Every morning around six, nannies would open the bed-curtain and greet me with auspicious words. Then they warmed my underwear over the oven, and dressed me. I would simply lie and let them serve me. When I got up, nannies would bring me the gargle basin, toothbrush, and tooth powder while the eunuchs would bring me the washbowl to clean. Nannies cleaned me from head to toe including my genitalia.

The beginning of the day seemed honorable enough, yet the following part was starchy and tedious.

The offspring of the nobility were bounded with rigid etiquette. The pre-set norms dominated the practices of everyday life. When the princes had properly washed and dressed, they would pay respect to eldership)

"Apart from dealing with unnecessary and over-elaborate formalities, the princes had nothing else to do except studying and eating," Said Zhao Shu, vice chairman of the China Folk Literature and Art Association. "In fact, what they ate was not so good as assumed, and maybe even worse than today's ordinary people." Breakfast was always served at around 7:00 in the morning, lunch at 12:00 noon, and dinner at 6:00 in the evening.

The princes were restricted in area of movement, over fears that they would conspire to rebel against the emperor. "A rigorous rule instructed that the imperial kinsfolk should not go 20 kilometers away from the inner city, or they would be beheaded as punishment," said Zhang Shucai, an expert in Qing Dynasty history. "Therefore, the princes had to stay at home and amuse themselves by developing various hobbies."

One prince went so far as to hold funerals for himself. He would announce his death, disguise himself, and hide to watch his own grand funeral. Afterwards, he would jump out and assert, " I am still alive!"

"'Life in the residence was actually a redundant drama. All the actors staged the same routine and recited the same dialogue,'" Feng Qili, an expert in princely mansion study, quoted his teacher, a prince who spent dozens of years in Prince Rui Qin's residence, as saying.

"'As long as you spent one day in the mansion, you could safely predict what would happen the next day, the day after tomorrow, and even the day a month later.'"

Author: Cindy

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