According to the record in "Tang Hui to Marry", in the twentieth year of the opening of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict:
"Men fifteen, women thirteen or more, listen to marriage. ”This sentence is well understood, stipulating the Tang DynastyMen are 15 years old, and women can marry when they reach 13 years of ageIt is a well-known thing that the ancients married early, but men get married when they are 15 and women are 13This is outrageous for modern people, who are obviously just children.
And this phenomenon of early marriage has existed in all dynasties in China, and it is not uncommon and prohibited. We can't help but wonder why ancient men always liked to marry these 13 or 14-year-old women
But it's not so much about "liking" as it is about being forced by reality and social circumstances.
It was also mentioned at the beginning that during the Tang Dynasty Xuanzong period, the age of marriage for women was 13 years old.
After the "Anshi Rebellion", the social environment of the Tang Dynasty underwent drastic changes, so in the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty also made corresponding adjustments to the marriage age of men and women in the Tang Dynasty.
15-year-old men and 13-year-old women are allowed, totallyIt is up to you to decide whether to marry or not, countryThere is no provision for compulsory marriage
From the perspective of our modern people, this move by Tang Xuanzong is undoubtedly a great progress in the Tang Dynasty's marriage age legislation.
ButHan Dynasty and Song Dynastyperiod, the situation is completely different.
According to the "Hanshu Hui Di Ji", "a woman is more than fifteen years old, and if she does not marry until thirty, five counts".It is not difficult to see that during the period of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty in the Han Dynasty, the women'sThe age requirement for marriage is even stricterYou can get married at the age of 15, but if you don't get married after the age of 30, you have to do itThe tax is 5 times the usual amountas punishment.
According to Zhu Xi's relevant records in "Family Rites", the emperor of the Southern Song DynastySong NingzongHe once decreed: "Men are sixteen years old, and women are fourteen years old." ”
This is roughly the same as the marriage age for men and women in the Tang Dynasty, but it is also slightly different, because the Song Dynasty had the same strict age requirements for marriage as it was during the reign of Emperor Hui of the Han Dynasty.
For example, "The Biography of Zhou Lang in the Book of Song" once recorded: "A woman is ten ** married, and her family sits on it."
It means that if the woman arrivesAt the age of 15, he is not married, then her family will also be affectedJoint sitting
From this, we can conclude that the first reason why men in ancient times always married 13 or 14-year-old girls:Mandatory requirements from **.
But why did the ** and rulers of all dynasties require their people to marry early?Also based on:environment, population and labor force to consider.
In ancient times, there were many wars, and it was good to be born in a peaceful and prosperous era, but if it was in a time of war, the situation was turbulent, then population became an extremely important resource.
For example, in the chaotic Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when the heroes rose together and the princes competed for hegemony, more men, husbands, and even increased taxes were inevitably needed, but the premise of these was population.
In addition, marching and fighting, there will inevitably be bloodshed and **. Once encounteredWar, for any country, yesA major drop in population
After the war, the rulers issued decrees in order to restore the population as soon as possibleEncourage or even force people to marry and have children at an early age, constantlyLower the age of marriage for women and restore the population as soon as possible
Moreover, the social productivity in ancient times was relatively low, and the population was the main productive force. Only when a country has a large enough population will it have more productivity and the country will be more stable.
For this reason, the rulers of the Qin Dynasty also issued strict regulations in order to increase the populationHousehold registration management systemto prevent the occurrence of omissions and uncounted populations, and to implement strict management of the people's marriages.
According to the Warring States Period, Qin State's "Sleeping Tiger Land Qin Tomb Bamboo Slips: Legal Q&A" recorded a case of a wife escaping:
"There is a woman A who is a wife, and when she dies, she has time to come out of herself, and she is not six feet old, should she be inappropriate?has been official, when it comes to it;Unofficial, inappropriate. ”In ancient times, the level of medical care was low, medical technology was not developed, even just a cold and fever could kill people, which is also one of the important reasons why the average life expectancy of the ancients was only forty or fifty years old.
For the poor, this is the case, they have no extra money to see a doctor and take medicine, and can only watch their relatives die of illness.
In the age of plague, the death toll is even more incalculable, and the corpses are usually strewn all over the field. And the plague is also in addition to wars, natural disasters and other factorsIt is also the reason for the sharp decline in the number of stoma incisions
In such a situation, if the ancients did not get married and have children as soon as possible, like modern people, then it is very likely that there will be no children and grandchildren, and the family bloodline will not be continued.
If you want to have more children, you have to marry and have children early, and you have to marry more wives and concubines.
Therefore, in ancient times, there was nothing particularly wrong with a man marrying a woman who was 13 or 14 years old.
In ancient times, the social status of men and women was extremely unequal. Women were not allowed to study, engage in business, or enter politics, and women could only marry and have children, because only ignorant women were more likely to be controlled by men.
In addition, ancient women were also deeply bound by feudal etiquette, poisoned by the idea of chaste martyrs, the door did not go out, the second door did not step, and before marriage, they could not have a little intimate behavior with any man, and it was even more whimsical to want to go to private school.
Ancient women who grew up in this environment were uneducated and didn't know how to do business, so how could they support themselves when they grew up?
Ordinary people can't afford to raise many children, and they would rather do soMarried off his daughter early, let the family have one less to eat, reduce the financial burden of the family, and marry a daughter can also get a small amount of dowry from the man's family to subsidize the family.
How to accurately summarize the life of an ancient woman in one sentence?
That is to get married at the age of thirteen or fourteen, have children, raise husbands and children at home, rely on her husband when she is young, and rely on her son when her husband dies. This was the life of most women in ancient times. How sad, how helpless