Introduction: Since ancient times, heroes have saddle the beauty of the pass, how many princes will worship each other under the pomegranate skirt of the woman. There is a poem: peony flowers die, and ghosts also flow. But this does not mean that women have a high status, on the contrary, most women can only be reduced to men's playthings in ancient times. Throughout his life, he cannot be autonomous and has no freedom to speak of. However, with the development of society, the situation of women is gradually changing, which can be seen in literary works.
Let's talk about the Shang Dynasty first, after all, this is the first dynasty with history. However, because the Shang Dynasty was dominated by oracle bones, there were not many literary works left behind, so the author combined historical materials and archaeology to discuss. The Shang Dynasty people were superstitious about divination, whether marching to fight or handling government affairs, they had to burn turtle shells to see their patterns below. A famous female figure in this period was Wu Ding's wife "Lady Hao" and "Lady Concubine", and it is said that it was whether it was Wu Ding or Wu Ding's queen who led a cadre of people and horses to make great achievements for the Shang Dynasty. At the same time, a large number of cultural relics unearthed from the Yin Ruins also surface that women can participate in military and political fields, and even have their own fiefdoms. It shows that the status of women in this period is basically the same as that of men.
Speaking of the Zhou Dynasty, the Zhou Dynasty was divided into two periods: The Western Zhou Dynasty and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The Western Zhou Dynasty's "Book of Poetry" records a large number of articles about women, such as "Jingnu" and "Hu" from the "Jingnu" to see that women are very lively and very cute, and the women in "Hu" can divorce their husbands also reflect a certain degree of female freedom. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Zhong Wuyan of the State of Qi, Zhao Ji of the State of Qin, and so on, were all historical figures. Zhong Wuyan was originally a civilian woman in her forties, but she was extremely ugly but could become the queen of Qi and even lead the army to fight. Zhao Ji was originally a geji in Handan City and later became Lü Buwei's concubine, and such a birth could actually become a queen and give birth to a child with Concubine Yi. It can be seen that in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the constraints on women were not very large, and the status of women was still very high.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, Zhuo Wenjun could choose his true love "Sima Xiangru", but Wei Zifu's female slave birth was not low enough to become an empress. After all, women at this time can have names and surnames and go down in history. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the situation changed. Cao Zhi's "White Horse Chapter" wrote that the grandmother did not care, and he said that his wife and son. At this time, the attitude towards women has turned to contempt, and in the allusion of Wang Xizhi's "East Bed Fast Son-in-Law", there is no record of the attitude of Wang Xizhi's wife's surname and name. It can be seen that this is a woman, the marriage can no longer make its own decisions, and the status has been reduced. Emperor Gao Wei of Northern Qi even made an allusion to the "jade body horizontal Chen", and made his beloved concubine Feng Xiaopi naked for the minister to enjoy, and at this time women had a tendency to become playthings.
The Sui Dynasty xingke revered Confucianism, and the Sui Emperor Yang Jian strictly adhered to the Confucian rules. He killed several of his own daughters, and in order to win over the courtiers, he also married his own princess to the ministers. Completely disregarding the feelings of her daughter, the status of women was once again reduced. In the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong actually married his fifteen-year-old daughter to him in order to win over Wei Chi Jingde, but Wei Chigong did not agree. Tang Taizong, known as the "Famous Emperor of the Ages", in order to win over Fang Xuanling's family, married Princess Gaoyang to Fang Yi'ai and later executed Gaoyang's lover, the debater monk. In order to appease Tubo, he married the daughter of the clan "Princess Wenchen" to an old man "Sun Zan Gampo" and had no heirs in her life, and her life after marriage was very painful. Although Emperor Taizong is for the sake of the country, it is too cruel for a woman to bear the prosperity of a country. Princess Taiping's life after marriage was also unhappy, and her husband was given death by Wu Zetian and then she was also given death by Emperor Xuanzong. However, this is court life, and the marriage of ordinary women still has something remarkable. For example, in the "Book of Letting Go of The Wife", "May the wife and the wife re-sweep the state of Emei, and the lord of the high-ranking officials..... One and two wide" and other languages, guaranteeing blessings to the wife. The third lady of the dragon girl in "The Biography of Liu Yi", after being abused by her husband and being known to her family, her family ate her husband in one bite. It can be seen that the Tang Dynasty people were still relatively tolerant of women, and during the reign of Wu Zetian, the tradition of men kneeling and women not kneeling when they got married was fixed. To a certain extent, the status of women has been improved.
The period from the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms to the end of the Song Dynasty can be described as a period of gradual deepening oppression of women in Chinese history. At this time, foot binding gradually prevailed, and Cheng Zhu Lixue's proposal of "three from four virtues" pushed women to the abyss of eternal disaster. The prevalence of religious workshops and brothels has once again plunged women into the depths of the water, and women have to be oppressed by ideological and moral shackles such as starting from one end, keeping festivals, reading the "Biography of the Daughters of The Column", and so on.
The Yuan Dynasty divided people's occupations into ten classes, and there were prostitutes in the family who had to wear green hats, which was a step backwards to the slave era. Ordinary people take names, and are not allowed to take elegant names, only numbers. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang used to be called Zhu Zhongba, and his brother was called Zhu Wusi. If men are still in this position, women are even lower. However, at this time, women's titles for their husbands are still fair, and their status in marriage is still roughly equal.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the status of women was even lower, calling their husbands "lords" and completely degenerating to the point of subordination. The Ming Dynasty novels "Jin Ping Mei" and "Water Margin" reveal their evil intentions against women between the lines, writing "Pang Jinlian" as an adulteress, as well as Pan Qiaoyun, Yan Po Xi, etc., and Sun Erniang was written as the boss lady who opened a black shop. Some versions of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms even write in the "Taoyuan Three Knots of Righteousness" that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei brutally killed each other's wives and children in order to follow Liu Bei without worries. As for the "Journey to the West", it is written that Chen Guangrui's wife, the mother of Tang Monk, was occupied by robbers for sixteen years, and then jumped into the river to commit suicide. In addition, the high-ranking "Chang'e" is also written as a humble maihime. The Queen Mother's mother was written as the wife of the Jade Emperor, and it should be known that the Queen Mother was the wife of the Ancient God. What is even more terrifying is that the Great Qing official "Hai Rui" actually starved his daughter to death for a cake.
In the Qing Dynasty, because men descended and women did not descend. Women could retain Ming dynasty costumes, but the bad habit of foot binding did not change. "Dream of the Red Chamber" depicts a large number of women in detail, reflecting the social form of that period. There are many women who don't even have names, such as "Zhou Everyone's" and so on. The Xianglin search in "Xianglin Search" should be in line with the situation of women in that period.
During the Republic of China period, the book "White Deer Plain" should be a good reflection of the tragic fate of women in that period. Episodes such as soaking dates, being eaten as grain, and being sold by their biological parents are chilling.
But history is moving forward. Today's women, wearing high heels, work and study like men. It's already a huge step forward.