In ancient societies, women were generally considered to be excluded from the public power of the state. However, for some special groups of women, they can always use their position to participate in the public power of the state in a special way. These women were generally members of the royal, royal or official families, and mostly in the form of wives or mothers.
In both ancient nomadic and agrarian states, women were involved in politics and had a significant impact, even in the abolition of state rulers. What's more, it also replaced the male rulers of the country and made herself queen or empress.
Women in nomadic countries are more widely active than in agrarian countries, and they are more involved in military, diplomatic, and judicial matters than in farming countries. In religious affairs, women in nomadic countries do not intervene as vigorously as women in agrarian countries in public power in the state, causing wide-ranging effects or influences.
From the perspective of the ancient and medieval times of world culture, the center of the world focused on Eurasia. From the analysis of economic types, two systems of nomadic areas and agricultural areas have been formed. These are two different cultures, namely nomadic culture and farming culture, and the countries derived from them also have their own distinct characteristics, namely nomadic countries and farming countries.
Both nomadic and agrarian countries are made up of families, which are formed by marriage between men and women. However, the positions and roles of men and women in the public power of the state are very different. "Their traditional gender identities and roles have become more complex because of the differences that exist between members (subjects, citizens, etc.) and non-member political entities (states or empires) determined by law, sovereignty, other states, or non-state (barbarian) competition."
Generally speaking, women are not within the public power of the state, but the royal family or the wives and mothers of the royal family or officials can intervene in the public power of the state in a special way and play a unique role. "Under the monarchy, women may exercise public power as wives, mothers, daughters of kings and emperors and, in many cases, bear royal titles in their names.
Religious institutions also provide women with the opportunity to perform public functions as officials. Women can also exercise public power informally as wives and mothers of officials, as citizens, or by calling for other forms of moral or mystical authority that challenge the status quo. ”
However, in the same nomadic countries, the Serbs, Huns, Goths, Turks and Mongols had different roles in the public power of the state, just as in the same agrarian countries, women in China, India, Greco-Roman and Western Europe also occupied different roles in political, military, diplomatic, judicial, and religious affairs.
In ancient nomadic states, the supreme ruler of state power had different titles. The Serbs and Goths were called kings, the Huns were called Shan Yu, and the Turks and Mongols were called Khans. Most of their mothers were called empresses and their daughters were called princesses, but their wives had different titles. The Serbs and Goths were called queens, the Huns were called Fu, the Turks were called Kodun, and the Mongols were called Empress or Kodun.
In the ancient agrarian countries, there were also different titles, such as the supreme ruler of China called king or emperor, India called king, Greco-Roman called emperor, and the Frankish kingdom called king. As in agrarian countries, most of their mothers are called empresses and their daughters are called princesses. In terms of the title of wife, China called queen or queen, India called queen, Greco-Roman called queen, and frankish kingdom called queen.
Although the titles are different, it is these women of special status and high status, in the ancient times when ordinary women were excluded from the public power of the state, they influenced the political affairs of the state through special ways or means, and many directional decisions of the state were often swayed by them, and even in some cases, they decided the abolition of the supreme ruler, and even became the supreme ruler of the state power themselves. The phenomenon of "monarchization and regency of queen concubines, especially widowed queens (empresses)" is not uncommon in both nomadic and agrarian countries.
In the nomadic countries, "the Xiongnu had a strong say, directly interfered in the political life of the country, and even decided to abolish it." In the Xiongnu state, the relationship between the Hou concubine Fu and Shan Yu could not be ignored. The political role of the mother Fu clan (maternal queen) and the Da Fu clan (the first Fu clan) alone is sometimes quite large. ”
For example, "On the issue of the heirs of The Fox Deer Gu Shan Yu, the mother Fu Shi once assassinated the powerful successor Zuo Dadu Wei out of jealousy; therefore, Shan Yu's Zhaoqu Fu clan ruled on behalf of the young lord, and committed many unrighteous acts, causing domestic deviations." When Hu Yanyan Shan died and Huan Lu Quan Qu Shan took the throne, it is said that because he respected this Zhenqu Fu clan and did not accept her as a concubine and took someone else, zuo Da and Qu Qu were very resentful of this. ”
After being left out, the Zhaoqu Fu clan was left out and had an affair with the Right Xian King. When Xuan Lu Quan Was seriously ill and was about to die, the Xuan Qu Clan secretly told the Right Xian King the actual situation and persuaded him not to go too far. A few days later, Qu Shan died. The kings who had learned the news were still on their way to Shan Yuting, and the Right King had already arrived at the royal court. In the end, Relying on the schemes of the Zhenqu Fu clan and his brother, Qu Shan Yu ascended to the throne of Shan Yu.
The Zhaoqu clan played an important role in both reigns. Although different conspiracies were used twice, the end result was to achieve her goal. Her skill is superb, which is certainly an important aspect, but also also an important influence on her status. "The status of nomadic women is often comparable to that of men. The Queen Concubine of Khan had a huge say in politics and military affairs. Habit allows them to interject and come up with ideas. The concubines' mother-in-law, the Khan's in-laws, often maintained great power as their helpers. ”
Genghis Khan's Mongol overseers also had enormous power, and could even establish a khan. "The so-called Genghis Khan Mongol overseer was a person who had the power of internal and foreign affairs and military affairs of the Mongol Empire after the death of the Great Khan and before the election of the next Great Khan. There is no shortage of women in Mongolia. After the death of the first Genghis Khan, his last son Torre was the original overseer; after the death of the second generation of Wokoutai Khan, the overseer was lost by his empress Wu Lihai. ”
"Summoning the Kuriertai (Great Assembly), selecting and electing the next Great Khan" was the most important task of the Overseer. According to the original regulations, the Jianguo had the same power as the Great Khan, and could even rule the Mongol Empire according to its own ideas. From the above, we can see that several of the overseers were women, and in the Mongol Empire, the status of imperial concubines even surpassed that of the next generation of princes. But at most, they can only become a prison state, and definitely not a khan. That's because the Mongol Empire practiced foreign marriage, and the Mongol royal family had to be a member of the Golden Clan. Therefore, for the sake of the purity of their bloodlines, they were still excluded by the Khan's power.
In agrarian countries, there have also been many instances of women participating in the abolition of the supreme ruler of the country. During the Han and Tang dynasties in China, this phenomenon reached its climax. "During the Han Dynasty, people were terrified of the growing power that imperial spouses began to enjoy. For example, Empress Lü Yan of the Xinggao Group, Empress Dou of Emperor Wen of Han, and Empress Wang of Emperor Jing of Han were all very powerful. The main spouses of the Emperors of the Han Dynasty were often chosen from prominent families in order to strengthen political ties and support for the Emperor. Marriage ties, in turn, brought more power to her spouse's family: the emperor often assigned important positions to her male relatives in order to reward her favored spouse. ”
In the Han Dynasty, even during the most prosperous period, there were several emperors who ascended the throne as young lords. Ascending to the throne at an early age necessitated the assistance of her mother, the Empress Dowager, and her brother, the regent, in the administration of state affairs. Their power was so great that they could even depose the emperor. For example, Han Gaozu's wife Lü Yan, or Empress Lü, managed the country exactly according to her own ideas, ignoring her son Emperor Hui of Han, who held power for 15 years until her own death.
Most of the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty ascended the throne at a very young age, and even three became emperors at the age of one, in which case the emperor's spouse and her family had a huge influence on national politics. Even the abolition of some young lords was in their hands, so when such emperors grew up, "they tended to hate the regent (and their empress dowager mothers), usually relying on eunuchs to control the power of their mother's family." Therefore, an important feature of the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty is the constant conflict between the eunuch group and the empress dowager group. In subsequent dynasties, the emperor's mother exerted political influence by controlling their sons. ”
In nomadic countries, there are many cases of women as supreme rulers. For example, Gothic women could participate in politics or even reign. "The Mongol emperors and the widows of the Ullath's domination could be regents and become queens of the territory."
In agrarian countries, it is not uncommon for women to serve as supreme rulers. Wu Zetian assisted in state affairs because of the illness of her husband Gaozong, and the two handled political affairs together for 30 years. She deposed her sons and enjoyed control of the state alone. In 690, she ascended the throne herself and changed the Tang dynasty to Zhou. But under china's traditional political ideology of male supremacy, she was attacked by Confucian scholars during her reign. However, it cannot be denied that during her reign, China's territory was constantly expanding, and its social economy grew steadily, laying the foundation for the prosperity of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
War is a major national event, which is related to the life and death of a country. In this respect, there is a great difference between nomadic and agrarian countries. In the nomadic state, "the basic equal rights of men and women and the lack of serious differences between men and women in the division of labour are distinctly different from those of the agrarian countries." Even hunting and fighting, men and women participate together. "Women in nomadic countries are widely involved in military activities, which is very rare in farming countries. The same situation has arisen in the areas of diplomatic and judicial power.
In the field of religion, however, the two have opposite manifestations. In nomadic countries, women also participate in religious activities, but there are not many cases of significant political influence. In agrarian countries, women not only participate in religious activities, but also exert a huge influence on the public power of the state through religion.
In ancient times, the inferiority of men over women was one of the most basic characteristics of class society, and most women were excluded from the public power of the state. Only women of special origin can use special means to intervene by virtue of their status.