Baili Hongyi and Liu Qiniang
In the drama "The Wind Rises in Luoyang", Baili Hongyi was initially dissatisfied with the marriage with Liu Qiniang, and he was bent on avoiding this family affair. The play explains that in the heart of Baili Hongyi, the Baili family is a famous door in Heluo, and his father is a Shangshu of the Ministry of Works in the middle of the dynasty, and the Liu family is just a merchant, and the result is that the Baili family is ready to rely on him to climb the Liu family, which is a very bad thing. This can't help but make people sigh: is the Tang people's concept of hierarchy really that serious?
First, the concept of hierarchy that has existed since ancient times
This concept of Baili Hongyi was actually very normal in ancient times, and in ancient times, the concept of hierarchy was actually very strict. China's hierarchy of identities can be traced back to china's slave society, especially the Zhou Dynasty, which was based on clan blood.
In the Zhou Dynasty, the rulers mainly implemented a hierarchical system of feudalism, from the son of heaven to the princes to the qing masters and scholars, layer by layer, and the hierarchy was strict. In order to maintain this system and prevent the emergence of trespassing, the rulers established a specific system of liturgy. In the Weekly Ceremony, the specifications of food, clothing, shelter and transportation for each class were stipulated. Take the system of using Ding, according to He Xiu's note in the "Biography of the Ram and the Second Year of the Duke huan", "the nine dings of the heavenly son of the heavens are sacrificed, and the seven princes, the fifth doctor, and the three yuanshi are also". In the Zhou Dynasty, once the act of trespassing was investigated, it would bring the disaster of killing. Zhou Li is reflected in the marriage relationship, that is, the marriage of people with different identities is naturally incompatible.
The princes worshipped the Zhou Tianzi
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the ceremony collapsed and was broken. Guan Zhong was the first to put forward the four people system of "the four people of the soldiers, farmers, industrialists, and merchants, and the stone people of the country" in the article "Guan Zi". Shang Martin borrowed the idea of Guan Zhong in the Qin State Reform Law, dividing the people into four people: soldiers, farmers, workers, and merchants, and the control of these four classes was very strict. This classification of shang martingale had a great influence on the Qin people, which also led to the fact that although the later great merchant Lü Buwei was a great contributor to the ascension of the Yiren to the throne of the Qin King, he was still despised by the Qin people. During this period, there was great mobility between the four peoples, and ordinary people could also be secretaries of state, but the influence of the clan concept on marriage still existed, so free love in the Warring States period was difficult to achieve, and many marriages of the warrior clan were given the nature of political marriage, which also affected the marriage of the common people.
During the two Han dynasties and three kingdoms, the system of recommendation was implemented, and local officials had to "raise filial piety" to the state every year, although this could be more effective in selecting talents, but it still gave the famous and prestigious families the opportunity to take advantage of, resulting in many times the children of bureaucratic landlords were selected. At that time, the concept of marriage hierarchy was never broken, and even intermarriage with slaves occurred during this period, and the children born could only be slaves.
During the Two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the door valve system developed to its peak, and there was almost no passage for class jumps during this period. Reflected in marriage, Emperor Xiaowu of the Liu Song Dynasty and Emperor Xiaowen of northern Wei also explicitly stipulated that marriage with Shishu was prohibited.
Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the film and television drama
These ideas are passed down from generation to generation and are deeply internalized in people's hearts. In the Tang Dynasty, the decree prohibiting the marriage of good and lowly was very complete. The "Tang Law and Household Marriage" records: "Miscellaneous households are not allowed to marry good people, and those who violate the law will have a hundred rods." The same is true of officials who marry good women. A good man marries a woman from an official household, plus a second class. That is, a slave who marries a private woman and a good woman is a concubine of a wife and a concubine, and the one who knows to marry is guilty of the same crime. Each is still true. "It's visiblely harsh!
At this time, some people will say that it is often seen that an emperor marries a certain princess to a certain meritorious family, which is not considered to be a cross-level marriage? In reality, this is nothing more than intermarriage within the ruling class. Generally speaking, this type of marriage is called "when the color of the marriage" and is a legal marriage. Although there are certain boundaries, it is not very strict. Only when a large family of scholars marries the common people will it be said to be "disrespectful" and will be laughed at by the scholars.
Back to the play, why is it that the Baili family and the Liu family have not been criticized for intermarriage? In fact, it is mentioned in the plot that although the Liu family is from a merchant background, it has long developed into the Hedong Wang family, which is no different from the Baili family's fortune as a hundred workers. And Baili Hongyi's mind still comes from the division of the four classes of scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants, after all, workers are still one level higher than shang, as the saying goes, "officials and senior officials crush people to death", why is this not the case in the ancient hierarchy.
The plot mentions that the Liu family is a Member of the Hedong Wang Clan
II. Marriage Laws and Policies of the Tang Dynasty
Mentioned above in the Tang Law's provisions on marriage between various classes of the Tang Dynasty, it is worth mentioning several principles of the Tang Dynasty's marriage legal system. When the Tang dynasty formulated laws related to marriage, it was actually inseparable from several keywords such as "class", "patriarchy", "husband power", and "contract money".
Baili Hongyi and Liu Qiniang at the wedding
Class, we have said above, let's talk about "patriarchy". The Tang Dynasty was also a patriarchal society of feudal patriarchy, and marriage was not a matter of individuals, but was closely related to the entire family. Therefore, the formulation of marriage regulations has always paid attention to the patriarchal etiquette system and accepted the constraints of the patriarchal system. In the process of marriage, the marriage must follow the prescribed etiquette, such as marriage must have a main marriage person (usually parents or elders), there must be "six appointments" (in the play, Baili Hongyi's father also mentions "six appointments" when he scolds him) and so on. If the etiquette is violated, the marriage will not be recognized and will be illegal.
Let's talk about "husband power", the concept of the three principles and five constants of ancient society is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, of which "husband is the woman" is the embodiment of "husband power". In the relevant laws of the Tang Dynasty on the handling of marriage and family disputes, this principle was naturally inseparable. This also leads to the sin of the husband and wife, and the sentence of the woman must be heavier than that of the husband, and likewise, the crime of the concubine will be heavier than that of the husband.
Finally, there is "contract money", which has actually been passed down to the present, but it is not very obvious in the law. The contract refers to the marriage certificate submitted by the man to the woman according to the procedure to prove that the two are formal marriages through the orders of the parents and the words of the matchmaker, so the contract is a symbol of the marriage of both men and women, similar to the current marriage certificate. Money refers to the dowry, which is today's bride price, and although the Tang Law does not specify a quantity for this, it is also a symbol of the marriage between husband and wife. (That is, as long as the woman and her parents accept the marriage certificate or dowry to find one of them, it means that both the man and the woman can officially proceed to the subsequent wedding.) If not, it is an illegal marriage)
Modern marriage books modeled on ancient formats
In addition to the principles of "good and unworthy do not marry", the Tang Law actually has many restrictions on marriage, such as "not marrying with the same surname", "not marrying the clan wife", "not marrying the officials and the people", "not marrying adultery and escape", "not marrying against the time", and so on. These restrictions all show that the Tang Dynasty marriage laws and policies are closely related to the concept of hierarchy, the concept of clan, and social morality.
Wen Shijun said
In the early stage of "Wind Rises Luoyang", Liu Qiniang's blind efforts were exchanged for baili Hongyi's indifferent treatment, and the plot was really painful and angry. But combined with the concept of the times at that time, as well as the personality characteristics of the characters themselves, everything became reasonable again. Baili Hongyi's escape from marriage is not only his personal prejudice, but the embodiment of the patriarchal hierarchy concept in him.
bibliography
Niu Zhiping and Yao Zhaonu: Marriage and Funeral in the Tang Dynasty, Northwest University Press, 1996.
Li Jin, "Feudal Hierarchy and Law and Its Influence", Journal of Social Sciences of Jilin University, No. 3, 1980.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Taoyuan)
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