In the daily activities of the emperor, besides eating, resting, changing clothes, and bathing, “washing the dragon hole” is an indispensable task. According to the Historical Records, this is the first thing that the emperor must do after waking up. So what is “washing the dragon hole”?
What is "dragon hole washing"?
The Chinese feudalists believed that the emperor was the “son of heaven”, that is, the son of heaven. Everything that belonged to the emperor was extremely noble. The ancients also compared the emperor to the legendary dragon. From this, we can understand that “dragon hole” refers to the emperor’s mouth. And “washing the dragon hole” is when the emperor rinsed his mouth after waking up.
The emperor is the son of heaven, so "washing the dragon's hole" is the act of rinsing his mouth. (Photo: Sohu)
“Dragon hole washing” process
In ancient times, toothpaste and toothbrushes were not invented. Therefore, people would use water to clean their mouths. Usually, people used water or salt water to rinse their mouths. Emperors used high-quality tea to do this job.
Every morning, eunuchs or palace maids had to wake up early and fetch water from the spring. Then, they boiled the spring water, washed the utensils used to “wash the dragon hole” and started making tea.
Tea had to be brewed several times to fill the pot and brought to the emperor’s palace. When the emperor woke up, the eunuchs and maids in charge of “washing the dragon’s hole” would bring the tea into the room. They needed to offer the teacups for the emperor to sip and rinse his mouth. The meaning of these actions was to ensure the emperor’s dignity, so that he could concentrate on the affairs of state.
It seems that "washing the dragon hole" is a very simple task, but why do the palace maids have to compete with each other to do this?
Why do palace maids compete to "wash the dragon hole"?
There are two reasons to explain why palace maids often had to compete and even bribe the manager just to serve the emperor with this job.
First , the palace maids wanted to make some profit. The tea that the emperor used to rinse his mouth was of the highest quality. Even after being soaked twice, the tea leaves would not lose their flavor. After the emperor finished rinsing his mouth, the palace maids would dry the soaked tea leaves. Because it was high quality tea, even after being soaked in water, the quality of the tea leaves would not decrease. They could still earn a decent amount of money by selling it.
Palace maids often fought each other to "wash the dragon hole" for the emperor. (Photo: Sohu)
Second , the palace maids wanted to change their lives. The palace maids competed for the job of “cleaning the dragon hole” for the emperor because they wanted to be “liked” by the emperor. This was a job that required close contact with the emperor. If the palace maids had outstanding beauty, the possibility of being favored by the emperor was very high. They could take this opportunity to “step up to heaven in one step”.
Not only could they become concubines and have servants, but their family members could also easily enjoy wealth and honor. Although the probability of being favored by the emperor was not high, many palace maids still tried every way to get themselves into the "dragon hole" for him.
Quoc Thai (Source: Sohu)
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