Many people are envious of the "polygamous" system of ancient Chinese men, but if they really go back in time, these envious "polygamous" brothers may be dumbfounded.
Of course, if you have the money to marry more than a few, it is not impossible, but for a long time, there is really only one, not many!
Strictly speaking, ancient China was not "polygamous" but "polygamous concubine". Some dynasties had clear rules on the number of "concubines", and in order to meet the needs of men's lower bodies, they were replaced by lower status "concubines" and "concubines".
In order to clarify the hierarchy of family members, let's first put together the relationship between "wife", "concubine", "concubine", and "concubine".
In ancient dynasties, a person could only marry one "wife", and the tigress of this family was also called "wife".
Listening to this name, you know that only people related to her in the family can be called "嫡", and other people can only be called "庶" at most. This is the relationship between "嫡" and "庶".
It is a long-standing rule for one person to assign a tigress, even if the emperor can marry a variety of concubines of different qualities and different qualities in three palaces and six courtyards, but the empress can only have one, and I have never heard of the empress of any dynasty "motherly world" who has two side by side.
In the popular stallion novels on the Internet, male pig's feet often get a large group of beautiful women to go home and look around, in order to solve the problem of their respective status, they have made a concept of "flat wife".
The so-called "flat wife" means that the status of the "wife" at home is equal to that of the male host, rather than the equality between several wives.
You know, the status of the wife in the family is not generally high, not only can sit with the host to eat, enjoy the same dress, car system and other etiquette treatment, and can even determine the fate of "concubine", "concubine" and "concubine".
Ancient wedding chart
In addition, the status of "wife" can also be seen from the wedding ceremony. Ancient marriages emphasized "door to door", and the two families that became the relatives of their children were basically similar.
But this is limited to marrying a "wife", starting from the next appointment, after various complicated ceremonies of three media and six certificates, opening the main door to marry into the family. (In ancient times, the main entrance could not be opened several times a year, but the big wedding must open the main entrance to show grandeur)
In ancient China, in-law meant the alliance and integration of two large families.
If you accidentally commit the great sin of disobedience, you must "curse the Nine Tribes." Sorry, the "wife clan" is also one of the nine ethnic groups, and your wife's family follows the vegetable market outside the mouth and asks for a knife.
I have never heard of the "Nine Clans" killing "concubines", because the "concubines" are not related to your family at all.
This sentence is turned over to say that the "concubine" clan and your family are simple human flesh trading relationships, what "door to door", "three media and six certificates", "open the door" all want to think more, right?!
Moreover, once the daughter of a certain family has made you a concubine, she will also be removed from the family. Her own clan would never admit that she had ever had such a daughter.
In order to ensure the stability of the marriage system, some ancient dynasties formulated corresponding legal provisions, which is the so-called "seven out of three do not go" rule.
"Seven outs" refers to the following seven situations in which a husband can propose "repudiation":
"A woman has seven going: disobedient to her parents, go; childless, go; fornication, go; jealousy, go; have evil diseases, go; talk more, go; steal, go." ("Etiquette • Dai Li")
The "three not to go" means that even if the wife violates the "seven out" rule, she cannot divorce her wife in the following three cases.
"A woman who has three not to go, who has married and has no return, who does not go; who is more than three years of mourning, does not go; who is poor before and rich after he is rich, does not go." (Tang Law Neglect Discussion)
Specific binding conditions, everyone Baidu, to be honest, "seven out of three do not go" clause, is put into the present, we may not be able to do.
Therefore, many ancient novels, "wife" every day at home Hedong lion roar, husband also has no rut, want to flash marriage? There are no doors!
But all these provisions are to protect the "wife", there is no "concubine" or anything.
As we said earlier, some dynasties have the right to "take concubines" as a kind of treatment, and not everyone has the right to "take concubines".
For example, in the Han Dynasty, if you were a flat-headed commoner, the matter of "concubines" would have nothing to do with you, and you would live a lifetime of "chaff and chaff"! ("Qing Dafu has one wife and two concubines, one wife and one concubine of a soldier, and one husband and one wife of a commoner"). Unless you have a special contribution, the emperor nodded and agreed, you can enjoy special treatment, "meritorious and crowned, you must prepare eight concubines."
It was not until after the Yuan Dynasty, because of the reason that "no filial piety has three, and no queen is greater", that the regulations on concubinage were gradually liberalized, and "it is advisable to order the people to listen to concubines without children in the year of forty years, thinking that they are the emperor's plan" ("History of the Yuan").
Until the Ming Jiajing period, the law also stipulated that "as for the shu people, they must be more than forty years old and childless, and Fang Xu will choose a concubine." Whoever takes a concubine for personal gain shall be given forty whips. ”
The evolution of the character "concubine" (Lishu --Xiaozhu--Jinwen--Oracle--bone inscription)
In addition, the difference between "wife" and "concubine" can also be seen from the source of concubines.
The Kanji for "concubine" is a ideographic character, and the explanation on the Shuowen Jiezi is "from qiān" (䇂), from female" (從女). The word "䇂" in the oracle bone means a knife of torture, which means guilty and tortured, and together it is "guilty woman" or "slave girl".
This shows that in addition to the small door and small households selling their daughters, many of the sources of concubines were bought or rewarded from the churches and brothels where the guilt was committed.
It is obviously unrealistic for such a source of women to enter the home and expect a high status. As for the status of and ji in the family, it is lower, basically humanoid property. In Chinese history, there are many records of literati and gentlemen exchanging "Ji" and "Concubines", and they were even once called Mei Tan, which shows the low status of these two.
After talking about the status level of women in the family, let's talk about the poor status of the sons.
The son born to a wife is undoubtedly a "concubine", and if he has the first son in the family, it is the "eldest son".
This child must be the heart of the whole family and the beads in his mouth, and he is the first heir of the head of the family, and his status can be seen in Jia Baoyu.
If the production of the big tigers in the family is relatively high, and several children are born in one go, then the second son and the third son are in the back row in turn, but no matter what, the son with the word "嫡" must be ranked in front of the "庶" son.
Except for the sons born to the wife, all the other sons in the family are called "庶子", which means "庶出".
Interestingly, the children who are born must recognize the "wife" as the "mother-in-law", and the birth mother can only be recognized as the "mother-in-law". When the "mother-in-law" sees the child, she must call the young master and the young lady, while the child can only call the mother-in-law "aunt". In this regard, you can participate in Tanchun's title of his own mother, Aunt Zhao.
If the eldest son is "Shu out", then this child is the "shu eldest son", although the age is the eldest, but the status of the shu out of the status can not be changed, the status is still ranked after the "concubine". Therefore, it is very likely that there are both "eldest sons" and "eldest sons" in a large family.
Is there such a possibility that the eldest wife accidentally hung up, and the "concubine" became a "concubine"?
This is indeed a possibility, but there are very few actual cases. In ancient family ethics, the relationship between "wife" and "concubine" is a bit like that of "officials" and "officials" in the official field.
Only Tianzi protégés who pass the state examination can be "officials", and those who do not pass the national examination and serve the state are "officials". When a county order dies, the state will only parachute in a new county order to take office, and will not select one from the "official" to become an "official".
Therefore, generally speaking, when the big wife dies, the solution is to marry another big wife, called "continuation". The son born to this second eldest wife is still a "concubine", but the position should be ranked after the previous concubine, that is, the so-called "orderly growth and childhood".
So if the "concubine" accidentally straightens out and becomes a "concubine", then what is her reborn son?
After concubine Fuzheng became a "concubine wife", the son born was also a "concubine", while the son born before the change of identity was still a "concubine". Although they were all born to a mother, the change of identity is "not to blame the past" is the same as the law.
Speaking of this, I believe that everyone already knows the rules of ancient family ethics, and the children's ranking order is the eldest son> the second son> the third son> the N son> the son.
Seriously, gentlemen, you are still cool, where to stay!
Finally, let's talk about family succession.
The residence and title of the head of a large family are generally inherited only by the eldest son. If the eldest son dies early, is it not the second son who is replaced?
Not! The second heir to the family's succession is the eldest grandson, the son of the eldest son. Because, although they are all concubine systems, the priority of the eldest son's family is higher than that of other concubines. Only if the eldest son breaks the incense, will there be other concubine systems to undertake.
At this point, the royal inheritance rules are the same as those of the big family, which is simply a sentence of "there is a concubine, no concubine, no longevity, and orderly growth."