The ancients said: The heart of color is unforgettable. Both food and sex are indispensable for human beings. Food provides energy to sustain life, and sex inheritance genes sustain species reproduction. Therefore, food and sex occupy an equally important place in human nature.
Sex is a relationship between a man and a woman. Sex exists when men and women are born together. The development of sexual culture reflects the changes in the relationship between men and women in social life. In ancient primitive societies, men and women were equal, and both parties enjoyed equal sexual rights. However, with the evolution of history into a class society, men dominate women, and women gradually lose their due sexual rights and become men's playthings.
This change is a long process. "Zhou Li" contains the scene of "the moon of mid-spring, men and women get together, and they can run without prohibition", which seems to spread ancient Xi. During certain mid-spring months, both men and women can pursue each other, and women retain some sexual freedom. This scene can't help but remind people of Zhao Zhongxiang's explanation in "Animal World".
Another ancient book of "Zhou Yi" mentions: "Maintain moral goodness, women are auspicious, and men are dangerous." "Morality" here refers specifically to honesty and integrity. The path of sincerity is eternal. "Maintaining moral goodness" means always maintaining the virtue of sincerity. Stick to your moral code and maintain integrity. This is auspicious for women. For men, however, it is ominous.
Women's integrity is auspicious because they faithfully follow their husbands until the end of their lives. Men are morally bound and have responsibilities to the family, society and the state. Men are in danger if they only know how to be submissive and submissive, like women. Therefore, it is necessary to be decisive and assertive when dealing with problems. This theory seems plausible, leading to the idea that women are loyal to one husband to the end, while men can have three wives and four concubines.
The Great Qin Empire existed for only 14 years, and in order to strengthen its rule and control over its subjects, as well as to strengthen the central government's control over the localities, many laws and regulations were enacted, emphasizing ritual law. In order to strengthen men's control over women, women's chastity began to be emphasized.
The Han Dynasty was an important era in the formation of feudal etiquette. The Qin dynasty relied solely on the law to teach chastity, while the Han dynasty rewarded chastity through the law. In the Han Dynasty, not only did the imperial court advocate etiquette, but there were also people in society who used etiquette to regulate women's lives. China's earliest textbook expounding the norms of women's behavior, The Legend of the Lienu, became the culmination of the Han Dynasty's collection of privet.
Since the Qin and Han dynasties, China's feudal society began to establish and consolidate, and many norms were formulated for women. Especially in the area of sexuality, the control and oppression of it have been strengthened. The time of the former "runner can't help it" is gone.
In ancient times, not only in China, but also in every country in the world had a low status of women. They have always been a vulnerable group. Driven by the possessiveness of male animals, great importance is attached to female chastity. It is in this context that the shackles of chastity emerged, designed to guarantee a woman's chastity and to assert a man's sovereignty over that woman. Today, some remnants of physical objects are still preserved in Paris, Berlin, Rome and other places.
During the reign of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty, the earliest chastity belts appeared in Chinese records. Huo Guang, Huo Quai's younger brother, as a general and minister, is powerful, and the empress of the little emperor happens to be his granddaughter. In order to ensure that his granddaughter was pregnant with the royal dragon, Huo Guang invented something called "poor concubine", and he ordered all court ladies to wear it.
穷绔
In ancient times, people often wrapped themselves in a single robe, which was very convenient to open with a light pull, and the body was naked. Crafted from woven cloth or animal leather, it focuses on covering key parts of the body and is equipped with a number of straps that need to be tied in knots to untie. Even if the little emperor and the concubines and palace maids were impatient, it would take at least half an hour to untie so many knots. This kind of scene is really embarrassing, and it can't help but remind people of Xing Ye and Bai Jingjing in "Journey to the West". Over time, the poor grew to become the underpants that everyone wears now.
In ancient China, the restraint of women's chastity was more theoretical. Feudal etiquette restricts women's behavior, praises chastity and martyrdom to bind women's thoughts, and intimidates women by imposing severe punishments such as riding wooden donkeys and dipping pig cages on women who do not abide by women's morals.
Severe punishment for women who have lost their virginity is not only in China, but also in ancient regions such as Persia, Arabia, and India, and once a woman's loss of virginity is discovered, she will face the cost of disrepute and life. Even now, in places like the Middle East and South Asia, there are reports of stoning (stoning of virgin women to death) and burning at the stake.
Indian women are adorned with a variety of jewels that look bright and unforgettable. In addition to various headdresses, they wear nose rings and footbells on their feet, which make tinkling sounds when they walk. Nowadays, people often think that this is a manifestation of Indian femininity, but in fact the nose ring is similar to the nose ring of a cow, which is a declaration of Indian male ownership of women. If you travel to India, it is better not to provoke such a woman, otherwise her husband will most likely beat you. The original use of the footbell was to prevent women from losing their virginity, and the sound of the footbell would reveal their whereabouts if women had a private lover. Rather than remedy, it is better to take precautions beforehand.
In ancient Europe, starting from ancient Greece and Rome, because it could not reach the ideological height of China's feudal ritual and religious system, it was impossible to realize the ideological brainwashing of women, so it could only adopt lower-level physical means to restrict women. In ancient and modern Chinese and foreign history, when it comes to cruel inventions that imprison women, chastity belts should be at the top of the list. Chastity belts originated in the European Middle Ages, around the 11th century, and were used until the 18th century, with a long history.
Over time, chastity belt making in Europe became very elaborate. The chastity belts worn by the noblewomen of the upper class were inlaid with jewelry, ivory and other ornaments, and tended to develop as jewelry. However, don't be fooled by these flashy appearances, and wearing cold, stiff iron underwear will not only make it physically impossible, but may also cause damage to the flesh on the inner thighs.
Ancient China attached great importance to women's discipline. A chastity belt is not just an ornament, but a practical tool.
During the time of Queen Victoria in England, doctors designed a chastity belt to prevent self-self-esteem in order to prevent teenagers from using their right hand excessively. However, the impractical nature belt in China was soon replaced by the simpler and more effective feudal religion in feudal society, which made women voluntarily keep their chastity.
Cheng Zhu Lixue of the Song Dynasty advocated the pursuit of heavenly principles and the restraint of desires, and the emphasis on female chastity reached its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Women are indoctrinated with the idea of three obedience and four virtues, and regard chastity as their code of conduct. However, these shackles of chastity, which bind women, cause them great suffering.
贞操锁
During the Ming Dynasty, there were even physical forms of chastity belts, such as chastity locks, which protected women's chastity through special keyholes. In "Journey to the West", the treasure clothes of the Golden Shenggong Niangniang were given by Ziyang Zhenren and played a role in protecting her chastity. From ancient times to modern times, the importance of female chastity in Chinese society has never changed. A woman's chastity was regarded as something more precious than life, and moralists throughout the dynasties worked hard to make women consciously keep their chastity. The social consensus is that women should be loyal to their husbands, and once their husbands die, remarrying will be regarded as unclean, not only will the husband's family not be tolerated, but will also disgrace their own mother's family, and it will be difficult for the neighborhood and countryside to raise their heads. This concept has lasted for more than 2,000 years in Chinese history.
"In feudal society, once a woman is found to be having an affair, it will bring serious shame and favor to the family, and some places will even punish such a woman. On the contrary, the court and local yamen would praise and reward women who were industrious and thrifty and took on household chores to reward their chastity.
It is true that cheating in marriage violates the moral norms of the bottom line of society, but this is only a mistake made by women at the moral level, and they should not be treated as capital crimes. Prohibiting women from remarrying, on the other hand, deprives them of their basic rights, which is inhumane.
In modern times, the feminist movement has risen to advocate equality between men and women. With the end of feudal rule, the chastity restraint that had bound women for thousands of years gradually disappeared from people's vision with the progress of social civilization.
The old feudal ignorance has passed, and people's minds have been liberated, however, it is easy to get rid of the shackles of material chastity, but it is difficult to get rid of inner troubles. Nowadays, chastity belts have also been made more sophisticated with the progress of the industrial revolution in new materials, such as leather and stainless steel. At present, in Europe, North America, Japan, Arabia, etc., there are still many men and women who choose to wear chastity belts. As long as there is market demand, there will be industrial production, and most of these products are manufactured by the world's top industrial powers. ”