In ancient times, the deep palaces and compounds were simply a gathering place for women, and there was never a shortage of women in the homes of these extremely powerful men. The emperor had an empress, and a large group of concubines, all of whom served him together. The lord in the mansion had a wife and a group of concubines, who also served the man together. At that time, the man was the master of the house, and the women were only his appendages.
These men, thinking that women cannot live without him, he will be proud to have three wives and four concubines, and the dedication and uniqueness advocated by modern people are only a symbol of shame in the minds of these men. So, what do these men mean by three wives and four concubines? Which three wives are the three wives? Which four concubines are the four concubines? The three and four here are real or imaginary? Today, we will jointly explore the issues that men care about, the problems of three wives and four concubines.
In ancient times, women did not have independent personalities, they were considered appendages of men, and the amount of a man had women was also considered to be the embodiment of their status. Generally speaking, the higher a man's status, the more women he will have. Just like the emperor, he is the most honorable man in the world, and the number of his harem is also very impressive.
Some officials of the imperial court would choose how many women they wanted to marry according to their status. Even those sesame officials who have little money, in addition to their wives, will at least marry another concubine. Otherwise, they will be ridiculed by others, saying that they have lost the face of men.
And men of high status, they will marry a lot of women, but they don't care about these women at all. Take the emperor, for example, maybe the emperor does not know the concubines in his harem at all, and usually the flip card is also casually turned, and the choice of the waiter is also based on Providence. But they must have so many women to fill the harem, otherwise, where will the emperor's face rest?
If the emperor has no heart for women and is bent on the affairs of the government, there will be ministers who will persuade him, hoping that the emperor can let more concubines sleep and give birth to more princesses and princesses for the sake of prolonging his heirs.
It can be seen that these men who have married three wives and four concubines do not care at all who their own wives and concubines really are, they only care about their own faces. If a man is obsessed with his wife and promises that only one person will never marry again, others will watch the hilarity and persuade him to marry a concubine no matter what.
Usually, we would rate a man who has married many women as having three wives and four concubines. What do these three wives and four concubines mean? Today we will interpret the interpretation.
Let's talk about the three wives first, the three here is not a real number. Although it is said to be three wives, in fact a man can only have one wife. From ancient times to the present, the marriage system on the mainland is monogamous, and the difference between ancient times and modern times is that in ancient times, a multi-concubine system was added. Polygamy was the norm in ancient marriages.
In a family, the status of the wife and the concubine is completely different. If a man wants to marry a wife, the process must be very solemn, and the fate of the parents is an indispensable link. The finished ceremony must also be solemnly handled, and each process must be done strictly in accordance with the ancestral system. The wife must enter the house through the main entrance, and she must also wear a red wedding dress. A man has and can only have one wife.
If a man is powerful, he can become his concubine if he sees whoever he wants. There is no limit to the number of concubines, but they have no status to speak of. When carried into the house, they could only wear water-red clothes and were simply carried by a palanquin through the side door into the man's home. As for the wedding ceremony, it is really not even thought of, there will be no at all. After entering the door, they will also be looked down upon by the man's family.
In addition, if a man has a wife and a concubine in the family, the power of the family must be in the hands of his wife. The wife controlled the financial power, controlled the affairs of the inner court, and controlled all the concubines. Therefore, in the presence of the wife, the concubine is always only a high-ranking maid. And if a man spoils a concubine and destroys his wife, he is committing a felony.
The same is true in the palace, only the empress can be qualified to be called the mother of the country, can be qualified to control the affairs of the harem. As for the other concubines, even if they were favored, they were also the emperor's concubines and could not be on the table. The wives of ordinary princes can raise their heads higher than them.
Therefore, three wives does not mean that a man can have three wives, his wife has only one, even if the wife dies and he still has a concubine, then he is also a bachelor. Only after the death of the wife can the man be entitled to marry another wife.
After talking about the three wives, let's talk about the four concubines. The four concubines here do not actually refer to the number of concubines, but to the types of concubines. Fourth, it is not that a man can marry four concubines, but that there are probably four kinds of concubines for a man.
The first type of concubine, which is the highest status among concubines, is often referred to as the side chamber. Generally speaking, the side room woman's own mother's family also has a certain status, for example, if the daughter of a county prince marries into the family of the prince, and the door is not right, then she cannot become a proper wife. However, the county government itself also has a social status, and this daughter can become a side room. The side chamber, on the other hand, may be supported as a wife in the future.
The second type of concubine is called concubines, and concubines are generally the dowry women of the right wife, who are not servants and have a slightly higher status. Concubines marry into the man's family, in fact, it is a bit like the wife's family, what problems the couple encounters, the concubine will generally stand on the side of the wife.
The third and fourth types are the maid and the slave girl, respectively. The status of the mane is slightly higher, and it is a woman selected by the male master from his own waiter who can have a room, just like Jia Baoyu who attacked people. As for female slaves, they were generally the daughters of sinners, had no status at all, and could only be exchanged and rewarded as objects at will.
Three wives and four concubines, although it was the norm in ancient society, was actually too unfair to women. Women become objects, people who are completely dependent on men.
People today should not joke about three wives and four concubines, women are hard to be liberated, it is hard to fight for more power, the previous days, can never go back.
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