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Tremble and obey 战栗与臣服

Why stressed-out Chinese fall for melodrama about life in the imperial court 为什么焦虑不安的中国人爱看宫斗剧

A bit surprisingly, one of the best things about the "Story of Yanxi Palace", a television drama about an 18th-century emperor that has broken Chinese viewing records this year, is watching concubines being rude to eunuchs. 有些出乎意料的是，今年打破收视记录的清宫剧《延禧攻略》看点之一就是后宫嫔妃对太监无礼。

Even less predictably, the particular rudeness—combining scorn, resentment and a dash of fear—offers insights into how Chinese people cope with life in today's ruthless and unequal society. 更意想不到的是，这种粗鲁无礼加上轻蔑怨恨和些许恐惧，竟成了如今中国人应对残酷不平等社会的启发。

An early scene shows the Qianlong emperor's chief eunuch, a tubby, squeaky dimwit, bustling into a silk-draped waiting-room with an order for the harem. 在刚开始的场景中，乾隆皇帝的首领太监，一个身形臃肿、阴阳怪气、笨头笨脑的人，带着给后宫的圣旨匆匆走进帘幕低垂的等候室。

Return to your quarters, he announces, the emperor is working late. 他宣布，请各宫娘娘回宫，皇帝要忙政事到很晚。

"What? His majesty is sleeping alone again?" grumbles Noble Consort Gao, a boo-hiss villain. “什么？皇上又自己睡下了？”反面角色高贵妃嘟囔着。

"Let's go," she tells her fellow concubines, stalking past the eunuch without a glance. “我们走吧，”头也不抬地领着几个嫔妃从太监身边走过。

"What else is there to wait for?" “还有什么等的？”

"Yanxi Palace" is a gorgeously costumed fantasy, filled with poisonings, betrayals and young women competing for the Forbidden City's great prize: being bedded by the emperor. 《延禧攻略》是一部服饰华丽的虚构剧，充斥着毒害、背叛，且很多年轻女性都争紫禁城里的大奖：侍寝。

"Join the army, you might as well become a general," as one ambitious recruit to the harem chirps. “参军，就有可能成为一名将军；入宫，就有可能成为皇后”，一名野心勃勃的后宫新人说。

The show is driven by female characters, including a kind but sickly empress, murderous concubines 这部剧是一部大女主戏，主要角色有善良多病的皇后、残忍的嫔妃，

and—at the heart of the 70-episode epic—Wei Yingluo, a quick-witted, justice-seeking maid, who rises to become Qianlong's beloved consort. 以及这部70集史诗般巨作的核心角色魏璎珞，她本是正义机智的宫女，最终晋升为皇帝的宠妃。

The formula is wildly popular, drawing 700m live-streaming views on the drama's best single day, in August. 这部剧非常受欢迎，8月最佳单日播放量达到7亿。

Yet that night-time scene in the harem reflects some bleak realities of court life. 但后宫晚上的场景反映了宫廷生活的黑暗现实。

The eunuch is ridiculous, and obsequious to high-ranking concubines. 太监荒谬可笑，对高位嫔妃阿谀奉承。

But he is also terrifying. 但太监也有其可怕之处。

For the concubines live only to please his master, the emperor, 因为嫔妃们活着就是为了取悦太监的主子——皇帝，这个绝对的统治者。

an absolute ruler in whose name the guilty and innocent alike are shown being jailed, executed or exiled without hope of appeal. 以皇帝的名义，有罪或无罪之人都有可能被监禁、处决或流放，无望上诉。

The Forbidden City is a crimson-walled tyranny, filled with spies. 紫禁城就是红墙深围的暴政之地，到处都是耳目。

Noble Consort Gao’s drawling insolence in the face of rejection is, in the end, bravado. 高贵妃在面对拒绝时傲慢地拖腔拉调，归根结底是一种虚张声势。

She is privileged, cosseted and ready to hurt those below her in the pecking order. 她享有特权、深受恩宠、蓄势痛击比她位分低的人。

But in this system she has no individual rights. 但在这个体系中，她没有个人权利。

And she does not challenge its rules. 更加没有挑战这个体系的权利。