In ancient societies, it was often more important for women to keep their virginity than to save their lives. The so-called conservative chastity means that a woman either does not have sexual intercourse with a man for the rest of her life, or only has sexual intercourse with the legal person (the only husband), otherwise it is "loss of chastity". "Loss of virginity" includes premarital sex, extramarital sex, remarriage and rape, among others.
This applies only to women, not men. Sexual intercourse between a man and a woman other than his wife is at best "immoral", but no one refers to it as "unchastity", and the concept of chastity is a law in ancient society that men set up for women.
In ancient times, premarital virginity testing was prevalent, in which the husband or relatives and friends checked whether the newly married wife was a virgin, that is, whether the husband had the "right of first use". Since a woman is an item used by men, she should be a "new product", such as an "old product", even if it has only been used by others once, it will be greatly "reduced".
At the same time, it is not only a question of the "value" of the object, but also involves the fact that if a woman is unchaste before marriage, then she must not be reliable after marriage; Since you have had sexual intercourse with someone else before marriage, the first child born after marriage is also likely to be a "wild species". In the process of human transition from group marriage and hybridization to individual marriage, some tribes have the trend of "killing the first son", because the remnants of group marriage and hybridization still exist at that time, and women's premarital sex is not uncommon, but the inheritance of individual marriage and private property requires that the children must be from the man's blood, so in order to prevent the first child born after the wife is married to be a "wild species", the child is killed indiscriminately.
There are many methods for testing virginity and identifying virgins before marriage in ancient times, many of which are absurd and unscientific.
For example, the groom of the Zygroom of the Hungarian people had the bride step barefoot on a small round board made of linden on their wedding night. There are drawings on both sides of this round plate: the outer circle on one side is painted with a lock, indicating that the wife is locked by her husband; The two cross towers represent misfortune, the circle in the middle symbolizes sensuality, the serpent below symbolizes the seducer, and the lowest tower represents the husband monitoring his wife's chastity on the tower. The flowers painted on the other side symbolize love, and the two rods below symbolize punishment for those who forget love and do not commit to justice. They believed that if a girl who had lost her virginity stepped on this plank, disaster would be imminent.
There is also a part of the Zighner, in which the groom hides boxwood branches under the bride's pillow on their wedding night in the heads of three peeled magpies, believing that if the wife is pure, she can sleep peacefully, otherwise she will confess the unchastity of the past in whisper.
During the engagement ceremony in Mexico, the fiancée is required to sit in a new chair to show her chastity and innocence. After the ceremony of chastity confession, you will soon become a real family. On the wedding night, the groom actually tests the bride's virginity, and if it is proved that she is chaste, the marriage is finally consummated, and if she is found to be "unchaste", the marriage will be over.
If a woman is considered not a virgin when she is newly married, the end is often tragic. The Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy says, "If a newly married woman is not a virgin, she should be stoned to death." The Old Testament Leviticus also states, "Every daughter of a priest who has an adultery shall be burned to death." ”
In some parts of Afghanistan, the cult of "falling red" has always been popular, if the newlyweds do not see "falling red" at the first marriage, they are regarded as unchaste women, the groom can take her off, or even put her to death, the woman's family must not have any objections, but also send the bride's sister to be replaced, if there is no sister to replace, then a large amount of property must be compensated to show the guilt.
The Uratan tribe in the southern Indian state of Kerala would put the bride in a disgusting toilet overnight if it was proved that she was not a virgin, and the bride would often faint in a pool of dung, which was said to be her due punishment. Since women have become vassals, playthings, and private property of men, and since the "virgin treasure" -- virginity -- is so valuable, some rich and powerful men want to possess not only their wives' "virgin treasures," but more "virgin treasures." Some people are keen to spend several times the price to prostitute virgin prostitutes, and "open the bud" for these virgin prostitutes, which is a reflection of this psychology. The right of first night, which prevailed for a long time in ancient times, is also closely related to this, and the issue of the right of first night is more complex and needs to be analyzed in detail.
In ancient times, there was a custom that the bride had to be enjoyed by a man other than the groom on the first night of her first marriage, and her virgin body had to be "broken" by another man. The Japanese scholar Nidaido Shohisa, who wrote the book "The Right of the First Night", defines the right of the first night as: "When married, it is customary for one or more men to sleep with the bride before the groom." It also includes the habit of a woman who has reached or will reach mastery to be tried by a specific person before she gets married.
The first night of the bride to be broken by a man other than the groom is a great shame, a very typical oppression, possession and manipulation of women, which is intolerable for any modern person. But this kind of thing has been popular in many parts of the world for quite some time; A review of European historical archives shows that several countries did not eliminate this legacy until the 18th century, and some Russian landowners exercised their first night rights until the end of the 19th century. Until now, there are a few uncivilized tribes in the world that still have this phenomenon.
By the Middle Ages in Europe, the first night of the bride had become the right of the ruler, a means of appropriating everything of the serfs and playing with women, and the nature of the "right of the first night" changed completely. For the feudal lords, young girls among serfs were equivalent to free prostitutes and unspecified concubines. The French refer to the "right of the first night" as the "right to open your thighs", a custom that has been preserved for centuries.
In the kingdom ruled by Charlemagne of Germany, the young girls of the serfs lived in the lord's front room, leaving them to "break melons". In a proclamation issued by the cantonal parliament of Zurich in 1538, it was stated: "The lord, the owner of the territory, has the right to spend the night with the bride of the peasants (tenants, peasants, slaves) who are about to marry within the territory, and the groom is obliged to offer the bride to the lord." If he was unwilling, the groom had to pay the lord about 4.3 marks. In Byrne, Germany, the bride paid the lord a cauldron "capable of holding the hips" and cheese "as heavy as the hips," and the groom had to pay the lord a high-class blouse or blanket. This kind of compensation is the so-called "marriage tax," and in Germany the compensation for this "right to the first night" is called "Kong Shou Qian," "New Bed Money," "Extreme Seal Gold," "Women's Gold," and "Navel Dynasty." If the above "obligations" are not fulfilled, the marriage cannot be recognized by a notary or obtained the permission of the lord. This is truly a very ugly page in human history.
In addition, some first-night rights are also transferred in the nature of exchanging benefits. One book, Black Sex, states: "African tribes living near the equator have a custom of publicly auctioning off the right to the first night of maidens. When their maiden reaches maturity, her first night rights are sold to those who buy them. The maiden was wrapped in clothes, was elevated and toured the tribe, and then knelt under an umbrella in the tribal square, and onlookers could spend the night with the maiden at the appropriate price. "In this way, the price of selling the right to the first night becomes the dowry of the maiden. In addition, tribes in southern Sudan, in order to avoid aggression by neighbouring tribes, give the girl's first night rights to the elders of neighboring tribes.
In ancient China, there was the so-called "men and women are not intimate", "men and women do not sit together, do not give different flails, do not give different scarves, do not teach personally", which is also a common phenomenon in many ancient countries to prevent women from "losing their virginity".
For example, in ancient Persia, girls could not see any men after the age of seven; After marriage, she can only stay in the "back room" of her husband, and she is not allowed to be seen by any man other than her husband. When a wife must go out, she must cover her whole body with clothing and cover her face with four layers of veil. If it is a noble lady, she must also sit in an airtight car. The tighter the husband's restraint on his wife, the more respected he becomes, because it is a noble expression of his concern for his wife's chastity and helping her to keep it.
In ancient Greece, which claimed to be enlightened, in the era of the city-state, the status of women was still almost indistinguishable from that of a slave and a subordinate, and it was the wife's duty to strictly observe chastity and be absolutely loyal to her husband. In order to keep chastity, she can only be locked in the inner room, cannot socialize with the opposite sex, and cannot participate in receiving her husband's guests, otherwise she will be considered a prostitute. The ancient Greek thinkers also admonished that both virgins and married women should be careful everywhere, even in boudoirs, and if a man peeks out the window, she should feel infinite shame, immediately retreat, reflect on it, and wash her face with clean water.
The Tlaxcalans of ancient Mexico had to shave their hair when they got married, indicating that "henceforth they would renounce any activity of their youth."
In ancient India, male doctors were also severely restricted from seeing female patients. Women must wear face coverings, and doctors are not allowed to have direct contact with women, especially when entering the palace to treat female patients, covering all the doctors' heads, and the queen concubines in the palace are not allowed to see male doctors. When treating a disease, the doctor must stand outside the curtain, and the diagnosis of the disease must be through a stethoscope attached to the outside of the curtain, and a maid places one end of the stethoscope on the heart and chest of the concubine, which is a bit like the Chinese medicine to diagnose the pulse. Of course, it is difficult to see a doctor in this way.
The confinement of women and the locking of women to the extent of cruelty and absurdity may be the chastity belt. This is an "invention" that appeared in the European Middle Ages to brutalize women, also in order to force women to observe chastity for men.
I dare not agree with these views of chastity, it is already a sadness that ancient women have no status, and contemporary women should not pay for the backward ideas of ancient times, right?