In the primitive social period, the social form of our country was still a matriarchal society, at that time the status of women was very high, with absolute dominance, but with the continuous progress of human civilization and the continuous renewal of the means of production, the status of women gradually declined, and the social form was also transformed into a patrilineal clan commune.
For more than two thousand years, Chinese society was basically dominated by men, and even women gradually became "vassals" of men.
Affected by historical, cultural and other factors, until today in the 21st century, in some of the less developed areas of our country, the status of women still needs to be improved, so how much harm has the two-thousand-year feudal era brought to women?
Image: Stills of women from the Republic of China era
First, the saddest woman in "White Deer Plain"
1. Grudges caused by long-term work
I don't know if you have ever seen a film and television drama, it is the representative work of China's modern famous writer Mr. Chen Zhongzhong - "White Deer Plain", which has aroused widespread concern from all walks of life after its publication at the end of the last century, and is deeply loved by readers, and later adapted into TV series and film works, and successfully won the highest award for domestic novels in 1997 - Mao Dun Literature Award.
This work takes the northwest White Deer Plain as the background, which profoundly and delicately reflects the enmity and resentment between the three generations of the two major families of the original Bai clan and the Lu clan, and it should be said that the most tragic woman in this drama is Tian Xiao'e.
Image: Tian Xiao'e holds a fan still in her hand
In that era when the Qing Dynasty had just fallen and was not in harmony, Bai Jiaxuan, a large household on the White Deer Plain, married seven wives in his lifetime, six of whom were "killed", and such a tragedy was actually proud at that time. The last wife gave birth to three sons and a daughter, and the plot of the whole story was triggered by the long work of the two families.
The long-term worker of the Bai family is called Lu San, and there is a son named Heiwa, who often goes outside to be a "wheat guest" for others, that is, to collect wheat for others, of course, if he is a person who is safe and keeps to himself, it is nothing, the key is that he looks at the owner's charming little wife.
Although the owner Guo Juren has a lot of family property, he is already a bad old man, how can this meet the needs of the little wife? Although Heiwa is humble, she is young and strong, and the two people meet the fire and come together at once, and this is precisely the beginning of all tragedies.
Picture: Heiwa holding Tian Xiao'e stills
2, women who are "toyed with" by men
Guo Juren inadvertently discovered the two men's affairs, punished them severely, and planned to let other long-term workers kill him, but Heiwa was usually a good person, and the friends did not go down to be cruel and secretly let him go.
When Heiwa returned home, heiwa naturally did not dare to tell his family and clan about these unconventional things, so he planned to marry Tian Xiao'e, but Bai Jiaxuan felt that there was a problem, so he asked Lu San to inquire about the news, and as a result, he knew that his son was doing a good job outside, and drove them both out in a huff.
The young master of the Bai family could not bear it, and arranged for them to live in the cave at the head of the village, at the same time, the young master of the Lu family, who had been at odds with the family for many years, also returned from outside and brought advanced ideas.
Heiwa was gradually infected by new ideas, joined the lu family young master team to participate in the revolution, and also criticized various feudal ideas and the former owner Bai Jiaxuan, and what was even more excessive was that he actually led people to burn down the family ancestral hall.
Picture: Stills of Tian Xiao'e and Heiwa being kicked out of the house
After the collapse of the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, Heiwa fled, Tian Xiao'e was not at ease, dragging Lu Zilin, who was the elder, to inquire about her husband's news, and the result was that the other party was disrespectful to the old man, and even ruined it, and then Bai Xiaowen, the young master of the Bai family, also hooked up with Tian Xiao'e, and after the family was ruined, he became a beggar.
Lu San always felt that this unruly woman had harmed her son, so she killed him on the dark night of the moon, and also demolished the house and buried him under the yellow soil, and in this way, her life ended.
In that old era, people did not have any concept of "marriage freedom", even if the families of men and women agreed to a customary marriage, the young couple could only meet for the first time on the wedding night, and this was not a happy moment, but the beginning of the oppression of women in the old era. In the words of Nakata Xiao'e in "White Deer Plain", "Women are sometimes inferior to dogs."
Image: Stills of Tian Xiao'e's murder
Second, the tragic woman in "The Gate of the Mansion"
1. Not recognized by the family
In fact, such a thing is staged every day in the Land of China in that era, even in various film and television works, as long as it is set in the background of this era, there will basically be such a plot embodiment, such as Yang Jiuhong in the once popular and acclaimed "The Gate of the Great Mansion", where can her life be good?
Bai Laoqi invested in the construction of a factory in Shandong, went to the Qinglou when it opened, met Yang Jiuhong, who people loved and hated, Bai Laoqi directly brought this woman home, and also let her cousin take her indirectly to Beijing.
Photo: Bai Laoqi first met Yang Jiuhong in the Qinglou stills
To know what the Bai family is, the appearance of Yang Jiuhong makes the old lady of the Bai family very rejected, coincidentally, Yang Jiuhong suddenly became pregnant, and also gave birth to a daughter, the old lady is helpless, can only put the child to her side to raise, is to recognize the identity of the child Bai family.
Many years later, Yang Jiuhong was pregnant again, and this time, out of motherhood, she said that she would not let her child fall into the hands of others, after all, she had not yet been recognized by the Bai family, once the child was born and taken away, she could not have a relationship with flesh and bones, but on the train from Beijing back to Shandong, she unexpectedly miscarried.
Image: Stills of Bai Laoqi and Yang Jiuhong
2, in the end, completely dead heart
Time has passed, when she sees her child again many years later, the child does not know that this is her own mother, and after explaining it clearly, her son's reaction has made Yang Jiuhong's mood fall into a trough.
The son was not willing to admit that Yang Jiuhong was his own mother, because everyone knew that she was born in Qinglou, and such a woman was not worthy to be her mother at all.
Although Yang Jiuhong was heartbroken, this was not the most tragic, to say that in her life, the most tragic thing was that she had never been recognized by the old lady of the Bai family, and even the servants of the Bai family did not take her seriously.
Later, after a long time, the old lady of the Bai family died, and people often said that "people will die and their words are good", but the old lady's last words on her deathbed were not allowed to let Yang Jiuhong wear filial piety as a white family member, and Yang Jiuhong had made sufficient preparations in between, and even made filial piety by herself.
When the funeral was made, she saw that the dogs of the Bai family were all dressed in mourning clothes, and she was a diligent and earnest woman, but she was not qualified, and this time she was completely dead hearted.
Photo: Yang Jiuhong hand-sewed stills of filial piety clothes
Yang Jiuhong's sadness is that she was born in the Qinglou, but is this something she can choose? Does fate give her the chance to choose? Yes, the old society was so cruel and ruthless to women.
Article author: Dahui
The entire graphic was produced by the team of the Big Cafe Say History Studio!