Pecking Order in an Imperial Harem

By Bai Liuli

Palace drama is terrifying yet intriguing,with twists and turns in its plot,which is rife with mysterious deaths of imperial heirs and royal concubines.

Politics in the Inner Court

The main task of the concubines in the royal palace is to give birth to babies.Despite the large number of “high-quality” concubines in a feudalistic harem,it turns out that the carefully selected ones do not necessarily accomplish the task of producing more offspring and prospering the royal family.

The sons and daughters of Emperor Qianlong all died a horrific death.His first Empress,Xiaoxianchun,had two sons,among whom one died at the age of eight while the other younger than two; she also had two daughters,one of whom died at birth.In the end,she only had one daughter left.

Qianlong’s second empress,Ruyi,who is the heroine in the dramaRuyi’s Royal Love in the Palace,is even more pitiful.She had two sons and one daughter,yet one son died at birth and the daughter didn’t live to see her sixth birthday.The other son died an early death in his twenties.So the second queen did not leave any offspring behind.

Qianlong’s last empress,Imperial Noble Consort Ling,the most hateful and sinister woman inRuyi’s Royal Love in the Palace,gave birth to four sons,two of whom died shortly after birth.

The rulers in the feudal dynasties always attached great importance to their first-born sons,which somehow seems to have accelerated the death of their princes.If we calculate the death rate of emperors’ sons,we’ll find the result staggering.The mortality rate of the sons of Empress Xiaoxianchun and her successor was 100%,while the last queen’s sons’ death rate also reached 50%.

Life in the feudalistic palace was treacherous,which is understandable in regards to the laws of nature.We may call it the “pecking order” of the harem,which can help us unravel the offspring-shortage mystery of the royal families.

Pecking Order

William Muir,a biologist at Purdue University in the United States,was studying the productivity of chickens and conducted an experiment with two groups of chickens.

First he chose a flock of chickens average in their productivity (measured by egg count) and left the group to itself for six generations.

Then he made another group of “super chickens” by picking up the highest producing,the strongest,and the most competitive chickens and put them in one flock.By doing so,he expected to make every generation of the “super group” stronger than the last one.

The outcome was surprising.The average chicken group performed well—all were plump and healthy—and showed an increased level of output versus the first generation.On the contrary,in the super chicken group,only three were left alive while all the others were pecked to death.

William Muir’s deliberate screening proved tragic.Compared to the average chicken group with mild temperament,members of the “super chickens” were particularly aggressive and over-competitive,which made William Muir’s productivity plan a complete failure.

The original intention of the feudal emperor in building a large harem with “high-quality” concubines was very similar to that of William Muir,and their outcomes are similar as well: the emperors didn’t get more and/or stronger offspring.

Social Capital

In fact,the pecking order culture exists not only in the feudal palaces,but also in every corner of today’s society.Many people overrate competition and believe persistent competition can lead to success.Yet more often the outcome turns out to be the contrary of what they have anticipated.Competitors who disregard the overall situation and hope to monopolize resources not only disrupt teamwork,but also cause a huge waste of resources,spread an unhealthy competitive spirit in the team,and render the whole team inefficient.

Perhaps reducing the number of concubines in the royal palace could be a good way to counter play the pecking order effect and improve the quality and quantity of royal progeny.An example would be Yang Jian,the founding Emperor of the Sui Dynasty (581—618),who was solely devoted to his Queen Dugu.He had a quite empty harem,yet he had as many sons as Emperor Qianlong.Queen Dugu born him five sons and none of them died.The survival rate was 100%.

In modern society,top companies have replaced competition with social capital.Social capital refers to one’s strong social relations built through mutual benefiting and cooperation with other people and other teams which may bring a wider range of resources.It is the opposite of the pecking order in that it promotes a culture based on helping each other.Abandoning the idea of being a super hero and strengthening collaboration with one another might be the very way to achieve goals faster and better.

(FromSuper Science,Feburary 2019.Translation: Lu Qiongyao)