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Text | Plain Ming
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preface
In ancient times, there was such a group, their status was very low, they were often bought and sold, this is the ancient maid.
Some maids not only have to do chores, but also take care of the life and living of the old man and the lady, and what is even more shocking is that the old man and the lady also have to serve the fish and water fun of the two when they sleep.
Why should the maid be by the side at all times? Wouldn't they feel embarrassed?
The maid who counterattacks life
Song Fujin was born in a scholarly family at the end of the Tang Dynasty, and should have lived a good and stable life, who knew that the sky would not meet people's wishes, wars were frequent, Song Fujin and his family were lost, and became a helpless passerby.
During the long wandering, Song Fujin came to Nanjing, and her intelligent appearance attracted the attention of the local assassin Wang Rong, who left her behind and arranged for her to serve his daughter.
Song Fujin has a submissive temperament and is deeply loved by Miss Wang, and the relationship between the two is close, and Song Fujin has become Miss Wang's most trusted personal maid.
When Miss Wang reached the marriageable age, Wang Rong promised her to Xu Zhixuan, and Song Fujin, as a personal maid, naturally wanted to follow the young lady to her new home, and in the Xu family, Song Fujin as a personal maid had to serve on the side every time when the old lady made fish and water fun.
Xu Zhixun has a lot of affection for Miss Wang, and the two are very affectionate, but the good times did not last long, Miss Wang suffered from a strange disease that was difficult to treat, and the couple had not had children for many years.
Miss Wang was worried that her husband would marry again, and desperately wanted a child to consolidate her position, so Miss Wang thought about it again and again, and finally proposed to make Song Fujin Xu Zhixuan's concubine.
Song Fujin did not object to this, it may be that the long-term relationship with Song Fujin in the room has long made him want to move, so Song Fujin gave birth to four sons for Xu Zhixuan, but Miss Wang's condition became more and more serious, and finally died of a terminal illness.
Xu Zhixun had a deep affection for Miss Wang, and in order to repay Miss Wang's dedication to herself, he established Song Fujin as the main chamber, and from then on, Xu Zhixu began to implement his ambitions, and in 937 he proclaimed himself emperor and established the "Southern Tang", and Song Fujin also jumped from maid to empress.
Song Fujin was originally a maid from an ordinary background, but she went through ups and downs and finally became the mother of a country, and her ill-fated experience is a miracle.
In the turbulent background of that era, Song Fujin's experience has also become a portrayal of ordinary people seeking survival, how lucky she is, but ordinary maids do not have her good luck.
Servants of low status
In ancient times, the term maid fully reflected the social class differences of the time, and almost all wealthy families hired maids to take care of their daily life, and their work ranged from daily chores to intimate services.
Most of the maids come from humble backgrounds, come from poor families, and were betrayed by their parents to become maids in wealthy families, and most of them have no choice but to obey the arrangements of the master's family and follow the master's call.
There are also a small number of maids who have grown up with the young master of the main family since childhood, and their status is slightly higher, and they can order other subordinates to work instead of the master, but their fate is ultimately in the hands of the main family, and they have no autonomy.
The owner's demand for maids is not only limited to daily services, the so-called personal maids are always at the service, even if the master sleeps, he has to stay by the bed all night.
This is extremely embarrassing and embarrassing for the maids, but they must obey unconditionally, and if there is any unexpected situation at night in the master, the maids must get up to help them as soon as possible.
Some maids even became the sexual enlightenment mentors of the sons of the main family, because the ancients were quite cautious in gender relations, young boys and girls rarely had their parents personally enlightened, and the sexual enlightenment teachers of the sons were usually maids.
It is not difficult to understand that adolescent men and women have frequent contact and feelings, and if there is really flesh and bones, the main family will push the boat along the water, arrange their marriage, and let the young master marry the maid through the door.
The ancient patriarchal thinking is very serious, although the wife and husband are commonplace, men can take concubines, but the wife can only swallow her anger, sometimes the main mother in order to retain the husband's heart, will deliberately arrange the maid to secretly communicate with her husband when it is inconvenient for her.
Although the status of this kind of "housemaid" is not high, it is higher than ordinary maids, because they can serve the male master, and under the ancient marriage system, such maids can be described as victims.
Not only that, the wives of the rich and noble families would deliberately summon the maids, sometimes ordering them to do some difficult or humiliating things, in order to show their power and make the maids feel their humble status at all times, which also became a way for the main mother to vent her inner dissatisfaction.
It can be said that in ancient society, the fate of maids was completely controlled by the master's family, they were like the master's playthings, without the slightest autonomy, whether it was life and life path, all arrangements and decisions were in the hands of the master.
This reflects the discrimination and humiliation endured by ancient women, who did not have any human dignity, and were deprived of many spiritual and physical wills, and the misery of these women stemmed from the origin of the identity of maids.
The origin of the maid
The maid in ancient China originated in the period of slave society, and in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, with the rise of private ownership, the landlord class gradually formed, and a large number of landless or landless peasants were reduced to wage labor.
In order to survive, these peasant families often had to sell their daughters to rich families and become slaves, which is the origin of the maids, whose number fluctuated from time to time in history.
During the war years, due to the increase in the number of displaced people, the number of maids also increased accordingly, and the price was relatively cheaper, and in peacetime, the number of maids decreased and the price was higher.
The price of maids is also related to age, the price of the elderly is higher than that of the young, which also reflects the value judgment of the ancients on women, and the older maids are more competent for various household chores, so the price is higher.
And the young maid is not yet fully mature, only looks are desirable, and it becomes a plaything for the owner, so the price is lower, and this mentality of objectifying women leads to the maid being reduced to dispensable productivity and consumer goods.
In ancient times, maids had almost no personal freedom and were regarded as the private property of their masters, who could abuse them at will, and they were on a par with livestock.
It was not until the Song Dynasty that maids could be paid for selling their labor, and their status improved, but throughout ancient history, maids were always the lowest slave class.
The tragic fate of maids reflects the seriousness of gender inequality in ancient societies, and people often believe that the low status of women is a matter of course, which has led to the disregard and trampling of maids, and we should reflect on this historical issue today, call for respect for women, and strive for substantive equality in the status of men and women.
Maids also often enter rich households through "dowry", and when marrying daughters, they will let their daughter's maid "Yahuan" follow the dowry, and sometimes include their sisters.
From the Spring and Autumn to the Qing Dynasty, "dowry maids" were common, and dowry rings were often reduced to their husbands' concubines, indicating that they were still in slave status and did not have the slightest personal freedom.
On the whole, the status of ancient maids was very low, they were dispensable productive forces and consumer goods, and they represented the fate of the lowest people in the long river of history.
Although history is slowly progressing, the situation of maids is still not optimistic, we should look at history, call attention to vulnerable groups, let the shadow left by history not be repeated, and call for attention to the status of women and strive for true equality between men and women, even in modern times this phenomenon still exists.
Liang Qichao's "concubine"
Liang Qichao was born in Xianfeng, Qing Dynasty, and is a native of Xinhui, Guangdong, a famous thinker, scholar, educator and revolutionary in modern China.
Liang Qichao's life was bumpy, and in his later years, he suffered from state turmoil, which can be described as the hatred of his family and country.
However, it was precisely with a loyal wife like Wang Guiquan that Liang Qichao was able to free up his mental strength and devote himself to the revolutionary cause of saving the country and surviving.
Wang Guiquan was originally Liang Qichao's original dowry maid with his wife Li Huixian, and was later accepted as a concubine by Liang Qichao, it is said that Li Huixian came from a famous family and was the precious daughter of Yin Li Chaowei of Jingzhao Mansion at that time.
And Wang Guiquan was not originally called this name, his name was "Wang Laixi", born in an ordinary poor family, his parents died one after another when he was young, and he was helpless.
When she was six years old, Wang Laixi was bought by the Liang family and became Li Huixian's maid, and married into Liang's mansion with Li Huixian, and Liang Qichao changed her to a nice name "Wang Guiquan".
According to feudal rites, the status of the concubine room was low, and Wang Guiquan should have lived a miserable and painful life, but Liang Qichao was very lenient to her.
Wang Guiquan not only gave birth to 6 flesh and bones for Liang Qichao, but also took care of the entire Liang family's household affairs, and after Li Huixian's death, Wang Guiquan became the backbone of the Liang family.
In particular, Liang Qichao was busy with the revolution and often went out and wandered, and Wang Guiquan alone took on the heavy responsibility of raising two wives and a total of 9 children.
We can imagine that a weak woman, in the absence of modern living facilities, to pull the eldest 9 children single-handedly, the toil and hardship is simply unimaginable.
However, Wang Guiquan never had any complaints, just silently guarded the family in her own way.
Wang Guiquan was born in an ordinary family, lost her father and mother at an early age, was sold to the Liang family at the age of 6, and endured the trampling of her status as master and slave day after day.
But she never complained, but silently shouldered the arduous burden of supporting everyone in the Liang family, and after losing her husband in her later years, she had to be alone, facing 9 children of different ages and different needs, raising them one by one and becoming adults.
It is hard to imagine how much effort and sweat an ordinary woman has put into completing all this, and Wang Guiquan used her seemingly weak shoulders to support Liang Qichao's ideals of everyone and the country.
Without her loyalty and dedication to this family, how could Liang Qichao free his hand, run around without distractions, and fight for the progress and development of this country all his life?
Through her own life choices, Wang Guiquan interpreted the noble character that a wife and mother should have with practical actions, and under the haze of ancient feudal rites, this nameless woman used her simple and unpretentious life trajectory to write a gripping and touching family and country feelings, and did not have a serious name until death.
epilogue
The tragic fate of ancient maids is embarrassing, but do we really know their inner world? Did they ever dream of freedom? Was there ever a minor rebellion?
History often records only the outcome but ignores the process, and we cannot simply think that the maid is completely a victim of fate, and that each individual has inner strength and dignity.
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