The common name for the Empress Dowager or the Supreme Emperor in the Qing Dynasty.
The reason why the emperors of the Qing Dynasty used the title "Lao Fo Ye" was because the ancestor of the Manchus, the leader of the Jurchen tribe, was the first to be called "Manzhu". "Manzhu" is the transliteration of the Buddha's name "Manshu", which means "Buddha" and "auspiciousness".
Later, some prominent families and hereditary leaders were named "Manzhu". After the founding of the Qing Dynasty, "Manzhu" was translated into Chinese as "Buddha" and became the emperor's special title.
Extended information:
In too many Qing Dynasty film and television programs, the term "Lafayette" can be heard endlessly. Facing the Empress Dowager Cixi, she not only said "Lafayette", but also added the word "auspicious". Today, it sounds like a pretty good compliment. But in fact, in the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi could not be said and yelled so casually.
The famous cultural relic scholar Mr. Zhu Jiaxin specifically talked about this commonly used vocabulary in his book "Memories of Shichahai Dreams". It turns out that when officials met the Queen Mother at that time, they did not kowtow and say something like "Longevity to the Buddha" in today's movies and TV shows. Regardless of whether they see the emperor or the empress dowager, officials will kneel down and say: "Your Majesty, I wish the empress dowager her peace."
You cannot call them "Lafayette", you must call them "the empress dowager" in person. When the eunuch is on duty, when the queen mother comes out of the room, the eunuch only needs to stand with his hands lowered, without saluting or talking nonsense. If the Queen Mother asks a question, the eunuch must kneel down immediately and answer.
If the eunuch takes the initiative to enter the house to announce something, he should kneel down as soon as he enters the door and say: "Slave XXX, please pay your respects to the Queen Mother." It is not like what is said in today's movies and TV shows, "Lafayette is auspicious" and so on.
The term "Lafayette" also existed at that time. But that was a pronoun secretly given to the Queen Mother by the eunuchs and some officials working in the palace. But she was still called "Empress Dowager" in person. Those ministers are not called "Lafayette" whether in front of them or behind their backs.
As for the way of greeting each other with "good luck", it is just what eunuchs say when they meet and greet each other. It is unlikely to be on the "table". Not only can't you say this when meeting the Queen Mother, but there is no such rule when meeting ministers.
Perhaps some low-level officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have contracted this habit. When they see eunuchs with higher status, in order to show that they are close to each other and that they are "one of their own", they greet each other in the same way as eunuchs do. A cry: "Good luck to Mr. XX".
In the feudal era, especially in the court, many languages ????had to pay attention to "levels", which were measured and differentiated and could not be used indiscriminately.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Lafayette
People's Daily Online-Who dares to call "Lafayette" to his face?