All of the content stated in this article is based on reliable sources of information, which are repeated at the end of the article
Preface
When watching TV series, many people will have "envy" for the big families in ancient times, because whether it is a son or a young lady, as long as the family has a little money, there will be some maids around to serve life.
In the feudal period, maids were an indispensable existence, they had to take care of the living of the main family, and in the necessary period, they also had to "make fun" with the main family.
So where did these maids come from? How much does it cost to buy them? If you have a chance to buy them, what will you let her do?
The origin of the maid
"Three buckets of rice for women in troubled times, ten thousand taels of gold for women in prosperous times"
The maid is a profession that appeared in the period of three buckets of rice, the maid is also known as the maid ring, for this occupation similar to the "slave", the rich and noble people who used it at the beginning were too lazy to come up with a name, so they named it in the form of hair, and at that time the hair of each maid was tied up like a "tree", so it was called a maid.
In that feudal era, the war was staged every day, and many people wanted to sit on the "high" throne, just like there was a saying that "the emperor takes turns to do it, and he will come to my house this year", but the continuation of the war has also led to many families suffering from lack of food and clothing.
So people with many children thought of selling their children to others in exchange for a little money or food to survive, but most people sold their daughters outside, because in the feudal dynasty, the phenomenon of "preference for sons over daughters" was particularly serious, and the important girls who were not from large families basically had no human rights, so women were sold more often.
Whenever there is a big war, those rich businessmen are making a lot of money, mainly land, as the saying goes, "the people take food as the sky, and agriculture takes planting as the first".
Because in ancient times, the private ownership of land was practiced, and whoever bought the land belonged to whom, but after the war, the peasants who finally owned the land had to give up their property and run away in order to survive, which gave the rich businessmen a great opportunity, and they would negotiate with the army to buy the land in their hands at a very low price, which led to less and less land for the peasants, more and more rich merchants, and a wider gap between the rich and the poor.
In order to survive, landless farmers can only sell their children to rich merchants as maids, so as to exchange for some money, in the purchase of land, rich merchants must enjoy it after they have money, so they will also buy maids to take care of their own daily life, and even meet some of their physical needs.
Once these signed the deed of sale, she is no longer herself, everything she has is the main family, if she meets a good family, then as long as she is honest, she will have no worries about food and clothing, and even redeem herself, but if she meets a bad family, she will face inhumane physical and mental torture.
In fact, the maid was called "maid" at the beginning, it appeared in the Shang Dynasty, the Shang Shao at that time was still extremely chaotic, when the Xia Dynasty was not destroyed, the Shang people were still in the clan society, the hierarchy was very serious, although after becoming a country, it contributed to social development, but because of the feudal system at that time, many vassal states fought constantly.
Whenever there is a defeat, there will be a phenomenon of "exterminating the nine clans", all the men are killed, and the women are captured as slaves as commodities, used by themselves or sold to rich merchants at a high price, this is one of the main sources of the profession of maids, the good posture will be a little more expensive, and the poor posture will be very cheap.
Seeing these maids working so hard to survive, many rich businessmen were envious and began to buy them, so there was also a profession called "Ya Po" at that time, which was specialized in buying and selling maids, buying from farmers' homes, and selling them to rich merchants to make a hard money.
The buying and selling of maids
But in fact, there is a difference between a maid and a "slave", the price of a maid is much higher than the price of a "slave", and most of the "slaves" are barbarian women or erring officials and the families of the defeated people.
Originally, they were going to be executed, but in order to torture them and let them try the feeling of "high to low", they were sold as "slaves", tasted humiliation, and some were even thrown into the green building.
The maid is a poor family or a person who voluntarily sells herself, and their life will be better than that of a "slave", at that time, as a necessity for every large family or palace, her demand is still relatively large, after all, why not spend a small amount of money to make a permanent labor force.
And the price of the maid is also floating, the price of each dynasty is very different, the older the age, the cheaper the price, in the Shang Dynasty at that time, the price of a maid is about one stone of rice, the good looks will be a little more expensive, the younger is half a stone of rice is enough.
By the time of the Han Dynasty, the domestic situation gradually stabilized, the wars of various countries also stopped, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, fed and clothed warmly, naturally there was no willingness to sell their daughters, and the price of the maid naturally returned, a maid down about dozens of stone rice, these rice for a poor family can eat for a year or two, and for the rich businessman is just "a drop in the bucket".
After arriving in the Tang Dynasty, the price of the maid has been greatly improved, after all, the Tang Dynasty was prosperous and "all countries come to the dynasty", and in the extremely peaceful period, there were many wealthy merchants, and many people had more maids at home, so that they could appear richer, at that time, a maid was about 6,000 yuan, which is about 30,000 yuan today.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the price of maids reached the peak, and in the Ming Dynasty, the price was slightly higher than that of the Tang Dynasty, and when it came to the Qing Dynasty, a maid could be sold for 60 taels of silver, but there was still a difference.
Like a maid under the age of 13, the price is very low, only about 5 taels of silver, because the girl in this period is not fully developed, can not do any work, and needs a lot of nutrition to grow the body, so the price is very low.
14 to 18 years old girl price is the best, especially beautiful, the price is higher, generally around 30 taels, that is, beautiful or good figure, can be sold for 60 taels, this age of girls not only have the strength to work, but also to meet some of the physiological needs of the main family, if you want to conceive a child, there is a chance to be a concubine, this is the fate of the feudal dynasty maid at that time.
Of course, these are all sold to be maids, and some are the same as the current part-time job, that is, invited, how much money a month, come to work at home, but most of these people are here to do manual work, rarely to take care of the main family's daily life, of course, the part-time job is more free than the sale of the body, not only the salary of the host family is happy, but also some money, until the end of the lease, in the choice of whether to leave or renew.
Go out to buy, some wealthy businessmen's wives will still cultivate themselves, just like meeting some beggars on the road, if they look good, they will take them back to cultivate, as a personal maid, and there is a female eighteen changes, if she looks good when she grows up, she will treat her to her children as a child daughter-in-law, a concubine, or use "venting desire" by herself, this kind of maid has a strong sense of mission, and basically will not leave.
Since I spent so much money and bought a maid, I must use it, and I will assign a job that suits everyone according to their ability, but most people are the same.
What does the maid have to do every day
Like the general maid, it is considered an inferior "maid", every morning when the rooster crows to get up, and now she cleans her personal hygiene and bed, and then comes to the courtyard and living room to clean.
When the main house wakes up, they begin to take care of the main house's washing, and a group of people help to wash it, and a group of people go to clean the bed of the main house, and a group of people go to cook, and when the main house is washed, they bring them food, and when they have finished eating, they clean it up, and then they can eat themselves.
After eating, it is to do some chores, such as washing clothes, sewing clothes, wiping the table, etc., and when it is almost noon, the maid who specializes in cooking will go to cook, and wait for the master's house to eat, after the meal is ready, these maids need to stand by the side of the master's family and listen to them send, until they finish eating, they have the opportunity to eat, but the maid has time to eat, if the master's family delays a little time and causes it to be late, then they will be hungry for a long time.
After eating, you have to take care of the main family to take a nap, and when you fall asleep, you are going to do some chores, until dinner time, this day is almost over, until the main family falls asleep, this busy day is over, the rest of the time even if it belongs to yourself, you can sit with other maids to chat, play games and so on.
And the good-looking will generally be used as a personal maid, mainly to take care of the living, warm the bed when sleeping, when the main family has needs, what unreasonable needs can be met for him, if you have no intention of conceiving a child, it is very likely to be accepted as a concubine, although the status is not high, but it is stronger than the maid.
In the TV series, you can see that there are many maids who are accepted as concubines because they are pregnant with children, although their lives are not good, but they have no worries about food and clothing, after the child is born, if they are excellent, they can also rise to the top, and there is also such a phenomenon in the palace, every maid can't wait for the emperor to drink too much and be fortunate to them, so that the status can be greatly improved.
But this phenomenon is rare, most of them appear in TV series, and most of the maids have been maids all their lives, which is the sadness of living in a feudal dynasty.
Article sources:
Historical Information Network: What is the difference between a maid and a concubine in ancient times?
National Humanities and History: What was it like to have a full courtyard in ancient times, and what did the maids do every day?