In ancient times, the "three wives" did not actually include the main wives we thought, but came from the evolution of concubines, so if we want to understand which three wives the "three wives" are, we have to start with concubines. In ancient times, the status of concubines was strictly distinguished, and according to ancient etiquette, concubines could be divided into three levels: noble concubines, good concubines and cheap concubines.
The concubine consisted of a concubine's room, a side room, and a side room
媵室 (ying shi), originated in the pre-Qin period, is the earliest high-level concubine system, that is, when a woman marries a man, her maiden family will send another related woman, such as her sister, cousin or cousin, etc., will marry the same man with the main wife, the big one is the main wife, and the small one is called the concubine room.
The status of the concubine is second only to that of the wife, and she can take over the management of family affairs in place of the wife, and when she joins the man's family with the wife, she needs to register with the government. In addition, when Hakka has special activities, the concubine room can also accompany the wife to attend social activities. After the death of the concubine, they can enter the ancestral genealogy and enter the ancestral hall, and their children also enjoy the inheritance of the family property.
However, due to the fact that the dignitaries and dignitaries in the feudal society always cherish their faces, the daughters who marry out always seem a little groveling when they catch up with their immediate relatives, therefore, in the later years, this custom of sisters marrying together gradually disappeared, and was replaced by a maid when the girl was married.
As for the side room and the side room, in fact, they are all from prominent families, but they are not descendants, just concubines. Therefore, after marrying into the man's family, they can only be concubines of a lower level, which is still very good, that is, their status is relatively high, similar to the concubine, and it is also a kind of concubine.
A good concubine is also called a partial house
The status of the partial house is obviously low, mainly because of different backgrounds, they are often born in ordinary families, most of them belong to the daughters of commoner families, if they marry princes and nobles or wealthy families, they cannot be wives or concubines, they can only be good concubines, and this level is a concubine one level lower than the concubine. The name of the partial house can be entered into the ancestral tree, but their marriage is not protected by law (that is, they do not need to register with the government to marry the male host), and they are not entitled to participate in the public banquet of the host or Hakka.
With the change of history, the concubine room system gradually disappeared from the folk, and the side room and the deputy room became the highest level of concubines, plus the status is second only to the side room and the side room of the side room, the folk have three wives and four concubines, the "three wives" here refers to the side room, the deputy room and the side room, and the four concubines refer to the lowest four kinds of cheap concubines, that is, the accompanying room, the concubine, the concubine and the room.
Cheap concubines include companions, concubines, concubines, and intercourse
The companion room is the marriage of the wife when the marriage of the dowry ring, if the male owner likes, can be accepted as a concubine, the companion room is in the history of the replacement of the system of the concubine room, but they are not related by blood, so the status is much lower than the concubine room.
The concubine is the male owner who takes a fancy to the maid ring in the family, and accepts it as a concubine, the status of the concubine is not high, and their children are not valued in the family.
The concubine is a lowly woman, the ancient society divided people into three, six, nine and so on, the lowly is to refer to the happy family, slave status, prostitute women, such as the male owner of the female drama, or the young lady redeemed from the Qinglou, or the slave maid bought, these women were taken home by the male master, it is the concubine.
The social status of the concubine is very low, and the status of the concubine is also very low at home, although the status of the concubine is low, but the child can also be regarded as a family, the concubine is different, before the Song Dynasty, the concubine is like the male owner's belongings, it doesn't matter if you have children, the male owner doesn't like it, you can give it away at will.
Tongfang is the lowest level of concubines, equivalent to concubines without a name, they were originally the maids of the family, they had to work during the day, and they had to sleep with the male master at night, their identity was Yahuan, but they actually had a relationship with the male master, but they had no name, and they were alternate concubines.
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