How did the concubines of Qing Dynasty greet Empress Dowager Cixi? Is Galeries Lafayette as lucky as TV?

When paying homage to Lafayette, "Lafayette is so lucky" can't be said. For once, being beaten is a trivial matter, and serious will cost you your life. What should the harem concubines say when they pay their respects to the Empress Dowager? The correct statement is "courtiers respectfully ask the Queen Mother of Saint Ann". Besides, you shouldn't speak too loudly, too fast or too slowly. Therefore, greeting the Queen Mother is actually very particular.

First of all, let me talk about "Lafayette". In fact, it was used more in the late Qing Dynasty, especially for Empress Dowager Cixi. But the word "Lafayette" is a private name for Empress Dowager Cixi by some eunuchs in the palace. In front of Cixi, eunuchs dare not say this word. As for the harem concubines, we can't even call the queen mother "Lafayette". In fact, the name "Lafayette" also appeared briefly during the Qianlong period.

For example, when the queen meets the empress dowager, she says, "My son meets the Queen Huang and the Queen Jin 'an". Concubines above dignitaries paid their respects to Empress Dowager Cixi and said, "My courtiers paid their respects to Empress Jin 'an". The concubines below the nobility paid their respects to the Empress Dowager, saying that "the handmaiden paid her respects to the Empress Dowager Jin 'an".

We have heard of "lucky Lafayette", and the vocabulary of "Lafayette" is endless. In the face of Empress Dowager Cixi, there is not only a mouthful of "Lafayette", but also the word "auspicious". Today sounds like a good compliment. But in fact, in the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi was not allowed to speak so casually. As for saying "good luck" to each other, it was only when eunuchs met and said hello. It's hard to say in front of the queen mother.

Mr. Zhu Jiajin, a famous cultural relic scholar, specifically talked about this commonly used vocabulary today in his book Dream of Shichahai. It turned out that officials met the Queen Mother at that time, and there was no such thing as kowtowing and saying "Long live Lafayette" in today's film and television. No matter whether an official sees the emperor or the empress dowager, he must kneel down and say, "Minister XX asks the empress dowager for an imperial edict." You can't call it "Lafayette", you must call it "Empress Dowager" in person.