Whenever the ancient marriage system is mentioned, many people will feel envious, saying that ancient men had three wives and four concubines, and many wives. In fact, concubinage has a long history, and the tradition of concubinage has existed since ancient times.
Why do people marry so many wives?
Then we have to start with the history of concubinage. Human beings in prehistoric times first had a matrilineal society. For example, Book of Songs records that a beautiful woman accidentally ate a blackbird egg while taking a bath and became pregnant. Pregnant, later gave birth to the ancestor of Shang Dynasty , called Xuanniao Shengshang.
In fact, there are similar stories about the origin of human beings all over the world. The ancient legends of some ethnic groups in matrilineal societies are that "they only know that they have their mother, but they don't know that they have their father." As the name suggests, a matriarchal society is dominated by women, who are responsible for tribal internal affairs and gathering, while men are responsible for hunting. At this time, the number of humans was not very large, and the pressure of competition was low. Men did not rely on force to gain power, but instead ceded their power to female leaders.
However, as the population increases, the pressure of life becomes more and more intense, and wars between humans become more frequent, the status of men becomes higher and higher. Most human tribes have entered a patriarchal society. Regardless of whether it is a matriarchal society or a patriarchal society, human beings are the greatest asset. Only with human beings can we launch wars, expand power, and consolidate leadership.
In a matriarchal society, women in leadership positions can have relationships with multiple men to have children. In patriarchal societies, men in leadership positions also hope to have more women. Therefore, after winning a war, they no longer kill prisoners indiscriminately. Male prisoners of war were treated as slaves, while female prisoners of war were treated as wives and concubines for free in order to have more children.
In ancient times, violence was used in marriages, and there was a custom of marriage robbery. There was a whole picture on the Internet, "No need to strike up a conversation, no need to date, just take her home with a stick." Although it is a spoof, it has its truth.
Concubinage system has a long history from the patriarchal primitive tribal period to modern times. The word "concubine" has a "female" under "Xin". "Xin" is an ancient instrument of torture. Concubine means a woman who is being tortured, that is, a "female slave". In the pre-Qin era, male masters often regarded female slaves as objects of sexual outlet, which had the meaning of sex slaves. With the development of history, this concubine gradually became a man's "accessory" and a tool for giving birth to children.
In slave society , the chief or king is the largest slave owner and has the most wives and concubines. The nobles under the chief followed the same example and had different numbers of wives. As long as economic conditions permit, men will continue to take concubines. This is the origin of polygamy.
When princes of the Zhou Dynasty married women from other countries, they would often get "included gifts" from the woman. The woman's noble family would marry the bride's sisters, sisters, and even aunts and nieces together. If the husband's family is the emperor, he is called "媵", and if he is a noble, he is called "concubine". Later, this dowry phenomenon gradually disappeared, and concubines were no longer separated.
However, sexual partners other than wives have not disappeared. On the contrary, they have become more and more popular. Especially the emperor's harem has long been overcrowded with concubines. And not only the emperor, but also the noble families at that time had multiple wives and concubines. Therefore, strictly speaking, the ancient people played the monogamy and polyconcubine system . There could only be one wife, so the eldest son system was derived. Only the son born by the main wife had the right to inherit.
In ancient times, political marriages were discussed, and the power of the wife's natal family was definitely greater than that of the concubine. Although this system of passing on the eldest son rather than the virtuous is pedantic, in the past, there were so many children, and if it was not passed on to the eldest son, there would definitely be a bloody family struggle.
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States era, the status of the nobility declined and the rise of the common people also wanted to enjoy the benefits of the nobility. According to the records of Mr. Mencius , there was a man in Qi State who was so poor that he was begging for food. There was actually a wife and a concubine waiting for him at home, which shows that even commoners could take concubines at that time.
In ancient China, officials, wealthy businessmen, and literati at all levels could take concubines as long as their financial resources allowed.Taking concubines is a way to show off wealth. Dongfang Shuo, Li Bai, Bai Juyi, Su Dongpo and others all have records of concubines.
There are some rich businessmen and local tycoons who maintain a huge theater troupe at home. They control the actresses and often have dozens or hundreds of concubines to show their strong financial resources. Scholars, on the other hand, studied hard, prepared for the imperial examination, and eventually became officials of the imperial court. They often had to do four things to "pretend to be rich": "Prepare him a sedan chair, give him a title, carve a manuscript for him, and marry him a wife." ".
It can be seen that concubinage was different from the current mistress. It was legal and legal at that time. So what are the regulations on concubinage? Can anyone take a concubine? Marriage in ancient China emphasizes "the matchmaker's words and the right match." Therefore, the number of contractual relationships when marrying a wife depends on whether the parents of both parties agree.
But concubinage is different. The choice of concubine does not depend on family status or property. The only criterion is appearance. Therefore, wives and concubines not only have different statuses in the marriage ceremony, but also have different statuses in the family. In addition to serving the male master, the concubine must also obey the head wife and serve the head wife as a slave. Even if the concubine gives birth to a child, the child will not regard the biological mother as the biological mother, but respect the legal wife and call the legal wife mom.
Therefore, if a concubine dies, her children do not need to be mourned, and of course they can take the imperial examination. However, if the wife dies, she has to be mourned, even if she is not his biological mother.
The most high-sounding reason for men to keep concubines is to continue their incense, which is also the root of the concubinage system. For example, when the Qing army came to the city of Yangzhou, the wife of the patriotic general "Shi Kefa" also tried her best to persuade "Shi Kefa" to take a concubine before the battle to avoid being left childless and ruining the history of the Shi family. It can be seen that while the hero is patriotic, he also does not forget to inherit his family. Therefore, concubinage is not only allowed by law, but also promoted.
The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulated that princes, four county kings, three generals, and two lieutenants each could have at most ten concubines, while civilians could have one concubine as long as they were over forty years old and none of the latter. Although this is the rule, in fact no one pays attention to it at all. From court officials to ordinary scholar-bureaucrats, and even slightly wealthy businessmen and rural tycoons, they can take concubines and marry young children before they are 40 years old. The custom of keeping concubines is quite common.
There are now so-called harem comics to fulfill the fantasies of us male viewers. Also in , Ming and Qing Dynasties, , there were so-called harem novels. The protagonist must be super rich and allow his wives and concubines to live a luxurious life. Secondly, he must be talented and convince women with his excellent culture. Thirdly, he must have extraordinary abilities. , can satisfy wives and concubines, and can make beauties fall to their knees.
In ancient China, there was also a saying that "it is better to be the concubine of a hero than the wife of a stupid man". This saying can also be seen in society today. For example, "it is better to cry on Audi than to be short on toyota" .
in the Ming Dynasty was a city that specialized in producing concubines. At that time, Yangzhou women were recognized as the highest quality, and dignitaries came to Yangzhou to take concubines. It was not that Yangzhou girls were good-looking, but that the local women had been rigorously trained since childhood and knew how to concubine. How to make a man comfortable and win the favor of his first wife, so Yangzhou women are the first choice for concubines.
The sources of "concubine" in history are nothing more than four ways
The first is "buying" , which is the main channel for taking concubines. In the Ming Dynasty, a concubine cost 50 taels. According to the conversion standard of farm literature, the conversion standard It's about 45,000 yuan today, which is not cheap.
The second way is to "marry" with . The form is simpler than marrying a wife. You don't have to ask for help like asking for a wife.
The third type is "gifting" , which is common in Tang poetry and Song lyrics.
The first three are easy to understand, but the last one is "Tongfang" . Simply put, it means changing from slave to concubine, also known as "Tongfang girl". Her normal identity is maid, but she becomes a maid at night. The object of the owner's sexual desire is located between the concubine and the maid. For example, in Dream of Red Mansions, Ping'er and Xiang Ling are both official maids.Informally, like Xiren, Jia Baoyu gave Xiren the first time. Although they had a relationship, neither Jia Mu nor Jia Zheng knew about it. Without a title, it would not be considered a formal marriage. Girl.
China's concubinage system has lasted for thousands of years. Even after the Republic of China , the trend of concubinage showed no signs of abating. Yuan Shikai had 16 wives and concubines, including sisters and aunts and nephews; Beiyang's great warlord Zhang Zongchang was a perverted old man. The world called him "the three ignorant generals". He didn't know how much money he had, and he didn't know how much he had. Guns and countless concubines. According to book records, Zhang Zongchang had 25 wives.
Even in and modern , many big bosses still have three wives and four concubines. Although it is not legal, the society seems to acquiesce to this behavior and thinks that it is normal for big bosses to do this. However, every time when there is competition for property, the eldest, second, and third eldest family members become red-faced, which affects the image of the family.
Nowadays, many men fantasize about polygamous life, thinking that it will be a wonderful thing. However, from a moral perspective, concubinage is arbitrary bullying and cruel persecution of women. Whether it is concubinage or the current practice of keeping a mistress, it is an ugly custom that should be abandoned.
Okay, that’s it for this issue. I am a student of Crisp Sugar Knowledge. Friends who are interested in Three Wives and Four Concubines may wish to leave a message below. See you in the next issue.
Reference materials: "Book of Yizhou", "Book of Rites", "History of the Ming Dynasty"
