The reasons for the third marriage of the Tang princess and the evolution of the marriage system
When it comes to the glorious feudal society of ancient China, there is one dynasty that cannot be avoided no matter what, and that is the Tang Dynasty. When it comes to the Tang Dynasty, people always naturally call it the "Prosperous Tang Dynasty".
This is because whether it is the rule of Zhenguan of Tang Taizong or the prosperity of Kaiyuan of Tang Xuanzong, it is a rare prosperous era in ancient Chinese history.
The Tang Dynasty was able to have the glory of "recalling the heyday of the Kaiyuan Dynasty in the past, and the small households still hid ten thousand families", mainly due to its openness. It is precisely because of its openness that surpasses that of the previous feudal dynasties that there is a scene of economic prosperity, political clarity, and people living and working in peace and contentment.
In addition to the political and economic system that has been mentioned many times by historians, the marriage system of the Tang Dynasty is also worthy of in-depth study. Despite some suspicions, history has proven that the strength of the Tang Dynasty was closely related to its unique marriage system.
Could the Tang Dynasty's marriage system, known for its innovation and openness, really have an impact on the feudal dynasty at all levels, making it the most powerful and territorial state in the world during the same period?
The political and economic openness of the Tang Dynasty was not only reflected in all aspects, but also in the institution of marriage. However, it is in these mainstream Confucian ethics that the status of women has been suppressed.
At that time, women had to marry when they reached the marriageable age, and the performance of keeping women's morals was to teach their husbands and children at home, and the view that "women are virtuous if they are not talented" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Men were allowed to take wives and concubines for pleasure, but for women, this was a violation of human morality, a breach of chastity, and could even be put to death. Even more unjust is that if a husband is dissatisfied with his wife, he can divorce her in the form of a letter of divorce.
However, once divorced, it is difficult for a woman to find a new home, because it is often believed that the divorced woman has a moral or chastity problem, and even the woman's maiden family will be reluctant to defend her rights and interests because of etiquette and morality.
During the Tang Dynasty, the marriage system underwent major changes due to the strength of the state, the prosperity of the economy, and the openness and inclusiveness of the rulers. Divorced women are no longer left alone to grow old, they have the right to choose their marriage partner again.
The Tang Law clearly stipulates that as long as a woman has no children, she can marry again, and this behavior does not violate ethics and morals. With the recognition of official documents, women's remarriage gradually became a common phenomenon in the Tang Dynasty and was accepted and recognized by society.
In contrast, women who choose not to marry after divorce are seen as social outliers.
In the long course of history, the enlightened marriage system of the Tang Dynasty is unique, and the reason behind it may be related to the ethnic integration of that era. According to traceability, the history of the Tang Dynasty is closely related to the juxtaposition of heroes in the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the continuous conquest of princes in the Central Plains.
Due to the emptiness of the border, a large number of nomadic people began to gradually migrate to the Central Plains, which led to the ethnic integration between the Central Plains and the nomads.
This integration contributed to the economic prosperity and social progress of the Tang Dynasty, which eventually led to the enlightened marriage system of the Tang Dynasty.
During the Western Jin Dynasty, the scale of migration of nomads continued to expand, and after they came to the Central Plains, they interacted and integrated with the local residents, and were gradually assimilated. In the last years of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Central Plains was in turmoil, and the nomads took advantage of this to establish their own regime, forming the Three Kingdoms and the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
The Sui Dynasty was the previous dynasty of the Tang Dynasty, and Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian usurped the power of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty was the Western Wei Dynasty that came out of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and its ethnic roots were the Xianbei people.
As the Great Pillar State of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yang Jian naturally has the blood of the Xianbei people.
Li Yuan usurped the power of the Sui Dynasty and established the Tang Dynasty. And Li Yuan's family was also one of the Great Pillar States during the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and he was also related to Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Yang Jian.
Therefore, the blood of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty also included the blood of the Xianbei people. The Tang Dynasty regime originated from the Xianbei regimes such as the Northern Zhou, Western Wei, and Northern Wei, so it inevitably had some Xianbei colors.
The marriage system of the Xianbei people is very open, and after the death of the elder brother, the younger brother can marry the wife of the elder brother, which is a common phenomenon of the Xianbei people. Therefore, the marriage system during the Tang Dynasty was more open than that of the previous dynasties, which was also because of the inheritance of the Xianbei legal system.
In addition to the influence of Xianbei legal system and ethnic integration, there was another important reason for the opening of the marriage system in the Tang Dynasty, that is, the penetration of foreign culture. During the Tang Dynasty, due to the strength of the country, it attracted many foreign envoys from the West.
Westerners have always been more open to marriage than we are, and this open concept of marriage also deeply influenced the Tang Dynasty people during the Tang Dynasty, so that the Tang Dynasty people gradually changed their views on women's remarriage.
Therefore, the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures also promoted the opening of the marriage system in the Tang Dynasty to a certain extent.
The Tang Dynasty had a prosperous economy, a prosperous life, and a relatively open ideology and culture, which made the marriage system of the Tang Dynasty very open and people's ideas more enlightened.
Therefore, people no longer hold the traditional feudal concept of remarriage after divorce, believing that this is contrary to the three guidelines and five constants and humiliating.
For example, the princesses of the Tang Dynasty often remarried or even married three times, and the princesses of Qi married Zhang Gongzi, Pei Ying and Yang Fu. Although there is a phenomenon of princesses remarrying in history, the frequent remarriage of princesses in the Tang Dynasty can be described as unique.
The enlightened marriage system of the Tang Dynasty had many rules in addition to allowing women to remarry. First of all, when getting married, you need to make a marriage certificate, which is equivalent to the current marriage certificate, and if there is no marriage certificate, you need a famous person to witness the marriage.
Secondly, the Tang Dynasty implemented "monogamy" in marriage, not in the modern sense, but a man could only have one wife, but he could take concubines. However, the children born to concubines after taking concubines still need to be raised by the main wife, and the status of the concubine cannot be surpassed that of the main wife, otherwise it is illegal.
1.In the Tang Dynasty, marriage was not allowed between the same surname and clan, and marriage between different generations was also strictly prohibited. This also reflects the great importance that the Tang Dynasty attached to human relations.
2.The Tang Dynasty had a strict law prohibiting marriages with the same surname and clan, as well as marital marriages between relatives of different generations, such as uncles and nieces. This fully reflects the Tang Dynasty's respect for human relations.
3.During the Tang Dynasty, if someone in the family died, the woman had to keep filial piety for the family, and she was not allowed to marry during the mourning period. This also shows the determination of the Tang Dynasty to respect filial piety.
Fifth, in order to prevent magistrates from forming in-laws with local families, posing a threat to the rule of **, and to prevent magistrates from abusing their power to rob the people's daughters, ** shall not marry women within their jurisdiction.
Sixth, there are provisions of the Xianbei legal system, ** cannot marry the wife of an immediate relative. However, there were precedents for Tang rulers to violate this regulation, such as Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian, Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei.
Although the marriage system of the Tang Dynasty was relatively enlightened, there were still a large number of feudal elements due to the limitations of its time. Marriage in the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to family origin, and the hierarchy of the family was distinct, such as the Li Tang royal family was born in the Guanlong clan.
Although it still attaches great importance to the right of the family, it has made great progress compared with the previous generation in the distinction between the scholar and the Shu clan. The progress of concepts has made people pay more attention to wealth, such as Lu, Li, Cui, Zheng and other famous women have also married into the Shu families they looked down on in the past because of money.
Although the marriage system of the Tang Dynasty was quite enlightened compared to other dynasties, there was still a distinction between good and low. Those untouchables who have lost their status as freedmen are not eligible for the institution of marriage, and they can only enjoy the freedom of marriage when they are united with untouchables of the same status, otherwise they can only become servant maids of a lower rank than concubines and be enslaved for life.
The conclusion is that although there were still many feudal elements in the marriage system of the Tang Dynasty, it is undeniable that it was already one of the most open marriage systems in the history of Chinese feudalism. This system had a profound impact on all aspects of the Tang Dynasty, and due to the popularity of remarriage, the Tang Dynasty's fertility rate increased significantly, providing a large number of labor for the social production of the Tang Dynasty, and finally putting the Tang Dynasty on the road to prosperity.
References: "Tang Law Discussion", "Tang Dynasty Cultural History".