# Looking for info on the historical practice of noble Chinese girls growing up without leaving their bed (possibly specific to Jiangnan, likely uncommon by the Qing Dynasty), more details inside : AskHistorians ## Metadata - Author: [[pineyapples]] - Publication: [[rAskHistorians]] - Real Title: Looking for info on the historical practice of noble Chinese girls growing up without leaving their bed (possibly specific to Jiangnan, likely uncommon by the Qing Dynasty), more details inside : AskHistorians - Link: https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of - [i] Outline - [[Chinese beds were multipurpose]] - [[canopied beds functioned as sub-rooms]] - [[beds were a Chinese status symbol]] - [[Chinese beds served as thrones]] - [[the role of canopied beds differed between China and Europe]] ## Highlights ### 252580408 > > Matriarch: My daughter was born when my husband became an imperial scholar. She's been spoiled from a young age, but now she's of age for marriage. I don't want to exaggerate, but she's never left her bed. > > Merchant: Women of Jiangnan are praised for not touching the ground, it's been a long time since I met a girl like that. I'm surprised she still follows the Admonitions. > > [.....] > > Child: I wish I could stay in this bed forever. > > Matriarch: When you get married, the bed will go with you. - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F4%2F0%2F3%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A0%2C9%2F0%2F3%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A0#:~:text=Matriarch%3A%20My%20daughter%20was%20born%2Cbed%20will%20go%20with%20you.) ### 252580457 Chinese beds were multipurpose > the different types of beds you might find in a wealthy dynastic Chinese household. Here's a generalized summary from what I could research: > For the upper class throughout much of Chinese history, beds were a multi-purpose piece of furniture. Go far enough back in history and you'll discover a time when beds *weren't* used for sleeping; while shelf beds can be traced back to the Shang dynasty in 1600-1046 BCE, linguists during the Western Han dynasty (which existed from 202 BCE to 8 CE) wrote that “Beds are used for sitting, (床，安身之坐者)” not sleeping. Beds were a place to receive guests and provide hospitality; mats were available for rest instead. This changed by 220 CE, or the end of the Eastern Han dynasty; the books in that time were updated to state “Beds are used for sitting and sleeping (人所坐卧曰：“床”)” making the living room the center for household activity. These were not like beds as we know them today; even the most basic types, frame beds, came with handrails and a removable table. - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A99%2C2%2F1%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A684#:~:text=the%20different%20types%20of%20beds%2Chandrails%20and%20a%20removable%20table.) ### 252580458 canopied beds functioned as sub-rooms > a canopied bed or babu bed (babu beds being the most extravagant of the two). They were akin to a room within a room, complete with a table, hanging balls or censers to waft incense around, and, sometimes, steps leading up to it. I cannot stress enough how elaborate these pieces were, with jaw-dropping tapestries, carvings, and other design elements making them nothing short of spectacular. Its curtains offered privacy and another avenue for impressing guests, with elaborate depictions of folk tales and other well-known characters gracing the interior. [One of my favorite examples](https://www.ichongqing.info/2019/05/31/a-bed-with-over-200-grams-of-gold/) is a canopied bed from the Chongqing Bayu Folk-Custom Museum in Yubei District, Chongqing -- its construction supposedly took multiple craftsman several years to complete, with hundreds of grams of gold that went into painting it. - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F2%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A73%2C2%2F2%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A231#:~:text=a%20canopied%20bed%20or%20babu%2Cthat%20went%20into%20painting%20it.) ### 252580508 beds were a Chinese status symbol > That museum bed is also from the Qing dynasty, matching up with the time period you've referenced. It was indeed a practice going out of style in the 19th and 20th centuries, but still functioned as an obvious status symbol in more ways than one. There's the clear wealth to flaunt from the canopied bed's construction and adornments, for one. For another, you have to be rich in order to have a woman of the family never need to leave it. She wasn't merely lying down her entire life; if the canopied bed's occupant was the matriarch, she ran the household from her room-within-a-room. A woman's status in the household - whether wife, daughter, mistress, or concubine - was reflected in the type of bed she had. The rather lecherous book Jin Ping Mei, also known as The Plum in the Golden Vase, was written in the 17th century and exemplifies the importance of beds in the house of Ximen. Pan Jilian, his mistress, exercised her influence by demanding he buy her a bed just as expensive as the one his concubine Li Ping'er has. You better believe she gets it too, complete with silks, silver, and mother-of-pearl inlays. Beds were a huge deal. - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F3%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A0%2C4%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A0#:~:text=That%20museum%20bed%20is%20also%2CBeds%20were%20a%20huge%20deal.) ### 252580509 Chinese beds served as thrones > While canopied beds were used in both men's and women's bedrooms, the women's were much more elaborate. Besides being as important a piece of furniture as a throne in a palace, it's also where she kept her most valuable jewelry, her money, and other prized possessions. You could entertain guests from it and in it as a place to socialize, with plenty of room for "favored friends" to come visit if the lady so wishes. Such beds were also part of a bride's dowry once she married, so it's historically accurate for the mother to tell her daughter she'd keep her bed after marrying. If accepted as the marriage bed, it takes on the crucial role as the setting where sons are conceived, and the continuation of the family line is secured. - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F4%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A0%2C0%2F4%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A736#:~:text=While%20canopied%20beds%20were%20used%2Cthe%20family%20line%20is%20secured.) ### 252580511 > Psychologically, it functioned as a place of safety and security for its inhabitant within. The noble women with a canopied bed, having spent much of their lives within one, rarely left its comforts and splendors if they could help it. [A memoir from Grace Service](https://books.google.com/books/about/Golden_Inches.html?id=g5_C2AY4-t4C&source=kp_book_description), who details her life in China beginning in 1905, relates a fascinating anecdote about a woman who needed to be persuaded to leave her canopied bed in order to go to the hospital. When she finally went to the hospital, she was so uncomfortable in the open hospital beds that she was unable to sleep, declaring "I've had eight children, but I've never slept in a bed without sides!" - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F5%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A0%2C2%2F5%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A382#:~:text=Psychologically%2C%20it%20functioned%20as%20a%2Cin%20a%20bed%20without%20sides!%22) ### 252580518 > the dialogue about "follow[ing] the Admonitions" references the Admonitions Scroll, which dates from the 4th or 5th century CE concerning subject matter from around 290 CE. At its core, it's a not-so-subtle instruction to the Jin dynasty's Empress Jia on how to behave properly in the imperial court, especially pressing during the tumultuous Period of Disunion. - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F6%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A61%2C0%2F6%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A423#:~:text=the%20dialogue%20about%20%22follow%5Bing%5D%20the%2Cthe%20tumultuous%20Period%20of%20Disunion.) ### 252580520 the role of canopied beds differed between China and Europe > For a more in-depth look at the role beds have played in Chinese history, I'd recommend reading Chapter 10 of Sarah Handler's [Austere Luminosity of Chinese Classical Furniture](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Austere_Luminosity_of_Chinese_Classical/_MYkDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0). It comes with several illustrations showing off the variety of canopied beds throughout the centuries, some of which you can see in Google's book preview. Many of the beds look similar to the four-poster beds of European nobility; while you can draw many comparisons between them, Chinese canopied beds were in a league all their own. - [View Highlight](https://reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/r189so/looking_for_info_on_the_historical_practice_of?__readwiseLocation=0%2F7%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A0%2C2%2F7%2F0%2F4%2F2%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F4%2F1%2F0%2F1%2F0%2F0%2F0%2F5%2F1%2F0%2F3%3A336#:~:text=For%20a%20more%20in-depth%20look%2Ca%20league%20all%20their%20own.)