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The Surprising Purpose Behind Queen Hy’s Constant Use of a Fruit in Her Makeup Routine

Someone suggested Queen Từ Hi to put two chestnuts in her mouth while doing makeup, one on each cheek.

3 January, 2024

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When it comes to women who love beauty in history, Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty is a typical representative. Empress Dowager Cixi had a unique lifestyle, and she had specific requirements for everything she ate or used, and she also had extensive knowledge to set those requirements.

Particularly, Empress Dowager Cixi was very concerned about makeup. Every day, she took time to take care of her skin, apply makeup, and spray perfume like Western women. When she was young, she was already a famous beauty, so she was used to wearing makeup every day. Because Empress Dowager Cixi had smooth and firm skin, applying makeup was also easier.

However, no matter how beautiful one is, they will face aging. As one gets older, the skin loses elasticity, causing wrinkles to appear, especially in the cheek area, making it difficult to apply makeup.

For a strict and demanding person like Empress Dowager Cixi, even though it was annoying, she would never let herself look old. Therefore, many people have recounted how the servants in Empress Dowager Cixi’s palace had to endure countless scoldings from her during every skincare and makeup session.

Later on, someone suggested that Empress Dowager Cixi should hold two dried bezoar stones in her mouth while applying makeup, one on each cheek.

This way, her sunken cheeks would become plump and the makeup layer would become smooth and flawless. Immediately after that, the Internal Affairs Office arranged for someone to find two meticulously polished dried bezoar stones for Empress Dowager Cixi to use during makeup sessions.

The “Van Ngoan” Bezoar Stones

These are not the usual bezoar stones that people consume but the “Van Ngoan” bezoar stones, which have a very smooth surface and are finely polished.

After Empress Dowager Cixi tried putting them in her mouth while applying makeup, it indeed brought about very noticeable results. The powder went on smoothly and did not cake up like when her cheeks were sunken. Since then, she never went without these two bezoar stones during makeup sessions.

Later, when the Eight-Nation Alliance rebels and attacked the Forbidden City, Empress Dowager Cixi had to flee with the concubines, packing their belongings and running away. The two bezoar stones were carefully packaged and brought along. However, when they were escaping over a small bridge, the bridge suddenly collapsed, causing many people and belongings to fall into the water.

Fortunately, Empress Dowager Cixi survived, but her beloved bezoar stones were carried away by the current.

Upon hearing that the two bezoar stones couldn’t be found, she flew into a rage and ordered someone to find them immediately. Moreover, Empress Dowager Cixi announced that whoever found the two bezoar stones would be richly rewarded.

This shows the importance of the bezoar stones to her. During the search, to ensure they found the two bezoar stones, they even built a temporary dam on the shore. Finally, after many efforts, they found the pair of bezoar stones, presented them to Empress Dowager Cixi, and received countless treasures in return.

Empress Dowager Cixi and Extravagant Lifestyle

Empress Dowager Cixi was born in 1835 and entered the imperial palace as a consort to Emperor Xianfeng when she was 17 years old. She was promoted to Empress Dowager due to giving birth to the only son of Emperor Xianfeng, named Tongzhi, who later became Emperor Tongzhi.

Empress Dowager Cixi wielded practical power in the Qing dynasty’s court for over 40 years. Once she ascended to the throne, she consolidated her power and committed many crimes.

She was also known for her extravagant lifestyle. The historical records about her life astonish later generations. Empress Dowager Cixi not only possessed numerous lavish gold and silver jewelry and wore luxurious velvet and silk clothing, but she also had high demands for the quality of life. She once used a tremendous amount of money to organize feasts during times of financial crisis in the imperial court.

She spent over 400 taels of gold to host a banquet for Western delegations. The menu that day consisted of 140 dishes served to 1,750 servants and lasted for one week. The chefs, who were carefully selected from all over the country, prepared the feast.

Empress Dowager Cixi was famous for her love of dressing up and taking photos. The Imperial Palace Museum in Beijing still preserves over 100 photographs of her wearing more than 30 luxurious pearl-studded silk dresses. She wore jewelry and precious stones. She had 25 hair accessories used for various styles. Her hair was often adorned with flowers and golden hairpins.

Empress Dowager Cixi had a separate kitchen built in the Forbidden City called the “Western Kitchen.” According to the book “Empress Dowager Cixi” by author Tu Tiet, a scholar and Qing Dynasty expert, Empress Dowager Cixi was served 120 different dishes for each meal. However, she would only eat a few pieces of each dish, to avoid poisoning. Historical records state that she even sniffed 400 apples per day instead of eating them. When the fruit lost its fragrance, she would have it discarded and presented with fresh ones.

Another distinctive eating habit of Empress Dowager Cixi was that she only drank pure spring water because it contained many minerals. However, the spring water had to be boiled with rose-scented tea. She requested that fresh flowers be picked and mixed with dry tea to ensure that the brewed tea had the aroma of flowers.

Additionally, every morning when she woke up, Empress Dowager Cixi would use morning dew to rinse her mouth. Because of this, palace maids often had to wake up in the middle of the night to collect the purest droplets of dew for the empress dowager’s mouthwash, lest they be punished.

Even in death, Empress Dowager Cixi was buried with a large amount of jewelry and luxurious items worth 1.2 million taels of silver. In 1928, her tomb was looted by the warlord Sun Dianying and the army. Her coffin was destroyed, and all the wealth, gold, silver, and precious gems were taken away. Sun Dianying even used Empress Dowager Cixi’s mouth to extract a pearl worth billions of Vietnamese dong.