Beijing Forbidden City-Emperor’s life

According to the studies on Qing Dynasty archives, the emperors’ routine life was very clocklike. Except significant national ceremonies, the general scenario is as follows:
1. 5：00——7：00, A.M. get up, make a curtsey, and read books.
2. 7：00——9：30, A.M. have breakfast.
3. 9：30——11：00 A.M. hold court, and tackle with nationwide affairs.
4. 11：00 A.M.——2：30 P.M. take a noon break, and have lunch
5. 2：30——5：00 P.M. read books, write poems, paint pictures, or see operas or enjoy music, accompanied by concubines.
6. 5：00—9：00 P.M. have supper, hold a Buddhist service, then go to bed.
Each emperor leads a prodigal life. For one meal, there would be 100 or so dishes for the emperor himself, which would be packed full in six tables. Qing Dynasty was the most frugal dynasty in China’s feudal history. However it ruled that the emperor’s quota of food materials consumed every day was 660 pounds.
To produce costumes for the royal family, Qing Dynasty set up huge factories in three cities. There’re special inventory house for storing the emperor’s clothes. Several dozens of people were up to the management of these clothes. The emperor himself did not know how many pieces of clothes he had. He only knew what he wore every day were simply new.

dynasty table-chinese history