Which three wives are "three wives and four concubines"? Real identity exposed

What do you mean by three wives and four concubines? Most people understand that in ancient China, men were superior to women, and a man could marry many wives, which meant that there were many wives. But in fact, three wives and four concubines are strictly hierarchical.

▲ Many people say that polygamy was a system in ancient times, but it is not actually a polygamy system. (Schematic diagram)

Three wives and four concubines refer to "there are many wives and concubines", as recorded in "Zhuangzi": "The spirit father has three wives, and they bathe in the same way." " 陔余丛考 " textual research: "The little wife, the next wife, the next wife, the young wife, the concubine, they are all called concubines.".

First of all, three wives, three wives, mean three wives, one is the wife of the main house; two flat wives, specially assisting the wife, and sharing the affairs of the husband together with the wife. The fourth concubine is the woman who serves these three wives. Although they can have sex with their husbands, their status is far inferior to their wives, and the status of their children is very low.

▲ Concubine in ancient China was described as "buy concubine", which was the word "acquisition". (Schematic diagram)

Many people say that in ancient times it was a polygamy system, but in fact it was not, it was a polygamy system. In law, no one has the legal status of a wife except for a wife. Wives are usually married by the right family, and they are married with and eight-carried sedan chair , using the word "marry"; while concubines are women with lower status, or "gifts" from others. ", and concubine is described as "buy concubine", using the word "acquisition".

In the ancient emperor’s main house, the lady, the queen, controlled the harem, and had a high status. If the emperor wanted to be alone with other concubines, she had to get the queen’s permission. . Below "concubines" there are "Ji", "handmaid" and other lower-status identities. They have no status, and even the status of concubines is far higher than them.