In modern society, thirteen or fourteen years old is still a child, but ancient women, thirteen or fourteen years old, married, became adults, began to serve in-laws, take care of sister-in-law, little uncle. Why did ancient women marry so early?
1. The provisions of the ancient law.
From the Xia Shang Zhou to the Ming and Qing dynasties for more than 4,000 years, China has always been a society ruled by law and has a complete ancient legal system. The ruling class, through the state apparatus, makes laws and establishes a legal system. In this way, we will strengthen management and govern the country.
The ancient legal system was relatively complete, and the implementation was relatively thorough. Ancients: The prince breaks the law and the common people are guilty of the same crime. There was also a marriage law in ancient times. Ancient Chinese marriage law stipulates: monogamy, non-marriage with the same surname, and the order of parents. Any marriage that does not conform to all three is indecent and illegal.
The Western Zhou dynasty ritual system stipulates that a man who is twenty years old "crowns and lists her husbands" (pulls all his hair to the top of his head to form a bun, and wears a small hat to protect the bun "crown"), indicating adulthood. For women, at the age of fifteen, they are "hair buns" (also combed into buns that hang behind their heads), which is for adulthood. Men and women who have not reached the age of majority may not marry.
In the Western Zhou Dynasty, men married at the age of 20 and women married at the age of 15.
The Book of Rites records that men are 30 years old, women are 20 years old, and before they are married, the official media will force blind dates and match leftover men and women.
The Tang Dynasty stipulated: "Men are fifteen years old, and women are thirteen years old or older, and they are married." ”
The Song Dynasty followed the Tang Dynasty regulations. However, there are additional provisions: the "Book of Song and Zhou Lang Biography" records that "a woman does not marry for fifteen years, and her family sits on it", that is, if a woman is over 15 years old and has not yet married, her family will be subject to joint crimes.
The Ming Dynasty stipulated: "When a man and a woman are married, if the man is not yet sixteen and the woman is not yet fourteen, it is said that the first time; the man is more than twenty-five, and the woman is more than twenty-five, and the woman is more than twenty years old, and the woman is more than twenty years old, and it is said that it is obsolete." ”
The law stipulates that a woman can marry at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and the people naturally obey it.
Second, the upward and downward effects.
Ancient emperors married early, and empresses and imperial concubines were married at a very young age.
The marriage ages of the Qing emperors were: Shunzhi 14, Kangxi 12, Qianlong 16, Jiaqing 15, Daoguang 13, Xianfeng 16, and Tongzhi 16.
The emperor married so early, the people naturally rushed to follow suit, so ancient men married in their teens.
Empress Liu of the Chen Xuan Emperor was married at the age of eleven; The concubine of the Empress Dowager Chen, the famous beauty Zhang Lihua, was married at the age of ten; Nurhaci's concubine Abahai married at the age of 12; The Emperor Taiji's concubine, Empress Xiaozhuang, married at the age of 12; The Empress Tong Jia of the Shunzhi Emperor, married at the age of 14, and Xuan Ye was born at the age of 15, that is, the Kangxi Emperor; and the Kangxi Empress Hesheli was married at the age of 12.
The emperor's concubines were married at a very young age, and the daughters of the common people naturally rose and fell, and they were married early.
Third, the daughter is a foreigner, and marrying early can reduce the burden on the family.
Ancient people preferred sons to daughters, they always thought that their daughters were people with foreign surnames, and their daughters-in-law were the people of their own families, so they hoped that their daughters would marry early. In this way, the burden on the family will be reduced.
In ancient times, women had to prepare a large dowry when they got married. In ancient times, the dowry was twice as high as the bride price. Therefore, the daughter's dowry money and living expenses are a large expense, if you marry early, the family will save a living expense and reduce the burden on the family.
In ancient times, poor families had a difficult life, and if their daughters got married early, they could eat with one less mouth and give other brothers a way to live. Therefore, even if the daughter is not of marriage age, the parents will let the daughter go to the in-laws' house early to become a child bride.
Fourth, the ancient people had a short life span, married early, and multiplied early.
The ancients had a short life span, and even empresses died young. For example, Kangxi's birth mother died at the age of 24; Kangxi's empress Herschel died at the age of 21.
Seventy years of life are rare, and most people die at the age of twenty or thirty. Before 1949, the average life expectancy in our country was about 40 years.
The standard of happiness for ancient people was that their children and grandchildren were full of children and grandchildren, and people were prosperous. When a woman gets married early, she can have children early and fulfill the responsibility of reproducing children.
To sum up, the reasons why ancient women married in their teens were stipulated by law; the emperor and empress married early, and the people went up and down; men were inferior to women, and women were foreign surnames; the ancients had a short life expectancy and undertook the heavy responsibility of reproducing heirs.