Do the three wives of the three wives and four concubines refer to one wife and two equal wives?
The Internet says ancient"Three wives and four concubines""Three wives"It refers to a regular wife and two equal wives, but there really were in ancient times"Flat wife"Is it? Not really. In ancient times there were strict"Monogamy and concubinage", that is, there is only one wife in the family, and the others are concubines; Although there are exceptions to polyandry, they are not recognized by law.
Strictly enforced in ancient times"Monogamy and polygonal concubinage"Remarriage is strictly prohibited.
China is a patriarchal society, and monogamy is seen as the basic principle of marriage. Spring and Autumn - 5 BC is there"Princes shall not have two concubines"This means that neither the Son of Heaven nor the princes can have two wives at the same time. The traditional institution of marriage in ancient times was actually real"Monogamy and polygonal concubinage"This system was inherited by the laws of successive dynasties.
Although in ancient times men were allowed to take concubines, not everyone was eligible. The Han Dynasty expressly stipulated,"Those who have succeeded in sealing the marquis, eight wives and concubines"，"One wife and two concubines"，"Ordinary people have one wife and one wife"。This means that only those who have made great contributions to the imperial court and have been awarded the title of great official can marry one wife and eight concubines; Ordinary ** can marry one wife and two concubines; Commoners, on the other hand, can only marry one wife, not take concubines.
As mentioned earlier, concubinage was the privilege of the powerful and not enjoyed by ordinary people. For example, the Tang Law and the Song Law provide:"If a man marries a second wife, he shall be imprisoned for one year, and his wife's family shall be reduced to one grade; If you marry a second wife by fraud, you will be imprisoned for one and a half years, and your wife's family will not be able to live in peace and will be abandoned"。In other words, anyone who has a wife in the family but remarries is punished.
It was only in the Yuan Dynasty that the court relaxed the rules on concubinage and marriage: (Tan Cheng) proposed"There are three evils in people, and the harm is greater than that of no queen: for the sake of protecting the ancestors, those who are forty years old and have no children should be allowed to marry concubines"。In other words, if you are forty years old and have no children, in order to ensure the continuation of the bloodline, the palace will allow you to take concubines, which was the practice in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
However, although the imperial court allows childless concubines, it does not allow you to have one wife and two concubines"Those who have no children for more than 40 years, inherit heirs, heirs, remarry their wives or have children, and who are voluntarily innocent, are changed to concubines. Those who voluntarily remarry will also be changed to concubines by the household department. "That is to say, if you want the heir to be the main wife, the main wife must be changed to a concubine, which can be seen"Monogamy"The basic principles of marriage are still adhered to.
In ancient times, there were no concubines in marriage, and the so-called concubines were actually just women who were deceived by men, but concubines were not allowed to return to their ancestral homes for the rest of their lives, and they were not allowed to join the clan. If you want to recognize your ancestors and return to your ancestors, you must hold a concubinage ceremony; If you want to be included in the spectrum, you can only be a concubine, and your children can only be registered as concubines.
Although there is"Equal partners"special circumstances, but this is not recognized.
Although monogamy was strictly practiced in ancient times, it was not legally recognized"Equal partners"exists, but"Equal partners"This particular phenomenon does exist.
Before the Qin and Han dynasties"Concubines", "The Book of Rites - Shifeng Li" has clouds:"The ancient married daughter is called a concubine and a nephew", that is to say, in ancient times, in order for the daughters of the Son of Heaven and the princes to marry, they had to have nieces and sisters to marry, and concubines had to have sisters in the past to marry! That is to say, in ancient times, the sons of heaven and the daughters of princes were all married with nieces and nephews as concubines"。"Concubines"The status is lower"Wife", but higher"Who"。If the spouse dies, the concubine can choose to become a wife, while the concubine is not eligible"。Concubine Teng"It is actually a special form of straight wife.
Another example is the Tang Dynasty, which is known to be an extremely open dynasty. Although the Tang Dynasty expressly forbade it"Polyanry", but there actually is"The wind of the wife"The court is also tolerant of this. For example, in the Book of the Old Tang Dynasty - The Biography of Wang Mao Zhong, it is written:"His wife Li and the prime minister, the crown prince, gave the name Philadelphia, and each inner court, the two wives gave the same ceremony. "Another example is An Lushan's "Deeds Volume":"(Tianbao) six years, Mrs. Jiatai, Mrs. Duanshi of the Tang Dynasty, and Mrs. Guo. "Although this phenomenon is acknowledged, it does not mean that it is legitimate, if there is a big fuss"One wife and two marriages",** will still be dealt with in accordance with the law.
This was also a special case in the Qing Dynasty, in the 40th year of Qianlong, the "Compilation of Laws and Regulations of the Great Qing Dynasty" stipulated:"The only son of the heir, who loves his father, and the two families love each other, the whole family is friendly, and they also have to inherit the two ancestral halls"。In other words, if a family has several brothers and there is only one man in the family, one can be called a one"The only son is chaotic"special forms of inheritance; The man married more than one wife, and the children born to each wife continued to the ancestral halls of several families. However, in this type of inheritance, even if the man has more than one wife, and even though they have the same marital characteristics, these wives are actually only nominal cousins. In addition, according to Dairets,"A spouse who marries out of infidelity is legally considered a concubine, but those who are unaware of the existence of a spouse at the time of engagement and are unwilling to be concubines can request a divorce"。
As mentioned above, antiquity did not exist"Equality between husband and wife"The word, although it has been used in all dynasties"Equality between husband and wife"specific cases, but they were not legally recognized by the imperial court.