Yes its a real thing. It wasn't just China either. Many kings did it.
And if it wasn't a concubine, many would at least remarry at some point
But, um, did only China have this somewhat glorified concubine tradition which they were given palaces of a kingdom and several personal servants? I have no memory of any other emperors or kings being this “generous” to their concubines (except for Solomon with his tremendous amounts of wives like lol did his dick not fall off? And I do not also recall him give “palaces” and personal servants to these wives).
Can't really help there. I have always been more interested in mythology than the actual history, so I don't know much about the subject.
I think some of this is embellished to make the story plot more interesting, bc a lot of book and stories I’ve read (not specifically Chinese) has had all the concubines living in the same palace; but maybe in China ur functioned a little differently.
Why is this “concubine” thing so popular in ancient Chinese manga set? Is it like a real thing in ancient China? Somewhat like kings having multiple affairs as and the likes?