Nobility ranking

Ranking of highest status to lowest



Emperor - Empress dowager - top of the top, empress dowager trumps emperor because he needs to be filial but he ultimately wields the power

Empress - legitimate wife but these wives tend to be neglected in favour of concubines

Crown prince - next in line for the throne, only one, tend to be born from the empress but may not be if the empress is infertile or if the emperor dotes on a concubine too much

Princes/princesses - princes vie for the throne, princesses are marriage tools so they only get one guy

• Prince's side consorts (侧妃）- two of these who are concubines
• madams (夫人）or (姨娘) lower concubine - this rank is for those who bear children and gain the prince's affection
• tons of bed warmers, dancing girls who are all still considered slaves 

Palace concubines all serve the emperor:

• Imperial concubine (贵妃) - highest ranking concubine, normally two, second only to the empress, their surnames will differentiate them 
• [named] concubine -De concubine, Xian concubine, Gui concubine, Shu concubine - four virtues and so four concubines
• Imperial concubine - many of these, some are bestowed names, others follow their maiden names 
• Bright - （昭仪) - 
• Noble concubine - (嫔) 
• Noble person (贵人）
• Beauty - 美人, Talent - （才人）- normally the lowest, the emperor takes in huge batches of noble girls into his harem every couple of years and they all start off here before slowly rising up as they gain affection

Countess - Princess' consort - countess is the highest rank that can be bestowed on noblewomen/girls, princess' consort is the man who marries the princess

Noble people will have one legitimate wife 

• whole ton of madams and concubines as well as bed warmers and dancing girls depending on how depraved they are 
• These people tend to be people with status in the imperial court, have some kind of ranking like prime minister, general, etc 

Ordinary folk will have a legitimate wife 

• concubines and madams depending on how rich they are, women would only marry "down" for benefits. This would mainly apply to business people, people who are rich enough to be acknowledged by the noble folk but not part of the noble folk because they hated the nouveau riche. 

Peasants will work their whole lives saving up for a worthy betrothal gift so that the female's father would give them their hand in marriage. Rare for them to have concubines because that means they'd have lots of money to either buy them from brothels, or have enough money for more betrothal gifts. 

Slaves - people who are born of slaves and noble folk who offended the emperor

• Will have their names entered in a slave directory, sometimes may even have "slave" branded on them somewhere to show how lowly they will be for the rest of their lives
• Their children will be slaves for the ordinary/noble folk, if their daughters are pretty enough, they'll sleep their way up to get rid of their slave heritage