The Imperial “Called to Rise”: A Ceremony of Absolute Authority

In the rigid hierarchy of China’s Qing Dynasty (1644–1912), few rituals carried as much weight as the predawn imperial audience known as jiàoqǐ (“Called to Rise”). This exclusive gathering represented the highest form of political theater, where the emperor—or the Empress Dowager during periods of regency—summoned military commanders, grand councilors, Manchu nobility, Han Chinese grand secretaries, and provincial governors to receive edicts, present memorials, and demonstrate loyalty. Conducted daily between 5:00-7:00 AM in the Hall of Mental Cultivation (养心殿), this two-hour ceremony transformed the Forbidden City’s hushed corridors into a stage for exercising imperial power.

Behind the Vermilion Walls: A Regent’s Morning Discipline

The memoirs of palace宫女 (court maids) reveal extraordinary details about Empress Dowager Cixi’s (1835–1908) legendary discipline. Despite governing a crumbling empire, she maintained an ironclad routine:

– 3:00 AM Awakening: Palace maids prepared hot water and medicinal silver ear fungus soup (believed to preserve youth) as attendants signaled the ruler’s waking with coded phrases like “Ancestral Matriarch Auspiciousness.”
– Beauty Rituals: The 60-year-old regent soaked her hands in heated silver basins to maintain “maiden-like softness,” followed by herbal facials to minimize wrinkles—a regimen mirroring modern dermatology.
– Political Theater: By 5:00 AM, she sat fully coiffed in vermilion silk, having transformed from sleeping woman to celestial sovereign.

The Hairdresser-Storyteller: Liu the Eunuch’s Survival Art

Central to this ritual was the enigmatic Shutou Liu (“Hairdresser Liu”), a eunuch whose dual role as stylist and court jester reveals Qing power dynamics:

– Psychological Mastery: While arranging the Empress’ iconic liangbatou hairstyle, Liu spun folk tales of “auspicious swallows” and miracle-working beggars—subtly reinforcing Cixi’s divine legitimacy.
– Social Navigation: Unlike the notorious Li Lianying, Liu avoided factionalism, gifting maids sewing supplies while declining imperial tea offers with performative humility.
– Information Broker: His morning stories doubled as intelligence gathering, filtering grassroots rumors through acceptable narratives.

The Hidden Transcripts of Power

Beyond pomp, these dawn audiences served critical governance functions:

1. Geopolitical Theater: Provincial governors timed memorial deliveries to coincide with jiàoqǐ, knowing morning audiences carried greater weight.
2. Bureaucratic Control: The 1729 Yongzheng Emperor institutionalized predawn meetings to prevent lazy officials—a tradition Cixi weaponized against reformist factions.
3. Cosmological Performance: By conducting state affairs during the yin hour (3-5 AM), rulers aligned earthly power with celestial cycles, per Confucian doctrines.

Legacy of the Disappearing Matins

The fall of the Qing in 1912 buried this ritual, but its echoes persist:

– Corporate Culture: Modern Chinese boardrooms retain “morning reporting” traditions echoing jiàoqǐ’s emphasis on dawn discipline.
– Gender Narratives: Cixi’s beauty regimen, once mocked as vanity, is now reevaluated as strategic imagecraft in male-dominated politics.
– Diplomatic Protocol: The 2020s saw revived interest when a British ambassador noted parallels between jiàoqǐ and Elizabeth II’s famed 9:00 AM “red box” briefings.

As dawn breaks over Beijing’s Forbidden City—now a museum—the stone floors still bear witness where countless officials once knelt, their foreheads pressed against cold marble in the theater of absolute power. The jiàoqǐ may be extinct, but its lessons in performance politics remain timeless.