Like two rich women in the 18th century. Entertainment of Russian merchants

Story: Entertainment XVIII century

Carnival and masquerade processions
Peter's time was distinguished not only by cruelty and bloody reprisals against thieves and bribe-takers, but also by the diversity and brightness of all kinds of festivities.
On the same Trinity Square where the Execution Place was located, in September 1721 a carnival procession took place in honor of the end of the Northern War, which lasted 21 years. The square was full of all kinds of costumes and masks. The sovereign himself acted as the ship's drummer. His wife was dressed as a Dutch peasant woman. They were surrounded by trumpeters, nymphs, shepherdesses, and buffoons. The ancient gods Neptune and Bacchus walked accompanied by satyrs.
Bacchus under Peter I was in a place of honor among others ancient gods. The king loved mead and beer and was very angry when anyone refused a glass in his presence. The offender was treated to a huge “Big Eagle Cup” that held about two liters of wine. I had to drink to the bottom. After accepting the cup, the person usually fell off his feet.
Sometimes humorous characters appeared in carnival processions. There were riders sitting backwards in their saddles, old women playing with dolls, dwarfs next to tall men who took them in their arms. These figures symbolized various vices.
Before Peter I, buffoons were persecuted in Rus'. In young St. Petersburg, they took part in festivities at Maslenitsa and on Trinity Day. In addition to the winter ones, festivities were held in the spring for Easter. Tsaritsyn Meadow and Admiralteyskaya Square were allocated for this purpose. It was vast and occupied a huge territory from the Admiralty to the end of the existing Palace Square. Booths, roller coasters, and carousels were built here.
During numerous celebrations, fireworks were displayed, which Peter loved so much. The Peter and Paul Fortress and some houses near it were illuminated in the evening. Mica kerosene lanterns burned on the gates and roofs. On days like these, on one of the bastions Peter and Paul Fortress the flag was raised and cannon shots thundered. They were also heard from the royal yacht “Lisette”.
The year 1710 was a record year for the number of holidays. In November, two dwarfs drove around St. Petersburg in a three-wheeled carriage and invited guests to the wedding. The wedding procession opened in mid-November. A dwarf with a staff walked ahead. Seventy dwarfs followed him. The wedding feast took place in the house of Governor Menshikov, which at that time was located on the Ambassadorial (later Petrovskaya) embankment. The best man for the dwarf bride was Peter I himself.
The dwarfs danced. The rest of the guests were spectators.

Dancing
They came into fashion under Peter I. In 1721 there was a ball in the house of Golovkin, the sovereign’s educator and associate, who was located not far from Peter’s house on the Posolskaya embankment. The dances were accompanied, as the fashion of the time required, by frequent kisses of the ladies. The Prosecutor General of the Senate, Yaguzhinsky, was especially distinguished.
The assemblies established by Peter I are widely known. First they took place in the gallery Summer Garden. Later, every noble person was obliged to host an assembly during the winter. The dancing at these assemblies was very ceremonial. A man who wanted to dance with a lady had to approach her three times, bowing. At the end of the dance, the man kissed the lady's hand. A lady could dance with one gentleman only once. These prim rules were brought by Peter from abroad. He soon realized that this etiquette was terribly boring and came up with a new rule for assembly dances.
It was borrowed from the ancient German dance “grossvater”. The couples moved slowly and importantly to the sounds of sad and solemn music. Suddenly, cheerful music was heard. The ladies left their gentlemen and invited new ones. The old gentlemen grabbed the new ladies. A terrible crowd arose.
Peter and Catherine himself took part in similar dances. And the sovereign’s laughter sounded louder than anyone else.
Instantly, at the given sign, everything came back to order again, and the couples continued to move decorously in the same rhythm. If some sluggish gentleman found himself without a lady as a result of the dance formation, he was fined. They brought him the “Big Eagle Cup.” At the end of the dance, the offender was usually carried away in his arms.

Games
Also in XVI century in Rus' such games as grain (dice), checkers, chess and cards were known. The game of grain was especially popular at that time. The bones had white and black sides. Winning was determined by which side they landed on when thrown. Mention of cards was found in 1649 in the code of laws of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Along with theft, playing cards for money was considered a serious crime. For this they could beat him with a whip, put him in prison, or cut off his ear. But in early XVIII centuries, in many houses they played cards openly, without fear of punishment.
Peter I was not fond of cards, preferring chess to them. The Germans taught him this game in his youth. The sovereign most often spent his leisure time with a mug of beer and a pipe. chessboard. He didn't have many worthy opponents. Only Admiral Franz Lefort managed to beat Peter. He was not angry for this, but on the contrary, he praised him.
In 1710, the tsar banned the playing of cards and dice on ships, and eight years later he issued a decree banning card play during hostilities. However, this did not apply to the civilian population. What card games were you in the time of Peter the Great?
They played ombre, mariage and the game of kings, brought from Poland. It was most common in the family circle. The loser paid with all sorts of fines, which were imposed by the winning “king”.
Because of this game, the wife of Pushkin’s famous great-grandfather, the Arab Ibrahim Hannibal, suffered. In 1731, Captain Hannibal lived with his wife Evdokia in the city of Pernov. At Easter, Evdokia visited, where she was invited to play cards. Among the guests was an experienced womanizer, a certain Shishkov. Having won and found himself in the role of “king,” he imposed a fine on Evdokia in the form of a kiss. It was with this kiss that they began love story. Ibrahim Petrovich soon found out about her. Pushkin's ardent and jealous great-grandfather punished his unfaithful wife in his own way - he sent her to a monastery.
Billiards appeared in St. Petersburg in the 1720s. The French brought it here. The first billiard table was installed in Peter's Winter Palace, which was located approximately on the site where the Hermitage Theater is now.
Peter was fond of playing billiards. With his enormous height and steady hand, he easily learned to accurately place the balls in the pockets. Soon many courtiers also knew how to play billiards. Billiards were ordered from France by nobles, and then by innkeepers. Most likely, there was billiards in the “Auster”, which was often visited by the Tsar, near the Ioanovsky Bridge, leading to the Peter and Paul Fortress. In F. Tumansky’s book “Description of St. Petersburg” (1793) you can read: “Austeria was called Solemn, because the sovereign sent all the celebrations and fireworks to the square in front of it. On holidays, Sovereign Peter the Great, leaving the mass of the Trinity Cathedral, went with noble persons and ministers to this Austeria for a glass of vodka before dinner.”

Jesters
U little Peter there were two dwarf jesters given to him by his older brother Fyodor Alekseevich. One was called Mosquito, the other was Cricket. The latter soon died, and Komar, whom the sovereign loved very much, lived until the death of Peter I. In the Winter Palace on Palace Embankment, Peter was surrounded by two more jesters: the legendary Balakirev and Acosta.
The jesters at court performed a certain role, ridiculing ancient customs and prejudices. Sometimes they could inform Peter about his subordinates, and they more than once complained to the king about his jesters. Peter, as a rule, answered with a grin: “What can you do? After all, they are fools!” Balakirev was with Peter for no more than two years, but he left behind a memory. His name is known as the author of witty answers and anecdotes.
In books about these anecdotes, legends are interspersed with reality. We will cite one of the cases that may have taken place in life.
Once, when Peter asked what people in St. Petersburg were saying about St. Petersburg itself, Balakirev answered:
- People say: on one side there is sea, on the other there is mountain, on the third there is moss, and on the fourth “oh”!
- Get down! - Peter shouted and began to beat the jester with a club, condemning him. - Here’s the sea, here’s your grief, here’s the moss, and here’s your “oh”!
During the reign of the “Queen of the Terrible Eye” Anna Ioannovna, the attitude towards jesters was even more cruel. Suffice it to recall the story of the ice house built on the Neva at the end of 1739 for the clownish wedding of M.A. Golitsin and A.I. Buzheninova, where they were ordered to spend their first wedding night.
Anna Ioannovna surrounded herself with joker women. And dwarfs and freaks. The empress herself came up with costumes for her jesters. They were sewn from multi-colored scraps. The suit could be made of velvet, and the pants and sleeves could be made of matting. The jesters wore caps with rattles on their heads. Balls and masquerades in the third Winter Palace, which was built by F. Rastrelli in the 1730s approximately on the spot where the current Winter Palace stands, followed one after another. Everyone had to wear masks to masquerade balls. At dinner the order was given: “Masks off!” and then everyone present revealed their faces. The Empress herself usually did not wear either a costume or a mask. Balami, like everything else, was managed by her favorite Biron.
The balls ended with a sumptuous dinner. Anna Ioannovna did not like wine, and therefore at dinner they ate more than they drank. Jesters were not allowed at balls and masquerades. Sometimes the empress took them with her for walks and hunting. Despite her plumpness, she was a good horsewoman and shot accurately with a gun. A pen for various animals was built on the square in front of the Winter Palace. Anna Ioannovna could grab a gun in the middle of the day and shoot right out of the palace windows at a bird flying past.

The whims of Elizaveta Petrovna
While still a princess, Elizabeth had a huge staff of servants: four valets, nine ladies-in-waiting, four governesses, a chamberlain, and a host of footmen. Having become empress, she expanded her staff several times more. There were musicians and songwriters with her who delighted her ears.
The servants also included several women, who at night, when the empress was awake, and this happened often, scratched her heels. At the same time, they were allowed to conduct a quiet, low conversation. Sometimes the carders managed to whisper two or three words into Elizabeth’s ear, providing their protégés with a generously paid service.
Elizabeth inherited from her father a love of wandering places. Her travels were reminiscent disaster. When she moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow, a real commotion began in both capitals. Persons managing the Senate and Synod, the treasury, and the court chancellery had to follow her. Elizaveta Petrovna loved driving fast. Her carriage or cart, equipped with a special firebox, was harnessed to twelve horses. They rushed to the quarry.
The splendor of balls and masquerades under Elizaveta Petrovna surpassed everything that had happened before. The Empress had an excellent figure. She was especially beautiful in a man's suit. Therefore, in the first four months of her reign, she changed the uniforms of all regiments. In general, the Empress loved dressing up. Her wardrobe consisted of a fabulous number of very different outfits, which the daughter of Peter I ordered from abroad. One day, the Empress ordered that all the ladies at a ball in the Winter Palace (this temporary Winter Palace was located on the corner of Nevsky and Moika) should appear in men's suits, and all men in women's suits. On hound hunting Elizabeth also went out in a man's suit. For the sake of hunting, the empress, who loved to sleep, got up at 5 o’clock in the morning.
Of course, in this essay we could not talk about all the amusements of old Petersburg, in particular those that took place under Catherine II. More on this a little later. It is important to note that the city both during the reign of Anna Ioannovna and during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna changed and grew.
Under Anna Ioannovna, the Alekseevsky and Ioannovsky ravelins of the Peter and Paul Fortress appeared, named after the grandfather and father of this cruel ruler. Under her, the Commission on St. Petersburg Buildings was organized, which managed the construction of new buildings.
Under Elizaveta Petrovna, Petersburg finally received the status of the second capital, and the Anichkov Palace, the Stroganov Palace (Nevsky, 17), the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery, the Winter Palace (the fifth in a row), which still flaunts on Palace Square, were built.

Something about Marius the giraffe came to mind today:(

Fox throwing

Fox throwing was a common competitive sport (bloody sport) in parts of Europe in the 17th and 17th centuries. XVIII centuries and consisted of throwing live foxes and other animals as high into the sky as possible. The throwing usually took place in the forest or in the courtyard of a castle or palace, on a round area fenced with stretched canvas.

Two people stood at a distance of six to seven meters from each other, holding the ends of the sling, which was laid out between them on the ground. Then the beast was released into the arena. As he ran between the players, they pulled the ends of the sling with all their might, throwing the animal into the air. Victory in the competition was awarded for the highest throw. Throw height experienced players could reach seven meters or more. It happened that several slings were laid out in parallel at once, so that several teams could take part in throwing one animal in a row.

For an abandoned animal, the outcome was usually tragic. In 1648, in Dresden, at a competition organized by the Elector of Saxony, Augustus the Strong, 647 foxes, 533 hares, 34 badgers and 21 forest cats were thrown and killed. Augustus personally took part in the competition. According to stories, to demonstrate his strength, he held his end of the sling with one finger, while two of his strongest servants held it on the other side.

Rat baiting

Rat baiting was particularly popular in Britain and only died out in the early 20th century. The fashion for this fun appeared thanks to an act of Parliament in 1835, which introduced a ban on baiting bears, bulls and other large animals.

The bullying took place in an arena surrounded by a barrier. Spectator seats were placed around the amphitheater; first, five rats were released into the arena for each participating dog.

The bull terrier Jacko set several records - 100 rats in 5 minutes 28 seconds, 1000 rats in less than 100 minutes.

The last public persecution took place in 1912. The disappearance of bloody fun was largely facilitated by Queen Victoria's love for animals and a change in attitude towards dogs to a more humane one.

Throwing a rooster

"The First Stage of Cruelty", engraving by William Hogarth (1751)

The fun was that the audience threw sticks at a rooster planted in a pot until the bird gave up the ghost. Usually this action took place on Fat Tuesday (carnival time). In some cases, the bird was tied to a log, or those throwing sticks were blindfolded. In Sussex, the bird was tied to a peg with a line five or six feet long, so that it could peck at a slow bully.

Unlike cockfighting, rooster throwing was common among the lower classes. When the authorities in Bristol tried to ban this entertainment in 1660, apprentices in the city rebelled. Some wits wrote that the rooster in this game symbolizes the ancient enemy of the British - France (the rooster is one of national symbols France).

During the Enlightenment, this activity was ridiculed in the press as a relic of medieval barbarism and, as a result, gradually faded away.

Goose stretching

A blood sport that was widespread in the Netherlands, Belgium, some areas of Germany, Great Britain and North America in the period from the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century.

The meaning of this fun was as follows: a live goose with a well-greased head was tied by the legs to a horizontal pole located at a sufficient distance high altitude and attached to two vertical poles, forming a gate-like structure. A person had to ride a horse at full gallop through this “gate” and be able to grab the goose by the head, thereby tearing it off. This was quite difficult to do due to the grease on the goose’s head and the fluttering of the bird; Sometimes additional elements of complexity were introduced into the competitions - for example, a man with a whip was sometimes placed near the “gate”, and with his blows he was supposed to frighten the approaching horse. The prize for winning the competition was usually the goose itself, sometimes small sums of money, collected from spectators, or alcoholic drinks.

Fun "Stretching the goose" today, Belgium. Video

It is generally accepted that in the entire centuries-old history of our state, it was the Elizabethan era (1741-1762) that was the most fun, the most carefree, the most festive, and so on. In principle, there is every reason for this - how many balls were held back then, how many boxes of champagne were drunk, how many overseas fabrics were spent on sewing outfits! But only a narrow stratum called the nobility had fun in this way. All the rest were forced to work day and night so that the gentlemen were always in a good mood.

And if the owner doesn’t like something, then he won’t be ashamed - he’ll recoup himself as he should. After all, almost every landowner's house of those times was equipped with a real torture chamber. Well, this is what Catherine the Second wrote in her diaries, and this, you see, is an authoritative source. Torture was generally considered the most common occurrence. Any young gentleman, when designing his house, took its presence into account in advance. Here is where the living room will be, here is the bedroom, here is the office, then the kitchen, the servants' room, and right there, right behind the sheepfold, the torture room. Everything is like with people, as they say.

What about people? Cruelty, cruelty and more cruelty. And completely unreasonable. And one of the most famous such examples is the Russian landowner Daria Nikolaevna Saltykova. Initially, her life developed quite normally: she was born into a noble family, married a noble officer, and gave birth to two sons. But something bad happened to her at the age of 26 - she became a widow. She didn’t grieve for a long time, but this is understandable - the woman is still young. I decided to occupy myself with something, and bad luck - only rods came to hand, and only serfs came into view. In general, since then, Daria Saltykova has turned into a formidable and ruthless Saltychikha.

The full number of its victims remains unknown, but the fact that the number was in the hundreds is beyond doubt. She punished her “servants” for any offense, even for tiny wrinkles in ironed linen. Moreover, she did not spare either men, women, or children. Old people too, therefore. And what she did, what she did. She exposed her to the cold, scalded her with boiling water, tore out her hair and tore off her ears. Well, she also didn’t shy away from something simpler, like banging her head against a wall.

And one day, she learned that someone had gotten into the habit of hunting in her forest. Instantly she ordered to be caught and imprisoned for further “fun”. As it turned out, this uninvited hunter turned out to be another landowner, Nikolai Tyutchev, the future grandfather of the great Russian poet Fyodor Ivanovich. And Saltychikha could not catch him, because Tyutchev himself was no less cruel a tyrant. Moreover, they even started love relationship. That's it, it's not just opposites that attract. It almost didn't come to the wedding, but last moment Tyutchev nevertheless came to his senses and quickly wooed some young girl. Daria Nikolaevna, of course, became furious and ordered her peasants to kill the newlyweds. Those, thank God, disobeyed. And then Catherine II came to power, and almost the first thing she did was deprive Saltykova title of nobility and imprisoned her in a dungeon for life. After spending three years in captivity, Saltychikha died. This happened in 1801.

And so ended the story of one of the most famous serial killers in history. Russian Empire. Alas, this did not end the noble tyranny, because the same Catherine, although she organized a show trial of Saltykova, subsequently freed the hands of the nobles even more and further aggravated the situation of the serfs.

Servant

In pre-Petrine Rus', girls and women in service were called courtyard girls, seny (from the canopy - the non-residential part of the house between the residential part of the house and the porch or separating the two halves of the house, which was usually used for household needs, and in the summer could also be used for overnight stays) or maids (from the upper room or upper room - a clean room, usually on the second floor of the house where the owner’s daughters lived). “Some of the maids - usually girls - were engaged exclusively in embroidery together with the mistress and other female members of the master's family, others - usually married - did menial work, stoked stoves, washed linen and clothes, baked bread, prepared various supplies, others were entrusted with yarn and weaving,” writes N. I. Kostomarov in the book “Essay on the domestic life and customs of the Great Russian people in the 16th and 17th centuries.”

The courtyard and hay girls remained in the family estates, the maids moved with their mistresses to St. Petersburg. They had to learn a lot: help housewives put on hoops and lace corsets, comb and powder their hair high, decorate their hair with flowers and ribbons, wash, iron and store dresses made of new, unfamiliar fabrics. In addition, the maids washed the floor, cleaned the rooms, aired and remade the beds, and cleaned silverware. If a girl was the only servant in a poor house, all the housework fell on her.

In England, where all residents were personally free, servants were hired, and for a decent amount (a mid-level maid received an average of 6–8 pounds a year, plus additional money for tea, sugar and beer, a maid who served directly the mistress (lady's maid ), received 12–15 pounds per year plus money for additional expenses, livery footman - 15–25 pounds per year, valet - 25–50 pounds per year). The Russians were spared this need - they, as a rule, took their serfs into service. Of course, a trained maid was valued above a simple girl just brought from the village, and on occasion she was sold at a profit.

The following advertisements were not uncommon in newspapers of that time: “In the parish of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in the school, a 20-year-old girl, distinguished and capable of correcting maid work, and a well-ridden riding mare is for sale,” “A girl of 20 is for sale for 180 rubles.” years old, who cleans clothes and partly prepares food. Ask about it, as well as the sale of a used carriage and a new saddle at the post office”, “For excess, an elderly laundress is being sold for 250 rubles”, “For sale is a young maid of considerable beauty, who knows how to sew with gold and prepare linen. You can see her and find out the price in Bolshaya Millionnaya near the Konyushennago Bridge in the baker’s house at No. 35, at the janitor’s,” “On the Petersburg side in Malaya Dvoryanskaya Street at No. 495 there is a maid for sale, a 13-year-old girl who knows everything about maid services, and who Moreover, he has a very pleasant face.”

Very rarely, personal maids had their own room not far from the mistress's room. As a rule, maids were given rooms in attics or in a special outbuilding. Several maids could sleep in one room, and sometimes they had to share a bed. Servants were prohibited from using the same bathrooms and toilets that their masters used. Before the advent of running water and sewerage, maids had to carry buckets of hot water for the master's bath. They washed themselves in basins and tubs - usually once a week, but for now hot water carried from the basement to the attic, it could easily have cooled down.

We have seen that in Russian comedies (by the way, in full accordance with European tradition) maids often become girlfriends and assistants to their mistresses, give them advice on how to behave with their parents, how to attract a suitor, give them letters, and settle love affairs. In gratitude, the playwright usually marries the maid to a dashing valet - the personal servant of the owner of the house. In addition, they are often tasked with delivering a closing line that captures the moral of the comedy. For example, the comedy of Catherine II, already familiar to us, “About the Times!” ends like this: “Mavra (alone). This is how our century passes! We condemn everyone, we value everyone, we laugh at everyone and slander everyone, but we don’t see that we ourselves are worthy of both laughter and condemnation. When prejudices take the place of common sense in us, then our own vices are hidden from us, and only the mistakes of others are obvious: we see a speck in our neighbor’s eye, but in our own we do not even see a log.”

The maid's costume developed gradually; they usually wore a dress of a simple style, made of dark plain material (wool or silk) with a stand-up white starched collar trimmed with lace or ruffles. Then white cuffs, a headdress made of white starched lace or, less commonly, a starched round cap with two short “tails” at the back and aprons made of white starched cambric or thin linen became mandatory.

V. L. Borovikovsky. "Lizonka and Dashenka." 1794

I. E. Georgi notes that “most of the women of average wealth, as well as the daughters of many artisans, girls’ maids and servants of noble people, comb their hair every day, which is done by many hands.” By “many hands” he meant hairdressers, of whom there were many in St. Petersburg. But, of course, the maids, who, as a rule, should have been able to comb their mistress’s hair in the latest fashion on occasion, could easily comb each other’s hair.

Portraits of the maids of the Derzhavin family have not survived, but the maids of his closest friend Nikolai Lvov can be seen in the painting “Lizonka and Dashenka” by Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, painted in 1794. In order to pose for the artist, the girls put on the master's jewelry and fashionable dresses in an antique style.

In addition to maids, cooks, dishwashers, and laundresses worked in the house. Female maids could help set the table, but during dinner parties and receptions they did not enter the dining room. This was the responsibility of the livery footmen. But their fate was not envied - when the owners had already abandoned wigs and powder, the lackeys were forced to wear wigs or powder their hair for a long time, which is why it often became thinner and fell out. If there were children, nurses, nannies and governesses appeared in the house. We will talk about the latter in the next chapter of the book.

Rich houses often housed many hangers-on and hangers-on, who, in gratitude for bread and shelter, entertained the owners and carried out their small errands. This audience was for the most part scandalous, prone to deception and theft. Primals and their tricks often became the themes of comedies of the 18th century, for example, the comedy of Catherine II “The Siberian Shaman”. Later, lonely elderly rich ladies began to take companions into their homes: as a rule, poor relatives. Among the companions there were girls taken from an orphanage, widows or old maids. Their duties also included entertaining the mistress, reading to her, writing letters, conveying orders to the servants, etc. Sometimes elderly housewives had fun by dressing their companions in their elegant toilets. A kind mistress could give the companion a dowry and arrange her marriage, but more often they grew old along with their mistresses and if they outlived them, they lived on the pension left to them and on the money that they managed to save over the years of service.

From the book Good Old England by Coty Katherine

From book Everyday life Paris in the Middle Ages by Ru Simone

Outside the guilds: servants and day laborers The capital provided a much wider range of employment and types of labor than that described in the charters of the craft guilds. There were workers who are less often mentioned in written sources, because even if they had a constant

From the book An Artist's Life (Memoirs, Volume 1) author Benois Alexander Nikolaevich

Chapter 8 OUR SERVANT Day after day, without respite, even on days of illness, mother pulled her “shoulder.” Such a vulgar expression, however, when applied to her, requires a reservation, because with these words “mummy herself” in any case did not call what was her “calling” “pleasant”

From the book St. Petersburg Women of the 19th Century author Pervushina Elena Vladimirovna

Servants From the previous chapter it becomes clear how great the role of servants was in the prosperity of the master's house. Lexicon good manners warns his reader: “Some insist on choosing such and such an apartment, others praise the elegance and convenience of such and such furniture.

From the book Yard Russian emperors. Encyclopedia of life and everyday life. In 2 volumes. Volume 2 author Zimin Igor Viktorovich

From the book From Palace to Fortress author Belovinsky Leonid Vasilievich

From the book Muscovites and Muscovites. Stories of the old city author Biryukova Tatyana Zakharovna

Servants You can argue with Europe Beyond the western borders of our country, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were two orders intended exclusively for servants. One was established by the Grand Duchess of Hesse-Darmstadt. It was a gold cross covered with enamel with

China is an ancient state with original culture, positioned as a kind of standard that needs to be imitated. Over the course of many centuries, the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire have formed their own views on sex and eroticism, as evidenced by ancient manuscripts and accompanying drawings.

Entertainment of wealthy Chinese women

Wealthy Chinese women have invented their own rather strange way of meditation. To do this, they looked for young guys, always innocent, who had not yet turned eighteen years old. For a substantial monetary reward, rich ladies offered young men to indulge in lovemaking with them. A fair question arises: what is strange and shocking here? What followed was the most brutal part of their sexual perversion. Innocent guys who agreed to take part in the entertainment of rich ladies were placed in the water so that only their head and neck remained at the top. Young men were fixed to pre-prepared devices, which were installed in the water directly above the unfortunate guy’s head. The ladies sat on top of the installation so that their naked genitals were above the face of the young innocent man. According to ancient manuscripts, such strange and cruel perversion of rich Chinese ladies gave them pleasure.

The women were pleased that the innocent young man had no opportunity to take his eyes off the picture that opened before his eyes and they had no choice but to “see what was happening.”

Although these facts do not have scientific confirmation, but by analyzing the style of modern perversions, we can conclude that the birthplace of most of them is China or Japan.

Shocking perversions of rich Chinese men

In their numerous palaces, emperors and their courtiers organized sexual orgies, indulging in various bizarre pleasures. And such fun was explained by the fact that in this way they contribute to the harmony between feminine (yin) and masculine (yang) energy.

Entertainment of ancient Chinese rulers

A striking example demonstrating the customs of the imperial court is King Zhou Xin of the Yin Dynasty. Regular exercise and participation in fights allowed him to keep himself in excellent physical shape.

But not only martial arts with wild animals and fights with the best warriors interested the royal person. In the Zhou Xin palace lived the queen, three main wives, wives of the second and third rank (nine and twenty-seven, respectively), and numerous concubines. In addition, the staff of the royal palace consisted of about three thousand girls who took part in festive events and feasts, where they were given the opportunity to show what virtues and skills they possess.

The king lined up his courtiers along the perimeter of the arena, where he showed them his sexual exploits. He could walk around the arena with a roasted leg of veal in one hand and a two-liter bronze goblet full of wine in the other.

And at this time, in his arms, with her legs wrapped around his waist, was a naked girl straddling him manhood. The woman moved up and down his erect penis, she moaned and made voluptuous sounds. This picture delighted the audience with indescribable delight.

Love joys of Chinese emperors AD

However, the luxurious life of ancient Chinese rulers cannot be compared with the lifestyle of some emperors who lived in later times.

One of them is Emperor Yandi, who belonged to the Sui dynasty. He was born in 581 and died in 618 AD. He began his reign with the construction of one of the greatest palaces in the world, for which about two million workers were involved, collected throughout the empire. The outside of the palace was decorated with the finest marble different colors. And its interior decoration was striking in its luxury. The imperial palace was located in a walled park area whose area was 120 square kilometers. In the center of the park there was an artificially created lake, along the banks of which sixteen palaces were built for concubines and court ladies. Emperor Yandi preferred to make love in boats, gently swaying on the waves. The emperor went for walks in the park, accompanied by thousands of court girls. Throughout the park, at a short distance from each other, there were pavilions surrounded by a low fence.

Emperor Yandi's sexual desire could arise suddenly, and then he would choose several girls to make love to in one of the pavilions. All the other women sat around, humming and playing tunes that pleased their lord.

As soon as the palace was completed, the emperor began construction of the Grand Canal, connecting the north with the south via a waterway. Palaces were also built on the banks of the canal, where Yandi stayed during his water travels. The imperial fleet included junks in which the emperor was followed by about a thousand wives and numerous concubines.

The tireless ruler, who adored lovemaking on the waves, wanted to feel something similar on land. For this purpose, a circular road with wavy surface was built. The cart, driving on such a surface, swayed, which gave even greater pleasure to the people who indulged in the pleasures of love in it. By order of the emperor, “seven wonderful chariots” were built. Externally, the chariot looked more like a coffin. In each of them there was a concubine, waiting for the ruler to pay attention to her. The emperor loved to go out early in the morning for a chariot ride to enjoy sexual games with his concubines. Throughout the day he made love to each girl he chose.

Conclusion

China is one of ancient states in the world, with its own unique culture, which is fundamentally different from the culture of the West. This can be clearly seen in such an important and intimate area. human life like erotica. Based on the above, it can be seen that Chinese men and women have been looking for new ways of sexual pleasure since ancient times. Sometimes it was cruel and shocking entertainment ordinary people with its perversity.