Under the heavy shackles of ancient feudal society, there is a saying: "There are three unfilial pieties, and no queen is great." This phrase originally came from the mouth of Mencius and was intended to criticize those who did not fulfill their filial piety. However, people misunderstood Mencius's original meaning and misinterpreted it as unfilial piety if there were no heirs. At that time, the birth of a son was regarded as the most important duty of a wife, as he was the key to the continuation of the throne, the family property, and the estate. If there is no one to inherit it, it will all fall into the hands of others. In order to ensure the stability of the military morale of the troops, the monarch who is vying for hegemony in the world needs his descendants to preside over the overall situation and maintain the cohesion of the troops.
In ancient societies, not everyone was blessed with a wife. Those who are poor face the dilemma of not being able to pass on to future generations. So, in the long river of history, in order to continue the bloodline, people actually came up with a method that defied ethics - "pawn wife marriage". It was a perverse form of marriage continuation that had been passed down for generations in Chinese history until it was finally abolished during the Revolutionary War.
During the Song Dynasty, known as the pinnacle of Chinese civilization, the social atmosphere became more and more open, and people's concepts gradually improved. However, in this seemingly vigorous and energetic era, a bad habit called "pawn wife marriage" has quietly risen and even developed to its peak.
The essence of "pawn marriage" is a transaction between wealthy people in search of novelty and excitement. They ignore the dignity and rights of women and see them as goods that can be traded at will. This kind of behavior is undoubtedly a great poison to the women of good families, making them struggle in suffering, but there is nowhere to speak.
In that feudal society, where men were inferior to women, the status of women was always low. They are seen as appendages of men, who only take on the role of procreation, earning, working, and venting their desires. In such an environment, women's rights and dignity are seriously trampled on, and their lives are full of helplessness and pain.
With the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty, the rule of the Yuan Dynasty ushered in a new era for China. However, even before the wheels of history rolled, this discrimination and oppression against women still existed.
Although "pawn wife marriage" is contrary to morality and ethics, it is a bad custom that conforms to the development of the times. The poor practice marriage in order to have their own offspring. Compared to being able to achieve bloodline inheritance, those morals and ethics are not a big problem.
Although the marriage of pawn wives was suppressed, in any society, the majority of the poor and the rich were scarce, and many people could not take wives, and they all regarded the succession of ancestors as a major matter. The chaotic period at the end of the Qing Dynasty contributed to this bad custom. In the pedantic feudal ancient society, it was difficult for the poor to get ahead, and the rich oppressed the poor and became richer and richer. In the context of ancient feudal society, no matter how poor you are, regardless of morality and ethics, you must complete the task of passing on the ancestry.
After the marriage of the pawn wife, the woman lives in the house where she was purchased, and there is a limit to the period of pawn, which may be two to three years, or three to five years. Since it is a wife bought with money, you have to make good use of it and work hard to achieve the task of passing on the lineage. If you can give birth to a son, then the money will not be spent. Women who are sold by pawn wives often suffer, feudal society shackles women, they all have loyalty, rarely cheat or go out of the wall, but after being pawned out, the new husband will force the daughter-in-law he bought to have sex as long as he has time.
The moment they are sold, they become reproductive tools, have no human rights at all, are tortured at night, and have to work in the fields during the day. If there are several brothers in the family, the woman may give birth to the younger brother after giving birth to the elder brother, which is unspeakably miserable. The ancient "pawn wife marriage" is a deformed product born of feudal backwardness, which oppresses ancient women, making them tortured and unable to resist, and their fate is really bumpy.
With the founding of the People's Republic of China, women had the right to autonomy.