关键词: 君权, 后权, 制度, 礼仪, 空间

Abstract: For most of the Qing Dynasty, there were few instances of the empresses interfering in state affairs. This article investigates how emperors controlled and suppressed the authority of the empresses using the political system, ritual, and space to understand the dimensions of the "Cleanup of the Inner Palace”. Qing emperors isolated the inner court world by cutting off any connection between the empresses and people outside the court to restrict the empresses' authority from extending beyond the court. Under the control of emperors, the status of Qing empresses changed from “a motherly model of the nation" to "the master of the inner court." Ultimately, empresses could not even make decision son most matters within the inner court. Thus, Qing emperors contained the authority of the empresses efficiently and established their exclusive status inside and outside the court.

Key words: empress'power, control and suppression, political system, ritual, space