what little information I could find on their lives indicated all that one might expect from lots of women living together with nothing to occupy their time. Some became religious converts. Others lived on petty backstabbing and jealousy. And yes, some settled on other forms of entertainment.
But mostly, I see the story of The Concubine as the struggle of the people BELOW the most powerful Emperor. Both Bo Tao and Ji Yue are completely dependent on the whim of the Emperor. How does one find love and purpose in such a precarious position? Especially when a single mistake could cost everything for yourself and your whole family. That’s what drew me to the story of The Concubine. I hope you find it equally compelling!
Within moments of reading about this contest to become Empress (again, my words), I had the idea of Ji Yue—a smart woman born way ahead of her time. She would be raised to serve as a political wife, her brain her best asset. But unfortunately, the Emperor was not predisposed to look at his wives as anything more than a womb. What was she to do? I had to create a political man, also dependent upon the Emperor, but someone who would see Ji Yue’s strengths, know her beauty, and want her for his own. So came the Emperor’s best friend, Bo Tao.
Both Ji Yue and Bo Tao were completely my fabrication. Truthfully, women were not educated in China, certainly not in terms of politics. And any man close to the Emperor would need to be an eunuch. Since I really didn’t want to castrate my hero, I bent the truth and allowed the Emperor’s best friend to be a whole man.
Other things I changed included putting Bo Tao in charge of the Festival. Truly, that was something that the Dowager Empress handled on her own, along with the help of her favorite eunuchs. The “tests” I created were extrapolated from research on appropriate female assets and signs of fortune or fertility. Also, the…um…extra-curricular activities that happen in the book, especially those by the dead Emperor’s concubines were completely made up. Totally, wholly fiction. Though in my defense, what little information I could find on their lives indicated all that one might expect from lots of women living together with nothing to occupy their time. Some became religious converts. Others lived on petty backstabbing and jealousy. And yes, some settled on other forms of entertainment.
But mostly, I see the story of The Concubine as the struggle of the people BELOW the most powerful Emperor. Both Bo Tao and Ji Yue are completely dependent on the whim of the Emperor. How does one find love and purpose in such a precarious position? Especially when a single mistake could cost everything for yourself and your whole family. That’s what drew me to the story of The Concubine. I hope you find it equally compelling!
posted by Jade Lee | 9:00 AM
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