>>81861793Not in China no. The way it worked is actually government worker searched villages for most pretty girls and stole them from their families. Since there were amalgamation of requirements some women would intentionally scar themselves to avoid the harem draft.
In the middle east it was less organized, there were both enslaved concubines and willful ones. There was ab important difference though, middle Eastern harems gave women education and allowed women to marry various state bureaucrats afterwards, personal status of harem women was high. But in far east, the ways out of concubinage were death or monastery (if fired).
The concubines generally did not compete to get in though. The competition began when you were in system already, because the life of low ranks was miserable, it was basically army. No personal space, no proper food or hygiene and on top of all that you also will never have a family, friends, anything to leave a mark of your existence in the world. It was not a life, merely existence. Getting to the higher ranks was essential for personal well being