Chinese culture is profound and profound. Common words have been colorful and colorful in thousands of years of history. Since many common words are the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancients, they are also very common in daily common words. Because common words are simple and easy to understand, they are also passed down by word of mouth. The principles contained in common words do affect future generations, and there are also many types of common words, such as when building a house, choosing a spouse, choosing a marriage partner, choosing a daily life, and the worldly ways.
There is a saying among many classic sayings: "In-laws come to the door, it is not worth a piece of paper." This passage is not difficult to see through the literal meaning that it is an old saying about the worldly style of human feelings. There were also many sayings about the worldly style of human feelings, such as "Please advise gambling not to persuade prostitution, and persuade prostitution to not be divorced", "Please respectfully not give gifts to noble people, and do not surprise neighbors with wealth", "Don't invite people to have funerals, and so on", etc. So what does this sentence "In-laws come to the door, it is not worth a piece of paper" want to express?
In-laws come to the door
The word "in-laws" first came from in the Tang Dynasty. At that time, Xuanzong had a very favorite daughter. Later, the daughter married the son of the prime minister at that time, Xiao Heng as his wife. However, because Xuanzong was reluctant to leave his daughter, he later let the couple live in the palace together and took the son-in-law's mother to the palace. Because he looked up in daily life, Xuanzong called the son-in-law's mother by "in-laws". Later, the word "in-laws" has been passed down to this day.
is not worth a single article
"Not worth a single article" literally means very cheap. In ancient times, a penny was the smallest unit of money, so you can see how valuable it is to be in the family. We all know that China has always been a 'etiquette country'. As early as thousands of years ago, Confucius and Xunzi both proposed that people should be 'learning and well-informed', and the old saying also says "being married to two families, getting married to one family". So why did the ancients have the concept of "in-laws coming to the family, not worth a single article"? In fact, this has a lot to do with the social environment at that time. The main reasons are as follows:
We all know that in ancient times, a society where men are superior to women, so the status of women's families will be lower than that of men's families. In addition, it is popular in ancient times that women climb higher. Simply understand that it is hoped that their daughter can marry a good family to change their own destiny. At this time, it is easy to form an asymmetry between the two families in wealth and status. Therefore, in ancient times, the female family members who came to the male family were easily considered to encounter difficulties and need help. Later, this sentence "In-laws are not worth a penny". Another reason is that ancient China attached great importance to blood ties. We all know that "in-laws" is a relationship formed by the marriage of two families. Since blood ties are the closest in the ancient concept, relatives like in-laws will appear to be unfamiliar. In fact, this passage profoundly depicts the truth about the coldness of the world.
For this sentence "In-laws are not worth a penny", it seems a bit outdated from the current perspective. I personally believe that the concept of "in-laws are not worth a penny" should be abandoned in modern life. Since "in-laws are not worth a penny" is a new type of relationship formed by two families through marriage, then the relationship needs to respect each other, because getting along well with the two families is a good thing for both children, and the current social environment has long been no longer a social environment where men and women are inferior. Nowadays, men and women are on the same side, so we must not look at the current problems with the previous concept.
Summary: For this sentence "In-laws come to the door, it's not worth a piece of paper", the editor believes that there is nothing good about it, because the living environment is constantly changing, and people's concepts are also changing with the times. Therefore, when learning the old sayings of the common sayings, you must keep your eyes open, because some dross things need to be discarded. After all, some old sayings are no longer applicable to this era. Finally, what do you think of this old saying? (Picture source from the Internet to delete if infringement)