Author: Yan Li (Associate Professor, Institute of Ancient Books, College of Literature, Northeast Normal University)
In ancient times, blood and in-law relations were extremely important components of social relations. Our ancestors have long known this. The Yi Preface says: "There is heaven and earth and then there are all things, there are all things and then there are men and women, there are men and women and then there are couples, there are husbands and wives and then there are fathers and sons, there are fathers and sons and then there are kings and subjects, there are kings and then there are up and down, there are up and down and then there are mistakes in etiquette and righteousness." "Blood relations are the basis of social relations, and the relationship between kings and subjects, the relationship of hierarchy, and the establishment of the ceremonial system are all born from this.
The relationship between blood and in-law laid the foundation of social relations, and the corresponding names between the relationships that followed, that is, the title of relatives. Exploring the reasons for the emergence of these titles, we can glimpse the general situation of the relationship between people reflected in the emergence of these titles, and explore some morphological characteristics of ancient society.
Let's start with the symmetrical terms "father" and "mother". According to Guo Moruo's "Oracle Bone Script Research": "The father is the first word of the axe." Stone Age men carry stone axes to operate. So the "Father" originally referred to the instruments of labour, but in turn to the man who wielded such instruments of labour, i.e., men who performed heavier labour. "Zhuangzi Fisher Father": "Those who have a fisher father, get off the boat." Lu Deming's "Classic Interpretation" of the Tang Dynasty: "Those who have a fisherman's father, Yinfu, take the fish father also." "Take the father of the fish, that is, the man who fishes, and the "father" refers to the man. The Book of Shangjun Kaisai: "The heavens and the earth are set up and the people's livelihood is born, and at this time, the people know their mother but not their father." "In the early days of human society, people did not know who their fathers were. Because in clan society, "the bond between the clan is dominated by the mother" (Morgan, "Ancient Society").
Those who have excellent labor ability are also called fathers, which is why the "Shuowen" interprets "father" as "male beauty". Father, you can also write "甫". "Ceremonial Ceremony: "Bo Moufu, Zhong, Uncle, ji, only what they deserve." Zheng Xuan of the Han Dynasty noted: "Fu is the beautiful name of the husband." Duan Yujie of the Qing Dynasty also explained: "Those who call a certain Fu, if you say Nifu, Jiafu, Kongfu ... All men should be called. "Father" as a beautiful name, appears in the pre-Qin literature, often with the meaning of praise and respect. For example, "Poetry Daya Han Yi": "Han Hou came out of the ancestors, stayed in Tu, showed his father's forgiveness, and had a hundred pots of sake." In the Qing Dynasty, Ma Ruichen wrote the "General Interpretation of Mao's Poetry Transmission Notes": "The ratio of the manifest father You Shang father and the ni father." The Classic Commentary: "Father, Ben is also a husband." "The Father and the Father are the same. The ancients generally had names and characters, and calling words was to show respect for people, so the ancients sometimes used the word "father". For example, in the "Tale of the Ram and the Second Year of Huan Gong": "(Song) The Governor will kill the Duke, and he will not be able to get it and kill him." Therefore, he first attacked the father's house. He Xiu's note: "Father, the word also." "Manifest Father, the Han Dynasty scribe Zheng Xuan thought of "a person with outstanding virtue", that is, a person with special virtue. Kong Yingda further explained: "The father is called the husband. "Husband, refers to an adult man." After the establishment of the patriarchal family as Morgan said, the marriage relationship between men and women was fixed, and at this time men had become the central figures of society and the family, and the meaning of father changed from a general reference to an adult male to a specific male who was born.
Unlike the meaning of the word "father", which has a gradual evolutionary process, "mother" is a title that runs through ancient and modern times. In the matrilineal clan society of "only knowing her mother, not her father", it has emerged, which means the birth and nurturer of children, and its oracle bone resembles a woman in the nursing period. The "mother" is the nurturer, and it is taken for granted that people have a natural sense of closeness and reverence for her.
"Female" was originally the same word as "female". Before the Spring and Autumn Period, "mother" was often written as "female". The "characters" of the pre-Qin female figures are all embellished with the word "female", which is a manifestation of respect for this person, such as the fish mother (female), the car mother (female), the good mother (female), etc. (detailed Wang Guowei's "Guantang Jilin Female Character Saying"). The title of the historical figure Meng Jiangnu should be the "word" of the character, reflecting people's praise for her loyal and indomitable spirit.
It can be seen that the title of parent in the modern sense did not arise at the same time, but gradually formed in two different historical periods that are far apart.
Let's talk about the symmetry of "aunt" and "uncle". Erya Shi kin: "The father's sister is the sister of the sister." "Interpretation of Relatives": "The sister of the father is the sister of the sister." Gu, therefore, also, the words of the self for a long time also. "The father's heirs are generally younger to the father's sisters, so these late heirs regard the sisters of the father who are already alive as long-dead people, so they use the term "gu".
"Shi Ming Shi Kin": "The mother's brother is the uncle." "White Tiger Tongyi": "Uncle, the old also." This means that the uncle is "old." Wang Niansun said in the "Guangya Shu Evidence": "The old man called it also. The "old man" mentioned here is also for the mother's heirs, and the mother's brothers are generally older than the mother's children, which is why the uncle is called "old".
The Erya also says, "A woman is called her husband's father, her uncle, and her husband's mother, her aunt." "Woman refers to a married woman. "The Third Year of huan gong of The Liang Dynasty": "Etiquette: send the daughter, the father does not go to the church, the mother does not go to the sacrificial door, and the mother and brother do not go out of the que door." The Father's commandment: 'Be careful from what your uncle says.' 'Mother's Commandment: 'Be careful from the words of ergu.' This is the daughter's marriage, the parents' instructions at the time of farewell. Uncle refers to the husband's parents, now known as the in-laws.
Calling the husband's parents uncles and aunts is in the same line as "the mother's brother and uncle" and "the father's sister". In clan society, mutual marriage is prohibited within clans and extra-clan marriages are practiced. Due to the limitations of the social production conditions at that time, coupled with the need for the survival of the clans, the clans had the desire to strengthen their ties with each other and consolidate their relations through marriage. Inter-tribal marital relations were relatively fixed, resulting in de facto marital unions. The fact that generations have intermarried has led to the system of uncle marriage, in which in patrilineal clan society, girls in clan A are to marry into clan B when they reach adulthood; girls in clan B are to marry into clan A when they reach adulthood, thus forming a situation in which the husband's mother is his father's sister, that is, his aunt, and the father-in-law is his mother's brother, that is, his uncle.
Let's talk about the symmetry between "nephew" and "nephew". "Erya Shi kin": "A man is called the son of a sister." Out, now the so-called "nephew." This title should be derived from the matrilineal clan society, which practices extra-tribal marriage, and the woman is the head of the clan. Men in the clan leave the clan when they reach adulthood and marry a woman from another clan related to the clan. The sons of sisters (referring to male heirs) must go to the clan outside the clan to marry after they reach adulthood, so these male heirs who go to the outer clan are called "out". Out, that is, to go out to other clans to settle. After entering the male society, although the sons of the sisters no longer went out to form a family with another surname group, this title was still used, such as in the "Twenty-five Years of Zuo Chuan Xianggong", Zheng Zichan replied to the Jin people: "Huan Gong rebellion, Cai people want to establish it, I first Junzhuang Gonggong to establish it with five fathers." Du Pre commented: "Cai Chu, Duke Huan's son Li Gongye." This means that Chen Ligong was born to a caiguo woman.
Xu Shen of the Han Dynasty said in the "Commentaries on the Interpretation of Texts": "I call my uncle my nephew", which is completely consistent with "a man calls the son of a sister a nephew". "Shi Ming Shi Kin": "The uncle calls the son of the sister a nephew." Nephew is also born, born of his male. This not only explains the meaning of the title "nephew", but also explains the reason why the title is named: it is a boy born after the marriage of a woman of the same generation, so it is called "nephew". It is not difficult to see from the glyphs of the title and the interpretation of the Interpretation of the Name that this is a product of a male-centric society. It and "out" refer to the same kind of people, but they originated in different historical periods.
Nephew, the original "Concubine", "Erya Shiqin": "A woman is called the son of a disciple as a concubine." From the point of view of a woman, that is, a sister, she is called the heir of her brother, so the word comes from "female" next to her. Male uncles call their brother's heirs "subordinates". "Liturgy and Funeral Dress": "Whoever calls me my aunt is a concubine." "Gu and 姪 are a pair of mutual titles.
From the investigation of ancient documents, in the pre-Qin period, "姪" mostly refers to women, that is, the title of the daughter of the brothers, such as the "Nineteenth Year of Zuo Chuan Xianggong": "Qihou married Yu Lu, Yan Yiji, childless, and his concubine Ji Shengguang, thinking that he was the eldest son." "Huan Shengji gave birth to qi hou's crown prince, and she was of course a woman. "Zuo Chuan XiangGong Twenty-three Years": "Uncle Zang Xuan married Yu Zhu, born Jia and died for it." The step-room is also known as mu jiang's sister-in-law. "For Uncle Zang Xuan to be a step-room, of course, it is a woman. "Spring and Autumn Ram Biography , Nineteen Years of Duke Zhuang": "The princes marry one country, and the two kingdoms go to the concubine, and the concubine obeys." "Those who can accompany the princes as concubines are, of course, women."
After the Han Dynasty, the concubine expanded from the daughter of the brother to the general child of the brother, and there was no longer a gender restriction. "Yan's Family Training• Wind Exercises": "Although the name of the concubine is common to men and women, it is also the name of the gu. "The name of the wife is to include the heirs of both sexes. So the word "姪" was changed to "nephew". After the Jin Dynasty, "nephew" also specifically referred to the male heir of the brother, as Yan Zhitui said, there was always the call of uncle and nephew.
The Erya Shiqin also says: "The wife's brother is a nephew, and the sister's husband is a nephew." This is completely consistent with the above-mentioned "uncle's son is a nephew" and "gu's son is a nephew". In clan society, marriage takes place in the marriage union of clans, and this generational marriage relationship forms that "nephews" can be the sons of uncles and sisters, as well as "wives' brothers" and "sisters' husbands", who refer to the same group of people. In the era of exclusive marriage, marriage alliances no longer exist, and the scope of people's mate selection has gradually expanded, "sons of sisters", "brothers of wives" and "sons of uncles" and "sons of sisters" and "sons of sisters" are no longer the same group of people, and "nephews" refer specifically to "sons of uncles".
Guangming Daily ( 08/03/2021)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily