In ancient times, to what extent could maids be called aunts?

As long as the maid-in-waiting is older, anyone who can take care of the new maid-in-waiting can be called aunt. Some aunts have higher status, and some aunts just have several new maids to take care of, but their status is not high. Call the maid of honor? Aunt? Mainly used in the Qing dynasty, rarely used in other dynasties. Generally, the big ladies around the concubines can also be called aunts, all of whom are in charge of the ladies.

No matter which dynasty, maids were not always in the harem. When they reach a certain grade, they will choose new maids to enter the palace, and then let these older maids get married freely. The main reason is that some ladies-in-waiting are old, and some things in the harem are heavier, so they can't afford these tasks. Therefore, after a period of time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will seek to recruit new maids among the people, release these older maids who want to leave the palace, and let them marry freely. This can not only reduce the burden on the palace, but also increase the population of the Qing dynasty, which can be said to be a measure to kill two birds with one stone.

After the Ministry of Internal Affairs recruited a new maid-in-waiting, she did not take office directly. Because most of these maids are poor at home, they come to the palace to find a way out. Therefore, before sending them to do things, they need to be taught rules to prevent them from colliding with the dignitaries in the palace. Simply put, it is job training. Because the palace is not comparable to ordinary dignitaries, and the master who lives in the palace has a high status, there are more rules to follow. When you meet masters of different identities, you have to do different rituals. Once the wrong ceremony is done, it is likely to cause great disaster.

There are many taboos in the palace. In order to keep the new maids from encountering these taboo places and let them do things better, we need these old maids who have lived in the palace for a long time to teach these new maids. Moreover, after the new maid-in-waiting entered the palace, her fate was unpredictable. Once appreciated by the nobility, it is her own business, but if punished by the nobility, it is likely to implicate her upper class, so the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked the aunts to teach them the rules.