Many people envied the three wives and four concubines of ancient men, but in fact, only rich merchants and officials and eunuchs in ancient times could have three wives and four concubines. The poor, on the other hand, are monogamous, and they will never marry for the rest of their lives.
China's ancient system was a highly centralized system and a strict hierarchy, but this strict hierarchy also extended to ancient marriage relations.
The wife has absolute rights as the head of the family in the inner house
Concubines are essentially slaves. There are also strict hierarchical divisions according to the origin of concubines, and the identity of these concubines also means that they can enjoy different treatment in the male host's home, some can enjoy roughly the same treatment as their wives, and some live in the fear of "man is a knife trick, I am a fish".
First, how to get three wives and four concubines
Ancient China, from the beginning of the Xia Shang to the fall of the Qing Dynasty, has experienced a thousand years, from the matrilineal clan to the patrilineal clan, the centralization of power has been continuously strengthened, and the power of the emperor is above all else.
The hierarchical system of "scholars, peasants, industrialists, and merchants" in ancient Chinese society was very strict, and this strict political hierarchy was also reflected in the ancient marriage system and influenced people for thousands of years
。
Under the influence of the ancient hierarchy, the harem of the ancient Tianzi could have three wives, nine concubines, twenty-seven wives, and eighty-one imperial wives, while men outside the Tianzi had strict rules for marrying wives and concubines. In the early days of feudal society, princes could marry one wife and eight concubines, junjun could marry one wife and six concubines, and soldiers could marry one wife and two concubines. These are well documented in ancient texts.
During the Western Jin Dynasty, officials of one pin and two pins could have one wife and four concubines, officials of three pins and four pins could have one wife and three concubines, officials of five or six pins could have one wife and two concubines, officials of seven or eight pins could have one wife and one concubine, and shu people could not take concubines. In the middle and late period of feudal society, the regulations on concubinage were not so strict, and both officials and rich families could marry a certain number of concubines.
2. The rank of the wife
The so-called three wives and four concubines in ancient China refer to the three wives: the original wife, the partial wife, and the next wife. Four concubines: partial room, accompanying room, concubine, concubine. In fact, only the original wife can be called a wife, and the partial wife and the next wife are actually a kind of concubine. If an ancient man did not take a wife but had a partial wife or a wife, he was also considered unmarried.
The wife of the original concubine who was married through the three books and six ceremonies in ancient times,
Wives are generally arranged marriages based on the patriarchal system, that is, the marriage is essentially the interests of both families, and the establishment and dissolution of marriages are all decided by the parents
。 The purpose is mainly to consolidate the family interests of both sides, and the essence is the carrier of the community of family interests of both sides.
The original wife had absolute housekeeping rights in the ancient family life, not only to manage the family's expenses, manage the concubines, servants, manage the family's food and clothing, the children of the family and the external socializing
In the hit drama "Know It or Not", Mrs. Sheng deliberately exercised the skills of Minglan butler, and Hualan also got a reputation as a housekeeper outside, which shows that in ancient times, housekeepers were an important skill for wives.
Partial wives and subordinate wives are actually noble concubines
Except that they differ from other concubines in that the partial wife and the next wife are related by blood to the original wife, and are divided into partial wives and lower wives according to the distance of blood relations. The children they give birth to are also referred to as "concubines" and "concubines" according to their mother's status. They can all enter the ancestral hall of the husband's family and be enshrined by the descendants of the husband's family after death.
Partial wives are generally sisters who marry into the husband's family with their original wives or women of the same clan, and generally have the highest status among concubines. You can participate in some important occasions. If their wives die, they may be promoted to the right wife, but become "step-houses" to distinguish them from their original counterparts. Their children can be called "concubines".
The next wife generally refers to the aunt of the wife or the cousin of the uncle's family, whose status is slightly lower than that of the partial wife, and if the wife dies, she may also be promoted to the right wife, but before being promoted to the right wife, their children can only be "common children". Although their status is actually a concubine but their status is relatively high, in some respects they also enjoy the treatment of wives.
Ancient clan relatives and aristocrats have a fixed number of requirements for their partial wives and subordinate wives, not that you want whoever wants to be a partial wife can let who do it, to the late period of feudal society, for example, the Qing Dynasty side Fujin is also married by the Ming media.
His essence is also a marriage relationship formed to consolidate the interests of the family, and has nothing to do with whether they love each other or like each other.
3. The rank of concubines
Partial houses are generally women who are not related by blood or family to their wives, they are generally the women of large households, and some of them are the children of the family. It's just that their origins are lower than those of the original wives in the family
But they are all good people
。 For example, Aunt Wen in "Like a Jade Heart", she is a concubine in the family but became a concubine due to her low birth.
The escort room is generally a maid who accompanies the original wife from the mother's house to the husband's family.
As a dowry, they can be said to be the general items in the family, and the male owner can be used as a concubine as long as he likes it.
However, the escort room is the confidant of the original concubine who was brought from the mother's family to the husband's family, so the status of the concubine is slightly higher than that of other concubines.
Concubines were generally originally from the maid's background and were promoted to concubines. In the ancient marriage system, their status can be said to be relatively low, and their origin is the same as that of the accompanying room.
But the difference is that they are not the confidants of the original wife, and a large part of them are the official names given by the man's favorite servants after marrying the wife when they are not married.
The status of a concubine is the lowest in ancient marital relationships. They are generally due to a crime committed by someone in the family, and the woman who is connected to them is concubined by the male master, or the prostitute or prostitute marries the male master from lianghou, because of him
They belong to the lowest level of society, they have no human rights, and even if they have children, they may give or sell them as gifts or items at any time
In the hit drama "Know It or Not", there is such a plot, lin Xiaoniang, as a concubine, privately sells the field in her hand to the outside. If he was caught by the eldest lady, he would take the deed and sell it to the house on the charge of "adultery." The reason why the eldest lady can sell him to the house at will is also because her father has been convicted of him as a woman of Zhulian, who is not high in her own status and is actually the lowest-ranking maid.
The original household registration of the concubines with the status of the companion house was not a good person with a flat head, but a pariah. In the hierarchical ancient times, their status could not be compared with the three wives and the partial house. Whether they are favored or not, whether they have children or not, their identity is actually the maid of the male family, and their relationship is always a master-servant relationship.
The concubine in the family should obey the management of the wife, whether she can have sex with the male master in the family, not only needs the will of the male host, but also whether the original wife in the family agrees is also an important factor.
In ancient times, the male master still had to spend most of his time in the wife's room, and only on certain days could he go to the concubine's room, which was also the embodiment of the ancient patriarchal system.
4. Summary
ancient
The institution of marriage is essentially the embodiment of the political system in social relations. itself
It was created to preserve the class system
The identity of the concubine is not determined by whether there is affection for the male master, but by the status and identity of the original family. The essence of marriage is also different from the present, not for love, but for the sake of maintaining the family's interest community.