In the feudal social system, people need to follow the marriage system of "the orders of the parents and the words of the matchmaker". For feudal women, marrying a good family is the goal they strive for in the first half of their lives. The family will carefully choose a son-in-law for the woman, and in the process of choosing a son-in-law, the family will not only examine the man's character and appearance, but also take into account the man's family conditions and personal future.
During the Song Dynasty, in addition to the marriage method of the woman choosing a son-in-law, there was also a special marriage method - entering the family. Different from the traditional husband-wive-wife model, the man goes to the woman's house to live. This kind of marriage model is a classic example of the marriage model, which subverts people's perception of marriage. Therefore, in other aspects such as property and marital rights, it is also different from the traditional marriage model.
In the traditional marriage model of the Song Dynasty, men were dominant. Although feudal society gave wives great rights, the essence of these rights was to serve their husbands. A wife can only have one husband, but a man can have multiple women, and the system of wives and concubines in the Song Dynasty reflects the imbalance in the marriage system of men and women in the Song Dynasty.
The Song Dynasty was a relatively important dynasty in the history of our country, and all its systems reflected the political, social and economic conditions of the Song Dynasty. The marriage system of the Song Dynasty was an intuitive system that reflected the current situation of the Song Dynasty and was closely related to the Song Dynasty.
Throughout the ages, the concept of the door has been a cornerstone in marriage. As a feudal society, the Song Dynasty will only have a deeper concept than modern ones, not less. The family is divided into three, six, nine and so on, and people from different walks of life have different concepts of choosing a son-in-law. As a model for all the people, the royal family's concept of choosing a son-in-law can better show the concept of marriage in the Song Dynasty, so here we mainly talk about the choice of son-in-law by the royal princess of the Song Dynasty.
With the four people of the royal dragon straight to control the royal horse, Cheng Yan returned, and then the eldest princess of the Qin State.The main body of the Song Dynasty's royal family's choice of sons-in-law was the princess. As the emperor's daughter, the princess is a well-deserved daughter of heaven. Enjoy the glory and wealth of the royal family, but you don't have to make your own decisions in many things. Among them, the princess's choice of son-in-law is related to the politics of the Song Dynasty and is one of the things that the princess cannot lead.
One of the princess's sons-in-law is an important military general in the court. As mentioned above, princess marriage is not subject to her own will. The princess is at the center of politics and has already decided her life as a victim of politics. In terms of choosing a son-in-law for the princess, the emperor of the Song Dynasty has always focused on national politics, which is a means for the emperor to win the hearts of his subjects.
There was once Song Taizu who was afraid of the power of Wang Xianqi in front of the palace, and forced Wang Xianqi's son and his wife Le to separate Princess Shangzhaoqing. Later, Song Taizu married the princess of Lu to Shi Baoji, the second son of Shi Shouxin, a general of the Song Dynasty, in order to weaken Shi Shouxin's military power and maintain the rule of the Song Dynasty. Whether it is Princess Zhaoqing of Wang Xianqi, or Princess Shangluguo of Shibaoji, they are all political means for Song Taizu to seize the power of his subjects and maintain his rule.
The emperor of the Song Dynasty would not only marry the princess to the son of some military generals and important ministers who could influence the current situation in the court, but also marry the princess directly to the military generals in the court. For example, in the "History of the Song Dynasty", it is recorded that Song Renzong's eleventh daughter, the eldest princess of the Yan Kingdom, was married by Song Renzong to Cao Shi, the general of the left army.
The second of the princess's choice of sons-in-law is the courtier Chinese courtier. Naturally, these ministers also played a pivotal role in the court as well as the status of military generals such as Wang Xianqi and Shi Baoji. For example, during the period of Song Zhezong, the emperor married the princess of Qi to Han Jiayan, the son of Han Qi, who was quite prestigious in the court. The emperor's purpose in marrying the princess to these ministers was nothing more than to entrap important ministers and maintain the rule of the Song Dynasty.
The second object of the princess's choice of husband is Jinshi. During the Song Dynasty, Jinshi was a candidate for horses. For example, in the "History of the Song Dynasty", it is recorded that the princess of Wanshou and the horse Li Zunqiao "and long, good at learning words, and lifting Jinshi." Between the auspicious charms, the hall is called, and the princess is still longevity. According to records, among the more than 30 horses recorded during the Song Dynasty, four Jinshi horses accounted for four.
The third of the princess's choice of son-in-law is the children of the family. The emperor's choice of the children of the family as princesses and concubines was slightly less politically demanding than in the above two cases. In addition to political reasons, there are also social reasons for marrying the princess to the children of the family. For example, Princess Fukang, the eldest daughter of Song Renzong, was married by Renzong to Li Wei, the son of his real biological mother, the brother of the Empress Dowager Zhang Yi.
Another example is the "History of the Song Dynasty", which records that Song Lizong ascended to the princess, after refusing the emperor's request to marry her to the champion Zhou Zhenyan. was used as a political bargaining chip by Song Lizong to marry the meritorious Empress Dowager Yang's clan: "Choose the Empress Dowager's nephew Princess Zhenshang, promote the right leader of the town, the general of the guard, and the concubine Dutong, and enter the princess as the princess of Zhou." Although the princess of Shengguo escaped a marriage in which the emperor enveloped the courtiers, she still became a victim of politics.
The emperor is a father and the ruler of a country. When choosing a horse for the princess, it is necessary to take into account the overall situation and consider it comprehensively. The marriage of a princess is not only a personal matter, but also one of the important factors in stabilizing the rule of a country. And the man who was chosen as a colt was full of various interests in his marriage to the princess.
The status of the concubine gave the princess's husband the status of a close relative of the emperor, but it also reduced the authority in the hands of the concubine and regressed his political status. Some military generals who hold military power in the court and China will be regained by the emperor after marrying the princess. In addition, after the princess married into the concubine's family, her status was parallel to that of her parents, so many families rejected marrying with the princess.
To sum up, the princesses of the Song Dynasty had no autonomy in their marriages, and most of them were used by the emperor as a tool to achieve their own political goals.
If he recruits a porter or son-in-law, if he has his own field and strength, he is also allowed to issue other items, and the right to do so is counted, and the poor is selected for service. If the porter and son-in-law themselves have official shadows and are combined into official households, they should follow the law of limiting the fields, exclude their own proportions, and consider the material resources of their wives and families, and select and recruit people to fill them.
The Song Dynasty had a prosperous economy and a high degree of social activity. During this period, the people of the Song Dynasty generally accepted the system of accession. It was generally accepted during the Song Dynasty and was related to the cultural inheritance during the Tang Dynasty. Because when the Song Dynasty was established, cultural protection was relatively complete, and there was no cultural fault phenomenon. The social openness of the Tang Dynasty influenced and was perpetuated by the Song Dynasty. In feudal society, men generally did not choose to join the family, and the reason for choosing to join the family was nothing more than the economy and children as the main factors.
One of the reasons for the increase is the economy. Men who are rich for economic reasons are basically from poor backgrounds. These men chose to join not because they were voluntary, but more because they had to do so. Unable to support the money needed for marriage, he had to compromise and choose to join the family. "History of the Song Dynasty" recorded: "The common and the vulgar are still ghosts, and the poor and strong are rich, and it is a matter of course."
The second reason for the inclusion is love。There are also some men whose families are not poor and have good economic conditions will choose to join the family. The women's families that these men belong to are generally as good as their own. Therefore, their participation cannot be called involuntary, at most it contains the meaning of mutual affection and strong alliance. For example, Zheng Demao in the Song Dynasty was reluctant to join the family at first, and repeatedly shirked and refused. But later, Zheng Demao fell in love with his daughter at first sight and changed his mind that he didn't want to get rich.
The third reason for the wealth is greed for money. There are also some poor men who do not enter the family for marriage, but only for the purpose of crossing the class to enjoy the money of the female family, which has a certain relationship with the marriage policy of the Song Dynasty at that time. During the Zhao and Song dynasties, the cost of marrying a daughter was relatively expensive, so some families chose to pay a dowry to recruit a son-in-law. Some men covet the woman's rich family property, so they will choose to get rich. For example, Liu Zonggu in Tuntian Langzhong, because Widow Li was rich, he became a widow Li.
Zhushanlou married Hexi Wang, gave birth to a daughter Miaoqing, loved his daughter, and recruited the son of Wang's brother as a son-in-law.There are two main types of men in the Song Dynasty, one is a widow, and the other is a widow.
(1) Married in the room
The family recruits the maid in the house, generally because there is no male heir in the family, and it is impossible to continue the incense and pass on the heirs. Or some families love their daughters very much, and in order to protect their daughters from being tormented by their in-laws, they choose to recruit sons-in-law for their daughters. For example, the wealthy businessman Mu Yinjun has four sons and one daughter, and he is extremely fond of his only daughter. When her daughter grew up, she recruited Jinshi Zhao Zhicai as her son-in-law.
There is also a situation where the male heir in the family is relatively young and cannot become the head of the family, so he recruits a son-in-law for his daughter. As recorded in "Yi Jianzhi", Zhang Gan's two boys were still young and "recruited Chen Fang as a son-in-law". The sons-in-law thus recruited were generally used as temporary substitutes for the heirs of the younger men in the family.
(2) Widows
During the Song Dynasty, the widow was also known as the marriage of the horn, that is, the widow recruited a man to manage the family property for her ex-husband in the in-law's house. In this case, the son-in-law usually has two functions: to protect the family heirs and maintain the family.
The main purpose of protecting the family heirs is to protect the family property for the deceased husband and leave an heir. Because of the widow, the rest of the family will bully the widow for a woman who is helpless, and the widow will rob the widow of the property left by her husband. Therefore, the widow will choose to recruit a son-in-law to compete with the rest of her deceased husband's family for inheritance and maintain the stability of the family.
Maintaining the family is to ensure the normal operation of the deceased husband's family business. Because the power of women in feudal society was weak, men were in the dominant position. After the death of her husband, the main force in the family was missing, and the woman could not show her face. At this time, the widow will recruit a man to replace her ex-husband to maintain the family business outside, and she will take care of the old and young in the inner house.
From the reasons for men's enrichment and the type of enrichment, such as because the woman's family is wealthy or the widow is unable to preside over foreign affairs, it can be seen that men's enrichment is inseparable from wealth.
The Song Dynasty, as a standard feudal dynasty, pursued a marriage system of monogamy and multiple concubines for men. This complex system of multi-person marriage inevitably contains the hierarchical characteristics of feudal society.
The wife is also the wife, ** for the horse. Concubines are bought and sold, and the number is hung in equal numbers. The maid is a lowly stream, and she is not a woman, so she loses the righteous path of the husband and wife, redeems the Yi rules of morality, reverses the crown and shoes, and disorders the scriptures, and the person who commits this will be punished for two years.(1) The system of wives and concubines in social customs
During the Song Dynasty, most men were accustomed to taking concubines, and even concubines had become part of social customs. Such as the period of Song Yingzong,Zhang Dong once said, "There is no limit to the number of concubines." ”The universality of concubines shows the importance of Ming media marrying wives. Most men believe that concubines are not on the table, far inferior to their wives. ThereforeFor wives and concubines, the Song Dynasty had a strict hierarchy.
The first is the way of marriage. Marrying a wife needs to go through a formal process, and the six marriage rites such as Nacai, asking for names, Najib, Najib, Nazheng, inviting dates, and greeting are indispensable. The Six Rites were particularly important in the marriage relationship in the Song Dynasty, from the royal family to the common people, and they had to be observed when marrying wives. Such as:In the "Study of Marriage Customs in the Song Dynasty", it is said: "In the Song Dynasty, from the emperor to the concubine, down to the common people to marry wives, they all used ancient rites to gain and lose."
Connieries are more casual and do not need to observe the six rites of marriage. For example, in "Yi Jianzhi", it is recorded that Zhao Liangchen met a pitiful delicate woman in the process of traveling. Zhao Liangchen took the woman home and told his wife that he would take the woman as a concubine. In the evening, when the three of them lay together in the same bed, the concubine was completed. Judging from this incident, there are no rules at all for concubines, they are casual and casual, which also corresponds to the subordinate status of the concubine.
The second is the relationship between husband and wife. The relationship between the wife and her husband is legal and reasonable and protected by law. A husband cannot abandon his wife at will when she has not committed any matter of principle. For a man who divorces his wife at will, he will also be looked down upon by the world. In conclusion, the relationship between wife and husband is lifelong and protected by law.
The status of the original wife is very high, and the opposite is the concubine. The concubine is not protected by the law, and she is like duckweed and has no place to settle. When a man loses interest in the concubine, the concubine is resold and given away. For example, it is recorded in the "History of the Song Dynasty" that "Songman has not moved in the year, and the meaning is very intimidating, but it is to offer a concubine to Yu Yan".
Finally, it is manifested in the funeral form. As a husband as a wife, the funeral form she enjoys is also the highest standard among her husband's wives and concubines. When a wife dies, the husband's family is required to mourn for his wife. When the concubine dies, the husband's family does not need to mourn for the concubine. From here, it can be seen that the relationship between the wife and her husband is two-way, while the relationship between the concubine and the husband is one-way.
(2) The difference between the laws of the Song Dynasty on wives and concubines
Xunwulang Yang Dalie has ten acres of land, and his wife and daughter survive when he dies. If Russia sues his wife for not being in the main room, the official has no money, and he will be charged ten years of rent.The Song law relied on the same protective measures for the personal property of wives and concubines. Song Lu believed that whether it was a wife or a concubine, as long as it was his own property, others could not interfere. The difference in the law on the property of wives and concubines is more manifested in the inheritance of the husband's family. It is stipulated that only the wife can inherit the property of the husband's family, and the concubine has no right to inherit it.
However, there were two exceptions during the Song Dynasty, one of which was that the husband had no descendants to inherit, in which case the wife and concubine had the right to inherit the property of the deceased husband. However, in this case, the premise of inheriting the property of the deceased husband is that neither the wife nor the concubine has remarried. Only the observance of a childless husband can inherit the property of a deceased husband, which is common among wives and concubines.
Another situation is that the concubine has a young child, and the child has the right to inherit the husband's family. The concubine can take the place of the child to manage the inheritance inherited by the child. However, the property inherited by concubines in place of children is generally used for the upbringing of younger children.
To sum up, the laws of the Song Dynasty have differences in the status of wives and concubines and the inheritance of property, and the form of wives and concubines is relatively fixed.
It can be seen that whether in the ritual system or the law, there is a big difference in the rank between wives and concubines. And the concubine's acquiescence to this law also increased the tendency of the concubine to be in a weak position.
Judging from the system of marriage and concubine in the Song Dynasty, the Song Dynasty society paid attention to hierarchy and inferiority, and the concept of family was popular. Moreover, the Song Dynasty, as a standard feudal society, showed the importance of offspring and the phenomenon of women in a vassal position, whether it was in the purpose of men's marriage or the inheritance of property by wives and concubines.