Oh, thanks for sharing! Interesting indeed. My other favourite tragic palace figure is Step Empress Nara. I’m so obsessed with the drama Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace.
Well, hair is sacred for the Manchurians. You’re not supposed to cut it off, only in the event of death. Nara doing so meant that she cursed the emperor and dowager empress.
Sign of the times. When cutting hair in protest is a big deal but technological and military stagnation is not.
Still, can’t understate the position of tradition in a society that stuck to a way of life that started in the Spring and Autumn period. Or maybe even way before that.
Lemme know if you find a good book =). Time-wise, it’s when Confucius was around and once it ended, the Warring States period, then Qin dynasty. Yes, the emperor-who-commissioned-the-great-wall dynasty.
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