In ancient feudal society, there was a strict hierarchy, there was a tradition of male superiority and female inferiority, many powerful men would have three wives and four concubines, and the status of the concubine was very low, compared with the main wife, the status of the concubine was more like an item of the male owner. Therefore, the low-status concubine cannot talk about the possibility of competing for favor with the main wife.
In ancient times, few women would take the initiative to be someone else's concubine, but a low-status concubine had a "privilege" that the wife did not have. So why did the system of concubines arise in ancient times? What exactly is the "privilege" of a concubine?
01
In the early days of primitive tribal society, the organizational form of society was generally matrilineal society, and the tribe at this time was dominated by women, and with the development of society and the improvement of productivity, the social status of men in the tribe gradually improved, so that the matrilineal society gradually disappeared and transitioned to a patrilineal society. The ancient system of wives and concubines arose from the period of the extinction of matrilineal clan society.
After entering the patrilineal society, the tribal leaders had a number of female slaves in addition to their regular wives, who were generally sinners who had been raided from other tribes or who had made mistakes in the tribe.
The tribal chiefs naturally had to possess the power over the female slaves, who were initially mainly used by the tribal chiefs to vent their desires, not for the purpose of procreation.
But in ancient times, there was no contraceptive technology, and these female slaves could get pregnant, so in order to avoid mixing their own bloodlines, the tribal leaders would choose a fixed number of female slaves.
Over time, the status of these female slaves who served the chiefs changed, and they were no longer mere slaves, but their status was slightly higher, but still very low. This is the early first concubine.
In addition, in ancient times, sometimes when the head of the tribe married his wife, the woman's family would marry some of the woman's sisters together. This is the concubine system, and the status of the concubine who marries is generally higher than that of the female slave.
After the emergence of the feudal state, the marriage system of human society was gradually improved, and there were fixed rules for men to marry wives and concubines.
These rules were strictly followed by men in ancient times when taking concubines, and they were not as many concubines as they wanted if they had a high status or wealth.
The consent of the parents is the first thing to take a concubine, and after the consent of the parents, the consent of the main wife must be sought. In addition, there are strict restrictions on the number of concubines.
For example, in the Han Dynasty, only people with special labor could have 9 concubines, while ordinary scholars could only have 2 or 3 concubines. In the Ming Dynasty, the average vassal king could have 11 concubines, and the son of the vassal king could have 5 concubines.
As for the ancient commoners, they were generally not allowed to take concubines, and only if certain conditions were met, they could take concubines. The Ming Dynasty stipulated that a man could only take a concubine if he was still childless at the age of 40, and the concubine had to be reported to the government, otherwise he would be punished with a cane.
02
In ancient times, the status of male concubines was generally relatively low, but the specific status of concubines also varied according to different circumstances.
Some concubines come from the dowry of the woman's family. Generally speaking, if the woman's family is a wealthy family, she will marry some of the woman's sisters, and the status of this kind of concubine is higher than that of ordinary concubines.
And if the wife dies early, or there is no heir for a long time, such concubines who marry have the possibility of becoming regular.
And some concubines come from the maids in the male master's house, or are bought and sold or given from others, and the status of this kind of concubine is very low, just equivalent to an item equivalent to the male master, which can be given away or bought and sold at will.
The lyricist Su Shi had a romantic life and had many wives and concubines, but he didn't have any friendship with these concubines, but just regarded them as personal belongings.
Every time Su Shi was degraded, he would package and buy some of the concubines in his family, or give them away to deal with, and some of these concubines even had Su Shi's children, but Su Shi didn't care, which shows that in his heart, he didn't treat these concubines as people at all.
In addition, the difference between the status of the concubine and the wife is also reflected in various aspects. In ancient times, wives were generally ordered by their parents, and the words of the matchmaker were that the male family's family had to give a dowry, the woman's family had to marry, and the wedding had to be a big deal.
But the concubine is different, the wedding of the concubine room is generally very simple, sometimes even the wedding is not held, and the concubine room is not allowed to go through the main door, only through the side door or the side door to enter.
The children born to concubines are concubines, and they cannot be compared with the children born to their main wives in terms of status, and they do not have the right to inherit family property and power.
The mother of Yuan Shikai, the hero of the Republic of China, is a concubine. One year, Yuan Shikai's mother Liu died, Yuan Shikai wanted to bury his mother in the ancestral tomb of the Yuan family, at this time Yuan Shikai was already a high-ranking official in the imperial court, but his request was still opposed by the Yuan family's sons-in-law, and finally Yuan Shikai had to find a new cemetery to bury his mother.
03
But because of their low status, the ancient concubines had a "privilege" that could save their lives.
In ancient times, people with many wives and concubines were generally wealthy and powerful, and these people would inevitably end up in the destruction of their families after losing the political battle. But when these high-ranking magnates were plagued by the nine clans and the three clans, the concubines in the family could save their lives.
This is because, although the concubine also belongs to the male owner's family and also gives birth to children for the male owner, according to the ancient patriarchal system, the concubine is not qualified to enter the family tree, and after death, she is not eligible to be buried in the ancestral grave of the family.
Although the concubines who escaped the fate of death were not escorted to the execution ground, when the male owner's house was raided, they were generally confiscated as the property of the male owner's family.
The fate of these concubines is likely to be assigned to the sect as official prostitutes, become a Qinglou woman, and if you are lucky, you may meet a noble person to redeem yourself, and if you are unlucky, you can only die alone in the pink devil's cave.
04
In ancient times, the status of male concubines was very low, and they were only used by the male masters as a tool to satisfy their desires and give birth to children, and their fate was never in their own hands, which was a deformed phenomenon in the ancient hierarchical society.
From today's point of view, the ancient wife and concubine system is a cruel system against human nature, which brings the strict hierarchical relations in society into the family, and divides the family into three, six, nine and so on, which is a kind of disregard and destruction of human ethics.