In ancient times, marriages were arranged strictly by the will of parents and matchmakers, and even princesses of high rank were no exception. However, emperors often took great care in selecting suitable grooms for their beloved daughters. This led to the practice of \"trial marriage\" before the official wedding of a princess. But what became of the women who served as trial brides? What fate awaited them after their role was fulfilled?
The term \"fuma\" (imperial son-in-law) originated because, historically, many emperors conferred the official title of \"Fuma Dudu\" (Commander of the Imperial Son-in-Law) upon their daughters’ husbands. Thus, \"fuma\" became a general reference to the emperor’s sons-in-law. During their reign, emperors needed to secure loyalty from their ministers to maintain power. To achieve this, they sometimes sacrificed princesses by marrying them off through political alliances or bestowed marriages, often to kings of other states or powerful officials' sons.
展开剩余84%Although such arranged marriages were deeply unfair to the princesses, who were essentially strangers in a foreign household, they had been born into privilege, enjoying the wealth and honor of the dynasty. Naturally, they were expected to shoulder certain responsibilities and make sacrifices. The emperor did not make these decisions lightly; he would carefully select and consider the match, as his daughter was a treasured member of the imperial family. Mistreatment of a princess could lead not only to her personal unhappiness but also undermine the dignity and authority of the throne.
For example, during the Ming dynasty's Wanli era, Emperor Wanli assigned the eunuch Feng Bao, head of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the task of choosing a husband for his sister, Princess Yongning. The imperial family imposed strict criteria: the groom had to come from a commoner background or a family of low-ranking officials. Neither the groom nor his relatives could hold official posts, and any already serving officials were forced to retire. Such restrictions discouraged aristocrats and scholar-official families from seeking marriage with princesses, viewing the alliance as damaging to their prospects.
Eventually, Feng Bao accepted a bribe to select Liang Bangrui, a wealthy but consumptive young man from the capital, as the groom. Feng Bao praised Liang lavishly to Empress Dowager Li, who trusted his judgment and approved the match. The wedding of a princess to a noble family was typically a grand and splendid affair, but Liang, suffering from a terminal illness, could not endure the festivities. At the wedding, he coughed up blood, a grim omen that foreshadowed a tragic marriage.
After the wedding, Liang Bangrui faced further hardships. Princess Yongning only stayed one night at her own residence; the rest of her time was spent in the palace. Meetings with her husband required him to enter the palace, but the senior palace maid assigned to the princess made life difficult for Liang. She conspired with other palace staff to extort bribes and gradually became hostile. When Liang resisted and argued, the stress worsened his condition, causing him to cough up blood repeatedly. Barely a month after marriage, he died. The princess, left alone, rarely saw her husband and eventually died twelve years later, worn down by grief and solitude.
To prevent such tragedies, the imperial court later introduced the \"trial marriage\" system. Before a princess officially married, a carefully chosen woman, known as a \"trial bride\" or \"trial concubine,\" would live with the prospective groom for about a month. During this time, she observed and documented his habits, health, and character. This woman had to be modest in appearance but intelligent, perceptive, meticulous, and, most importantly, chaste.
The trial bride shared meals and lodging with the groom, noting his daily routines, dietary preferences, and any bad habits. Her report also included a thorough health check, focusing on the groom’s reproductive capabilities. After the trial period, the documentation was submitted to the palace, where the emperor and advisors decided whether the groom met the standards for marrying a princess.
Two lives were profoundly affected by this system: the groom’s and the trial bride’s. If the groom passed the test, he rose in status to become an imperial relative with considerable wealth. The trial bride, meanwhile, often accompanied the princess as a maid or minor concubine—an existence of wealth but limited freedom. If the groom failed, he was disgraced publicly. To placate the trial bride, the emperor usually married her off to the groom, compensating her for her sacrifice.
For the trial bride, marrying the groom meant enduring the stigma of her role, often leading to hardship in her later life as the groom blamed her for the gossip and insults he faced. If the groom rejected her, she received a sum of money and was free to leave the palace and start a new life. This system starkly reveals the cruelty of feudal society, where innocent women were forced into difficult and often tragic circumstances to secure the princess’s future happiness.
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