The extravagant life of Tu Hy Hau Hau: Eat 120 oyster sea oysters every meal, there is a railway to go back and forth in the palace

From the position of a pilot in a forbidden place, Tu Hy Thai Hau has gradually touched the peak of power and ruled the Qing for nearly 50 years. Although 109 years have passed since her death, many controversies still erupt around the life of this powerful woman.

Born on November 29, 1835, Tu Hy was recruited to serve as a maid to serve Emperor Phong.In 1856, she gave birth to a prince, named Dong Tri, who later succeeded the throne.From here, Tu Hy's life is covered in velvet, different from the miserable life that the masses at that time are suffering.

Tu Hy Thai Hau, who passed away exactly 109 years ago.

History researchers at home and abroad have very different arguments about the contribution of Tsui Dowager to China. Some people believe that Xu Hy is a cruel and domineering person. Her wrong decisions have contributed to ending China's feudal history of thousands of years of civilization. However, it must be admitted that many changes and reforms under the period of Tu Hy Thai Hau were extremely necessary at that time.

So what is really special about the precious life behind the door of Tu Hy Thanh Tu Tu Tu?

Caricature picture From Hy Thai Hau on the cover of France's "Le Rire" magazine, published on July 14, 1900.

The Empress Dowager is very stylish in choosing outfits

At the time of reign, Tu Hy Thai Hau was known for her special fashion sense and loved to stand in front of camera. The Ancient Palace Museum in Beijing still maintains more than 100 precious documentary photos of the Queen Mother in nearly 30 brilliant and sumptuous costumes.

Portrait of Hy Hy Hau, believed to have been taken in 1903, with a bun hairstyle on both sides - an extremely popular hairstyle for women under the Qing Dynasty.

Material of these clothes is mostly made from silk and embroidered with premium pearls, besides the indispensable jewelry such as pearls, hair beads or brooches are made entirely of gold.

It can be said that the process of making hair for Tu Hy also consumes a lot of time. The photo below is the total of 25 tools needed to create a two-piece bun hairstyle for her, as well as with other frequency bands in the palace.

A hair styling kit used in the Qing palace, currently on display at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Train tracks right in the royal palace are reserved for Tu Hy Thai Hau

In order to seek the support of the Empress in the development of the railway network in China, Li Hong Jiang, a high-ranking mandarin in the Qing court and an outstanding diplomat, proposed the idea of ​​building erecting a special rail line exclusively for Tu Hy, running around the West Gate, one of the famous royal gardens for the Qing kings, located to the west of the Forbidden City.

Located in the middle of Bac Hai Trung Nam Hai flexible garden, this is the place where Xu Hy Thai often visited since 1888.

Photograph of the train car of Tu Quang Cac Railway.

Considered the first railway in China for royalty, construction began in 1886 and ended in 1888. The total length of the road was about 1510 meters, connecting Nghi Loan Electric and garden Uyen Trung Nam Hai - Tu Hy's residence - with Tinh Tam Trai, Bac Hai flexible garden - where Thai Hau frequents to eat.

During the trip, a rest stop will be arranged in Tu Quang Cac, which is the official name for the railway line to operate this train.

The map illustrates in detail the diagram of the Tu Quang Cac railway that was built west of the Forbidden City.

To show his authority, Xu Hy asked that the cars must be decorated with different colors of curtains to match the position of the passengers sitting on it, for example, with the Queen's carriage and Quang Tu emperor, curtains will be yellow, for royal members, red will be used. The last is the blue color for the imperial court official.

Unfortunately, the entire railway was destroyed by the Union of 8 Western countries in 1900 in the war of opium.

Each meal of "Great Elder Buddha" usually includes 120 bum-dipping dishes

Not only Ngu Thien Phong, which serves dishes for the female imperial palace of Emperor, Tu Hy Thai Hau also allowed the establishment of an agency called "Bao Tay" within the interior, the purpose is to take care.

Divided into 5 main zones, each department in Bao Tay serves a separate list, including a special area for meat dishes, vegetarian area, area specializing in rice-vermicelli, vermicelli and snacks. and the area specializing in pastries.

A complete meal of the Empress Dowager Tu Hy was restored and displayed at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

According to statistics, each chef working in Bao Tay can process more than 400 types of pastries, 4,000 different dishes, even some delicately high-class dishes, such as bird's nest, shark fins or bear hands.

Many anecdotes also said that Xu Hy even used to enjoy nearly 150,000 apples within a year. However, this was purely a baseless rumor. Instead of enjoying them, the Queen Mother only chose the most delicious apples to smell the scent. The apples after they are no longer fresh will be immediately removed and replaced by newer ones.

I also love hot pot dishes.Hot pot used in royal palace is usually made of ceramic material, glazed porcelain, copper silver alloy with or without gold plating.

Xu Hy Thai's pet dog also has his own slave servant

Breeding dogs in a ban is a popular hobby of Qing royalty. According to the book "Complementary Royal Incense" by Der Ling, a maiden of the Empress Dowager and the daughter of a Manchu aristocrat, Xu Hy has more than 20 different pet dogs, among them, the lion dog. most loved by her.

Instead of being locked up in a kennel, she used to live in a house built with bamboo, outside there were 4 on-duty and regular care.

In addition, they were also dressed in designer clothes, woven in satin and embroidered with chrysanthemum flowers, lilies with only gold silk.

A model for pet dogs at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Tu Hy was buried and buried with a treasure of 1.2 million silver coins

"Votive" boat used to see off the Mother Goddess of Mercy.

Tu Hy Thai died at Nghi Loan Dien on November 15, 1908, just one day after Quang Tu emperor died. Her funeral is celebrated throughout the year. According to the royal records of the Qing Dynasty at that time, as well as other precious items, worth up to 1.2 million ounces of silver.

In order to bring the Queen Mother to the golden spring and wish for her to have a better life in the next life, people even cremated a large "votive" boat in Dongmen Forbidden City on the 30th. 08/1909. The boat is 72m long, 7m wide and made from premium wood, decorated with high quality silk motifs. On the boat, there are many paper models symbolizing towers, communal houses and buildings as well as many human figures in real clothes.

After the funeral, her body was buried in Thanh Dong Lang area but was looted and destroyed by the army of Lord Ton Dien Anh in 1928.

On the boat people put many servants in real clothes.