Rear Palace

Rear Palace
Located in	Imperial Palace
Location Information
Overseer	Jinshi
Province	Central Province
City	Royal Capital
Series Information
First Appearance	Volume 1: Chapter 1

The Rear Palace (後宮, Kōkyū^?) is located deep within the imperial palace, where the imperial harem resides. Other names include the Inner Court and the Inner Palace. As the place Maomao was taken to after she was first kidnapped, it is a primary setting of The Apothecary Diaries.

Overview

The rear palace serves as the Emperor's "flower garden", through which he can select sire heirs and select an Empress from the consorts. Imperial children are also raised within the rear palace.

The size of a small city, the rear palace is surrounded by high walls (about 20ft) on all four sides to prevent intruders from entering, and consorts and palace women from leaving, with each wall containing a gate guarded by two eunuchs. The gate is also guarded on the other side by two soldiers. As an additional layer of security, there is a deep moat beyond the walls that can only be crossed by lowering a bridge.

There are around two thousand women and one thousand eunuchs in the rear palace. The residents of the rear palace can be divided into consorts, their children, palace women, and eunuchs. Uncastrated men are forbidden from entering the rear palace, except those from the Imperial Family.

Due to constant cleaning and an extensive sewer system, the rear palace is very sanitary. However, it smells thickly of makeup and perfume, which Maomao notes is hardly different from a brothel.

Entry

Entering the rear palace requires body checks for both men and women. Three officials, each from a different department, inspect the person by feeling over their undergarments. Previously to enter the rear palace, men drank a potato flour-based medicine to decrease their male hormones, mimicking a eunuch.

History

The location of the rear palace was originally a city, built by Li’s original inhabitants before the arrival of the Queen Mother. Structures that survived to the current era include the rear palace walls, sewer system, and the Shrine of Choosing.

Before the current rear palace was built, consorts lived in six pavilions with separate wings for palace women in an area located closer to the residences of the imperial family. The current rear palace was developed later; the southern quarter was built when the Former Emperor became the then-Emperor.

During the time of the Former Emperor, the rear palace’s population reached its peak. In a plan spearheaded by Shishou and the Empress Regnant, young women who were to be illicitly exported out of the country were instead sheltered inside the rear palace, causing the number of palace women to increase to 3000.

Quarters and Buildings

A map of the rear palace with a section of the southern quarter circled

The rear palace is made up of four quarters: the northern, southern, eastern, and western quarters.

Northern Quarter

The northern quarter is the least maintained area of the rear palace, owing to its low population. Several buildings are unused, and insects, mushrooms, and plants thrive in abandoned groves.

Clinic

The Clinic (診療所, Shinryōjo^?) is the unofficial medical office of the rear palace. There are rooms available for rest, and palace women who can treat simple maladies. The Empress Dowager started the clinic to house palace women who had been bedmates of the Former Emperor, so could not leave the rear palace. As a result, all the women there are middle-aged, in contrast to the normally youthful palace women. Since only doctors can dispense medicine, the clinic only has access to alcohol, which is used for cleaning.

Institute of Practical Studies

The Institute of Practical Studies (手習所, Tenaraijo^?) is a school started by Jinshi to teach illiterate palace women how to read and write, following interest from the initial distribution of books in the rear palace. Students learn from textbooks and a eunuch teacher, and practice writing characters in sand. Snacks are also given irregularly.

Shrine of Choosing

The Shrine of Choosing (選択の廟, Sentaku no Byō^?) is a large shrine built before the Queen Mother arrived. It is well maintained by an elderly eunuch. Historically used to test emperors-to-be, the shrine requires them or their consort to have red-green colorblindness to accurately follow its instructions. Those unable to pass are led to a sign that rejects their lineage to the Queen Mother, but successfully passing the shrine’s test leads to the roof, where the entire rear palace is visible from there.

Other Buildings

• Consort Fuyou's building

Southern Quarter

As the most populated area of the rear palace, the southern quarter includes the plaza and residences for high and most middle consorts. It also includes the administrative buildings for the three divisions of service, which are located next to the main gate. The Emperor enters the rear palace through the main gate.

Crystal Pavilion

The Crystal Pavilion (水晶宮, Suishō-kyū^?) belongs to the Wise Consort. The pavilion itself is dressed in refined nobility in accordance with Consort Lihua's elegant personality. It is managed by over ten ladies-in-waiting and over 30 maidservants.

Jade Pavilion

The Jade Pavilion (翡翠宮, Hisui-kyū^?) belongs to the Precious Consort. During Consort Gyokuyou's tenure, the pavilion emanated a cozy and welcoming aura.

Garnet Pavilion

The Garnet Pavilion (柘榴宮, Zakuro-kyū^?) belongs to the Pure Consort. During Consort Ah-Duo's tenure, the pavilion had a simple and practical setup and was bare of needless decorations. When the extravagant Consort Loulan moved in, the pavilion changed drastically; its minimalism was replaced by an overabundance of exotic and garish decorations.

Diamond Pavilion

The Diamond Pavilion (金剛宮, Kongō-kyū^?) belongs to the Virtuous Consort. Despite being built when Consort Lishu first entered the rear palace, the walls of a storeroom adjacent to the private bath have become moldy and begun rotting due to negligence. Nantian bamboo are also planted near the pavilion.

Bathhouse

The Bathhouse (大浴場, Daiyokujō^?) is a large building consisting of three main bathing areas, one of which is reserved for consorts. It serves to maintain the rear palace's cleanliness, as all palace women are expected to bathe regularly. The bathhouse's design is inspired by similar baths of the harem of a western country. Palace women can also serve as unofficial bathhouse attendants, by offering massages and hair removal, to win favors from consorts.

Medical Office

The Medical Office (医局, Ikyoku^?) contains all the medicines within the rear palace. Medicines are stored in cabinets and pulverized in a mortar. Although it is staffed by a physician, most palace women prefer to visit the clinic due to the former's incompetence. As a result, the medical office serves more as a place to host the physician's guests.

Eastern and Western Quarters

The eastern quarter includes buildings for maidservants, which Maomao lived in when she first arrived at the rear palace. The eastern and western quarters seem to mainly be working areas, as both have laundry areas, and the western quarter has a garbage pit.

Offices of Employment

Consorts

Main article: Consort

Consorts are managed by the Office of the Interior. There are about 100 consorts in the rear palace.

Palace Women

According to Maomao, women who work in the rear palace are known as palace women (女官, nyokan^?). Palace women are managed by the Office of Serving Women. They are generally split into those in administrative positions, ladies-in-waiting, and maidservants. Palace women used to be hired at around 10 years old, during the Former Emperor’s time. Currently, they must be around 14 to enter the rear palace. Service terms last two years, which may be extended.

If the Emperor takes interest in a palace woman, they can no longer leave the rear palace. As a result, there are several middle-aged palace women from the former emperor’s time. Rarely, they may also be promoted to consorts.

Ladies-in-waiting

Main article: Lady-in-waiting

Maidservants

Maidservants (下女, Gejo^?) are the lowest-ranking palace women and carry out menial tasks. Most maidservants within the rear palace are illiterate due to coming from lowly family backgrounds such as farming families, though occasionally they may also be city girls or even daughters of officials. It is not uncommon for families to sell their daughters into the Imperial Palace for their financial gain, as they receive 20% of the wages.

Due to their low position within the hierarchy, maidservants have a low quality of life. They are served two meals a day consisting of soup and mixed grain porridge that may occasionally contain meat and/or vegetables. Their living quarters consist of dormitories in which they live ten to a room, with their only bedding being a reed mat and a singular bed sheet. However, their lives are not absent of excitement, so to speak, as the gossip surrounding the rear palace serves as a significant matter of interest, as well as trends such as fashion and makeup. In particular, many maidservants are drawn to matters pertaining to romance, despite being surrounded by eunuchs; for example, having romantic interest towards Jinshi because of his ethereal beauty.

Maidservants are split into six main offices of employment, three of which have been named: the Wardrobe Service (尚服) handles clothing, the Housekeeping Service (尚寝) cleans rooms, and the Food Service (尚食) makes meals.

List of Maidservants

• Maomao (Former), Wardrobe Service
• Xiaolan, Wardrobe Service
• Shisui, Wardrobe Service

Eunuchs

Eunuchs (宦官, Kangan^?) are managed by the Domestic Service Department. Although their tasks often overlap with that of maidservants, eunuchs tend to do more tasks that involve physical labor. There are some positions unique to eunuchs since they require men, such as guards, physicians, and the overseer. Although castrated, eunuchs are also kept under a careful watch; eunuchs are not allowed to hold an audience with a consort without a lady-in-waiting present. Castration often results in the presence of effeminate characteristics such as the loss of body hair, a higher pitched voice, as well as a propensity for eating that replaces a sexual appetite.

Eunuchs are generally older than most women in the rear palace and are not easily replaced, as the Emperor banned the surgery to make them. New eunuchs are now former slaves that were castrated by barbarian tribes.

List of Eunuchs

• Jinshi, the rear palace overseer
• Gaoshun, Jinshi's aide
• Guen, the rear palace physician
• Luomen, the former rear palace physician
• The former emperor's servant
• The Shrine of Choosing caretaker

Gallery

Trivia

• The rear palace is called "Hòugōng" in Chinese.

Notes

• Both the light novel and the anime use the term "rear palace", while the manga uses "inner court", or rarely "inner palace".
• The light novel specifies that the rear palace is part of the inner court. The imperial family resides within the inner court, but outside of the rear palace.