According to the "Tang Huiyao·Marriage", Tang Xuanzong 20th year of Kaiyuan, an imperial edict was issued:
"The male is fifteen, the female is over thirteen, listen to the marriage."
This sentence is easy to understand, and stipulates that Tang Dynasty A man is 15 years old and a woman can get married when she reaches the age of 13.
It is well known that the ancients got married early, but when the male 15 and the female 13 got married? This is outrageous for modern people, and they are still just children.
And this phenomenon of early marriage has existed in all dynasties in China, and it is not uncommon and has been repeatedly banned. Let us wonder why ancient men always like to marry these 13-14-year-old women as their wives?
But it is not so much a "like" as it is forced by reality and social environment.
Wedding age for women from all dynasties
also mentioned that during the Tang Dynasty, the marriage age for women was 13 years old.
After the " Anshi Rebellion ", the social environment of the Tang Dynasty underwent drastic changes. Therefore, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty also made corresponding adjustments to the marriage age of men and women in the Tang Dynasty.
allows 15-year-old men and 13-year-old women to decide whether to marry or not at their own discretion. There are no mandatory marriage regulations for in the country .
From the perspective of modern people, this move by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was undoubtedly a great progress in the legislation of marriage age in the Tang Dynasty.
But during the Han Dynasty and Song Dynasty periods, the situation was completely different.
According to the "Han Shu·Hui Di Ji", "A woman is over fifteen years old and does not marry until she is thirty years old, and she will count the five counts."
It is not difficult to see that during the Han Emperor Hui of Han, the marriage age requirements for women were more stringent . They could get married at the age of 15. However, if a woman is over 30 years old and does not get married, she would be subject to tax of as a punishment.
According to the relevant records of Zhu Xi in " Family Lectures ", Southern Song Emperor Song Ningzong ordered: "The age of sixteen and the age of fourteen of the female is the marriage period."
This is roughly the same as the age of marriage stipulated by the Tang Dynasty, but it is also slightly different, because the requirements for marriage age in the Song Dynasty were as strict as the period of Emperor Hui of Han.
For example, "Book of Song Dynasty: Biography of Zhou Lang" once recorded: "A woman will not marry if she doesn't marry for fifteen years, her family will sit there."
It means that if a woman is not married to when she is 15, then her family will also be punished for consecutive sitting .
From this we can conclude that the first reason why men always married 13 and 14-year-old girls as wives: comes from the government’s mandatory requirement.
But why have governments and rulers of all dynasties asked their people to get married early? It is also considered based on the environment, population and labor in which is located.
First, wars occur frequently
In ancient times, it would be fine if I was born in a peaceful and prosperous era, but if the situation was turbulent during the war, then population became an extremely important resource.
For example, during the chaotic Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, heroes emerged, and The princes competed for hegemony , and more men, husbands, and even taxes were needed, but the premise of these were population.
In addition, marching and fighting will inevitably lead to bloodshed and casualties. Once you encounter the war, will be a sharp drop in the population of for any country.
After the war, in order to restore the population as soon as possible, the rulers issued relevant laws, encouraged and even forced people to engage in early marriage and early childbirth, and continuously lowered the marriage age of women and restored the population as soon as possible.
. In ancient society, the productivity was relatively low, and the population was the main productivity. Only when a country has a sufficient population can it have more productivity and the country will be more stable.
For this reason, in order to increase the population, the rulers of the Qin Dynasty also specially introduced a strict household registration management system to prevent the occurrence of missing and uncounted populations and strictly manage the marriages of the people.
According to The "Bamboo Slips in the Sleeping Tiger Land Qin Tomb·Legal Answers" by Qin State during the Warring States Period, there is a case of private escape from a wife:
"A woman who was a wife, died, and she was too late to come out. She was not young and had six feet high. Should she be considered as wrong? She is already an official, she should be considered; if she is not an official, she should be considered as not."
Second, the medical level is not high
Second, the medical level is not high
In ancient times, the medical level was low, and medical technology was underdeveloped. Even if she just had a cold or a fever, it might kill a person. This is also one of the important reasons why the average life expectancy of the ancients was only forty or fifty years.
For the poor people, this is the case. They have no extra money to see a doctor and take medicine, and can only watch their relatives die of illness and death.
If we encounter an era of plague, the number of deaths will be even more immeasurable, and corpses are usually everywhere. In addition to factors such as war and natural disasters, is another reason for the sharp decline in population .
In this case, if the ancients did not get married and have children as early as possible, it is very likely that the children and grandchildren will be cut off and the family bloodline cannot be continued.
If you want to have more children, you have to get married and have children early, and you have to marry more wives and more wives and concubines.
So there was nothing particularly wrong with the people at that time when men married 13 or 14 years old.
Third, the status of women is low
In ancient times, the social status of men and women was extremely unequal. Women are not allowed to study, go to business, and go to politics. Women can only get married and then have children, because only ignorant women are more likely to be controlled by men.
In addition, ancient women were also deeply bound by feudal ethics and poisoned by the thoughts of chaste women. They did not leave the door and did not step into the two doors. They could not have any intimate actions with any man before getting married. It was even more whimsical to want to go to a private school.
Ancient women who grew up in this environment were not educated and did not know how to support themselves when they grew up?
Ordinary people cannot afford many children, so they would rather marry their daughter out of early to so that the family can eat less and reduce the family's financial burden. In addition, marrying their daughter can also receive a small amount of betrothal gifts from the man's family to subsidize the family's income.
How to accurately summarize the life of an ancient woman in one sentence?
That is Get married at the age of thirteen or fourteen, have children, take care of your husband at home, rely on your husband when you are young, and rely on your son after your husband dies. This is the life of most women in ancient times. is so sad, so helpless .
