More than thirteen years, cardamom stalks in early February.
This is a sentence in Du Mu's poem "Farewell", and posterity used cardamom years to describe thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls, which by extension means youth.
In modern society, thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls are still middle school students, they sit in the classroom to read, study well, every day upwards, they are the flowers of the motherland, the future of the motherland.
But in ancient times, thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls had already begun to marry, and they had become human wives, a phenomenon that was very common in ancient times. So why did ancient men like to marry thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls? It turns out that there is another "cat greasy" in this, and there are three main reasons.
First, the average life expectancy of the ancients was low
Zi Yue: "Seventy ancient rarity." "In ancient times, a person could live to be seventy years old, which was already a high lifespan.
Ancient medical care was limited and nutritional intake was insufficient, so the level of human health was very poor, the average life expectancy was short, and many people died very early.
In ancient times, it was necessary to pay attention to the inheritance of the family, so it was necessary to give birth to noble children early and could not drag on, so women should get married as soon as possible and have children as soon as possible. For the reproduction of mankind, contribute their own strength.
2. Male superiority over female inferiority
In ancient times, it was a patriarchal society, the social status of women was very low, and the ancients paid attention to "women without talent is morality", women do not have to read, do not have to study, do not understand anything is the best.
Women work as female workers at home all day, the door does not go out of the second door, for a long time, it is definitely going to marry. This phenomenon is very similar to the present, for men and women who do not go to school very early, their main task is to marry and have children.
Those who are in graduate school and phDs naturally marry late, and by the time they get married, the children of those who do not go to school are estimated to have already hit soy sauce! When a person doesn't have a clear goal, getting married is the first goal!
Third, increase the labor force
In ancient times, there were no scientific and technological products, and people were the main labor force. In ancient times, wars, farming, building houses, etc. all required a large amount of labor, and when the labor force was insufficient, it was necessary to continue to have children and supplement the labor force.
When a woman is young, she must be able to have more children, so she can have more children and cannot be wasted. In the traditional concept, the ancients longed for children and grandchildren to be full of children and grandchildren, and the family was happy and harmonious, so the more children there were, the happier they were, and the state would encourage the people to have children in order to increase construction.
In the early years of the Han Dynasty, in order to increase the population and promote production, Liu Bang formulated a law stipulating that men and women must marry at a certain age, and if they do not marry, they must be fined. Through this method, Liu Bang quickly resumed production and promoted population growth.
In summary, ancient women married and had children at a very early age, which was also influenced by ancient society. Thirteen- and fourteen-year-old women in modern society are not even allowed to fall in love, let alone get married. Times are different, people's concepts are also different!
References: A Brief History of China, Ancient Marriage System, Traditional Chinese Culture, etc