Imperial Chinese harem system

The ranks of imperial consorts have varied over the course of Chinese history but remained important throughout owing to its prominence in the management of the inner court and in imperial succession, which ranked heirs according to the prominence of their mothers in addition to their birth order. Regardless of the age, however, it is common in English translation to simplify this hierarchy into the three ranks of empress, consorts, and concubines.^[1] It is also common to use the term "harem", an Arabic loan word used in recent times to refer to imperial women's forbidden quarters in many countries. In later Chinese dynasties, these quarters were known as the inner palace (內宮; nèi gōng) or the rear palace (後宮; hòu gōng).^[2] In Chinese, the system is called the "Rear Palace System" (後宮制度; hòu gōng zhì dù).^[3]

No matter which dynasty, the Empress (皇后) was the highest rank, which makes her the only legitimate wife of the Emperor, chief of the Imperial Harem and the Mother of the Nation (国母; 國母). She was also known as the "Central Palace". In addition, the emperor would typically have several other imperial consorts and concubines (嫔妃; 嬪妃), ranked by importance into a harem, in which the Empress was supreme. The Empress could be over ruled by the Empress Dowager- the Emperor's Mother. Every dynasty had its set of rules regarding the numerical composition of the harem.