"Miss, the master said let's go home early. ”
In some large families in costume dramas, it is often possible to see the heroine followed by a "personal maid", who was either bought back or grew up with the protagonist since childhood.
However, the question is how much did it cost to buy a maid in ancient times, and what did they do when they bought it?
The origin and fate of the ancient maid
The word maid first appeared in the Han Dynasty, originally called "Yahuan", because the maids' hair was often braided into two rings and coiled at the back of the head, like a girl on a tree, so it was named "Yahuan", and later referred to as "Yahuan".
The emergence of maids is related to many factors in ancient society.
In ancient Chinese society, maids existed as a special group of women.
Most of them came from the bottom and entered the wealthy family through various means, becoming the private property of the lord's family.
The emergence of maids is closely related to the social system and productivity level at that time.
According to historical records, the word "maid" appeared in oracle bone inscriptions as early as the late Shang Dynasty to refer to female slaves who had been taken captive, which may be the earliest indication of the existence of maids.
In the context of the Zhou Dynasty's feudal system, there were perennial wars between the vassal states, and the women and children of the losing side were often taken into slavery, which was also the most primitive source of maids.
In feudal society, although wars were still taking place, the captive women were no longer the main source of maids.
However, another consequence of the war, the large number of men who joined the army or died, caused many women to lose their support, and these women who lost their support also became part of the maids.
By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the long war led to an influx of prisoners of war into the slave market, among whom women became maids.
"The Book of Songs, Xiaoya, Qiaoyan" mentions that "cover the rest of the chariot, take the queen first", witnessing the phenomenon of capturing women as slaves at that time, and the group of maids was also derived from this.
At that time, most of the maids were women who were sold or voluntarily sold after their families were destroyed due to the war, and at that time, one stone of grain could be exchanged for one maid.
Under the feudal system, land annexation became more and more serious, and a large number of peasants gradually lost their place to survive, and some extremely poor families chose to sell their daughters to rich families as maids in exchange for survival in order to tide over the difficulties.
In this patriarchal society, women are often the first families to choose to abandon, and at the same time, due to the long-term implementation of the feudal system, land annexation is becoming more and more serious, and a large number of farmers have lost their land, and in order to make a living, they can only choose to sell their daughters to wealthy families as maids.
This kind of maid who enters the big family through buying and selling accounts for a considerable proportion of the number.
On the other hand, wealthy families have accumulated a large amount of land in their hands, but lack sufficient labor to exploit these land resources, and hiring maids has become a suitable option.
The "Ya Po", a middleman who introduced female subordinates for a living, came into being to buy young women in the countryside, sign contracts to sell them, and then sell them to wealthy families in need at a high price, which became another major supply channel for maids.
Once the maid is reduced to the property of others, she loses any personal freedom and is completely dominated by the master's family, and the master can beat and scold the maid as he pleases.
The maid is worth it
In Chinese history, maids were a common social phenomenon, especially among the royal family and wealthy families.
However, do you know what the real price of a maid is?
In ancient society, maids belonged to the lowest class of slaves and maids, and they could be traded through buying and selling.
In different dynasties and periods, the price of maids is not the same, mainly related to the economic situation at that time and the conditions of the maids themselves.
According to historical records, the price of maids in the Qin and Han dynasties was low.
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, wars were frequent, and the people were not able to make a living, and one stone of rice could be exchanged for a maid.
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the political situation gradually stabilized, and 20-30 stone of grain could be exchanged for a slave maid, which means that at that time, the value of the maid far exceeded the grain and other necessities, and even the living expenses of a peasant family for several years.
In the Tang Dynasty, people began to use silver taels as a monetary unit, and ordinary maids were worth about 6,000 wen silver, equivalent to 20,000 yuan.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the price of maids rose greatly, ranging from a few taels of silver to dozens of taels, and the conversion was also between 40,000 and 50,000 yuan.
Such a high price is not only because people had more money in that era, but also because it reflects the social status and social needs of maids.
As a product of slavery, the fate of the maid is often tragic and no choice, they have no freedom, no rights, and their lives and futures are ruthlessly deprived.
Not only that, the individual conditions of the maids are different, and the prices are naturally uneven.
Those with good looks and well-rounded skills are more sought after, and age is also one of the important influencing factors.
According to historical records, during the Yongzheng period, a family sold the maid to a large family and sold it for 16 taels of silver.
At that time, this was equivalent to 12,000 yuan now.
During the Qianlong period, the Mandou family bought four people wholesale, and a total of 25 taels of silver were sold, and the unit price was only less than 4,000 yuan, so the relationship between supply and demand also directly affected the transaction price.
Of course, the price of a maid is also linked to age.
Little girls under the age of thirteen have the lowest price, only four or five taels of silver, because they can't work yet, and they need to spend extra money to raise them.
And the maids who are fourteen to seventeen years old and in their prime, depending on whether they are outstanding in appearance or not, can be worth as much as dozens of taels of silver, and some will even be selected into the master's harem.
Looking at ancient times today, we can't help but feel that the value of a maid is often only equivalent to the living expenses of a wealthy family for one or two years, but for the seller, it is life-saving money and the only chance to get rid of extreme poverty.
Despite this, those in power continue to treat them as slaves, allowing them to be trafficked, abused, and exploited.
This is because for them, the maid is nothing more than an object, a commodity that can be bought and sold at will.
However, the value of the maid represents the background and values of an era.
What to do with the maid who bought it
The meaning of the existence of this group of maids is to meet the various needs of the masters.
They worked hard from morning till night, running from place to place in the Lord's house all day long.
As a slave, the maid cannot even control her own body.
The maid should get up before dawn, freshen herself up, and then prepare the host's breakfast supplies and toiletries.
Wait until the host gets up, then tidy up the room and make the bed.
In the morning, I mainly do some needlework, such as mending clothes, etc., and at noon, I am busy preparing lunch for the master, then serving the host to eat and take a nap, and continue to do chores in the afternoon, and prepare dinner in the evening.
At night, they need to make their beds and wait for their masters to sleep, and they themselves can sleep around 8 p.m.
But in this process, the young masters and grandmothers sometimes insult them for no reason, and some will beat people, they have to swallow their anger and let it be ruined, and this kind of evil behavior is not uncommon in feudal society.
In addition to daily work, maids with good physical strength also have to help do some heavy work, such as carrying rice and grain, chopping firewood.
Dressed in thin clothes, they shivered in the bitter winter and no one paid attention to them, and they were even more busy with their feet during the busy seasonal farm work.
However, the maids in the palace have the highest status, and the emperor can also be named a concubine if he is favored.
But after all, this is only a minority, most of the maids are still living a life of oppression, they don't even have the right to choose self-sacrifice, they can only cry while continuing to live like this.
Therefore, there are also differences in the requirements and treatment of maids in different families, and those who enter the palace have the highest threshold and treatment.
They have to pass layers of selection, not only charming and literate, but also need a certain degree of cultural accomplishment in order to stand out from many competitors.
In addition to serving the monarch's daily life and food, some also need to accompany the study, which is equivalent to the role of a secretary.
Those who have the closest relationship with the monarch may also be favored and eventually made concubines.
The maids in the families of ordinary officials have relatively relaxed work requirements, and some can also follow the master's daughter to become a dowry maid, but the most basic maids only need to undertake heavy physical work such as laundry and cooking, but the situation is also the most difficult.
But no matter what kind of maids they are, they can't control their own destiny, and can only be at the mercy of their masters.