Why did the ancients marry girls? How can modern judges be judged?
Why would the emperor joke about allowing old people with limited lifespans to marry early?
From the Han and Tang dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, why did ancient men always choose girls as their wives? Is it just to satisfy some sinful desire?
When we put ourselves in the shoes of the Indigenous people, many seemingly unthinkable decisions become understandable.
The people of an era always grow on the soil of their time. Their choices are inevitably influenced by the conditions of their time.
So, in ancient times, when civilization was not yet developed, what aspects would modern people ignore when choosing male concubines? Let's take a look.
Now, the legal age of marriage is 22 for men and 20 for women.
Today, the legal age of marriage in our country is 22 for men and 20 for women.
This criterion is based on the level of physical and mental development of modern people. Only those who are physically and mentally mature enough can bear the burden of marriage and family.
The crux of the matter is, what age do you need to be in order to ensure that you have the necessary conditions to get married? This requires a combination of several factors.
The first is physiological maturation. Only when adolescents reach a certain age will their physiological functions gradually improve and adapt to the requirements of sexual life and childbearing. If you get involved in sex and childbearing too early, it can easily damage your health.
The second is psychological maturity. Mental and emotional growth takes time, the ability to cope with complex relationships, and the ability to care for others. Entering a marriage too early can cause problems due to lack of psychological maturity.
Finally, there is economic independence. The marriage needs to have enough financial foundation to cover the family expenses. If both parties have no jobs or income, life can be difficult.
After careful consideration of various factors, we set the minimum legal age of marriage at 22 and 20 for women, respectively. This is a respect for the laws of personal development, as well as a prudent attitude towards family and social responsibility. No one should cross this red line lightly.
However, in recent years, there have also been reports of illegal unions and childbearing between underage men and women. It follows that the legal age is not a general number, but a lower limit that has been carefully determined.
What about the old standard?
Tang Dynasty: 15 years old for men and 13 years old for women.
The legal age of marriage in ancient times was much lower than in modern times.
In the Tang Dynasty, men could marry at the age of 15 and women could marry at the age of 13. By the Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, the bar was raised to 16 years for men and 14 for women.
Today, when people hear this number, they immediately feel ridiculous.
How can a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, who is far from physical and psychological maturity by modern standards, bear the burden of marriage and family?
Such marriages inevitably make us wonder if the ancients had evil intentions.
However, if we think about the problem from the perspective of the ancients, this does not seem too surprising. After all, people of every era live in their own time and act according to the circumstances of the time.
So, how could there be such a standard of marriage in ancient times?
Early marriage is inevitable due to limited life expectancy.
The life expectancy of ancient people was very short as compared to modern times.
According to statistics, the average life expectancy before the Qin Dynasty was only 18 years, which increased to 22 years in the Han Dynasty, about 27 years in the Tang Dynasty, 30 years in the Song Dynasty, and 33 years in the Qing Dynasty.
Compared to the average lifespan of modern people who are over 70 years old, the life expectancy of indigenous people is already high if they live to be 30 years old.
Aboriginal peoples had a very limited lifespan, so naturally they did not have as many youthful years as modern people. They have to complete different stages of life in just a few years.
If the old standard is compared to the standard that a man cannot start a family until the age of 22, this means a lifetime ban on marriage.
Thus, the age of marriage in ancient times was 15 for men and 13 for women, which is actually the same as 20 in modern times.
The main reason for this is that the conditions of the past are still extremely difficult and the health care is underdeveloped, resulting in a very low life expectancy.
War and disease are everywhere and take too many lives. Orphans who have lost their parents are left alone, and few people enjoy their childhood. People who grow up in peace are lucky.
People spend their whole lives trying to start a family because no one knows how long they can live.
Just like Alexander the Great wept when he was young, because he felt that he would die before he could realize his ambition to conquer the Quartet.
In the past, life expectancy was so short that parents could not allow their children to fully enjoy their youth. They can only force their heirs to marry as soon as possible so that they can pass on the lineage as soon as possible.
I have to say that in the environment at that time, this move of the old man was powerless.
Women who marry early don't have to bear too many burdens.
Modern society advocates equality between men and women, and women can freely choose between career and family.
However, due to the bondage of the old feudal customs, women had a low status and could only play the role of wife and mother.
They should marry early and live a life of motherhood and education. A good marriage is also the best solution for women.
As a result, older women do not have to take on much responsibility even if they leave their parents' homes during puberty. It is enough for them to devote all their energy to serving their husbands and raising their children.
Compared to modern women who need to juggle their careers and families, the lives of women in ancient times were much simpler.
Of course, we can't say that it made ancient women happy. After all, they are at a disadvantage and cannot decide their own marriage.
However, early integration into society has not made much of a difference in the lives of older women. They continue to live as husbands and mothers.
In ancient times, women were seen as passers-by in the homes of the opposite sex from birth. Their destiny in life is to marry into their husbands' families, serve their mothers-in-law, and raise their children.
This way of life was deeply ingrained in the social values of the time. Parents believe that the sooner their daughter marries, the more successful and dignified she will be.
Even the poorest families find ways to raise a bride price to marry off their daughters when they reach puberty.
The elders of the family have already held a wedding for this infant child, hoping that he will be accepted by a good family as soon as possible.
The whole family was overjoyed to find their future son-in-law, as did the elders of the clan. They are all sad because their daughter has finally grown up and can complete the most important event in her life.
What's the point of being responsible for an ignorant girl? They will marry their parents.
Wars are frequent, and more military resources are needed.
In terms of overall national strength, ancient societies were obviously not as rich and powerful as modern societies. Frequent wars have also led to a significant reduction in the population.
Indigenous people had to deal with the depopulation caused by the war, and there was an urgent need for more heirs to provide adequate military support.
During this period, the promotion of early marriage became an important fertility strategy.
For example, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, after a long war with the Xiongnu, military resources were exhausted. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's early marriage policy led to a rapid increase in the population, thus accumulating human resources for the later large-scale attacks on the Xiongnu.
It can be said that the frequent wars in ancient times were one of the main social factors that led to the unification of men and women in the early period.
Ancient Ellis was often in turmoil, with many dynasties and warring rulers.
Take the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period as an example, hundreds of vassal states united and fought with each other. The entire Central Plains region is almost constantly under fire.
In a large-scale war, it is not uncommon for 100,000 to 800,000 people to die on the battlefield. And that's just the losses of the regular troops, and the losses are even more incalculable when the civilians who fought are included.
Each war has resulted in a massive loss of population, with many families losing their primary labor force. This has led directly to the decline of the country's economic strength, making it difficult to sustain the war.
Early marriages and extended families are being promoted in various countries to increase the population. Only a large enough population can meet the needs of a protracted war.
Early marriage allows young men and women to have children at an early age. On the one hand, this helps to compensate for the war losses, and on the other hand, it also reserves labor for future wars.
Even in peacetime, the rulers encouraged childbearing. No one knows when another war will break out. Sufficient population reserves are the guarantee of ***.
Modern people need to be empathetic.
In conclusion, considering the average life expectancy of the time, the status of women, the need for war, and many other factors, men in ancient times preferred wives of short stature. From an Aboriginal perspective, this choice is not unreasonable.
Of course, by today's standards, the first marriages were very utilitarian and did not contribute to the advancement of women.
But when it comes to criticism, we must stand in the shoes of the ancients.
People of all ages live in their own times, and their choices are bound to be conditioned by the conditions of the times.
The present generation should not judge the elderly strictly by modern standards. For a variety of reasons, they can only make a helpless choice among the limited options.
History is still moving forward, and we now live in an advanced and civilized world.
We should look at some of the choices of the elderly with understanding and tolerance.
From today's perspective, it's easy to be surprised and criticized by some of the practices of older people.
However, we live in a time that has advanced for centuries, and conditions and perceptions have changed dramatically. Would people really have made different choices if they had lived in ancient times?
For example, when a baby girl is betrothed at birth, her parents see this as a great opportunity to increase the size of the family and carry on the family, so they have to spend all their money on the dowry. What options does she have as a girl? She had no choice but to obey her parents and marry the right man.
Similarly, having more children is also a favorable sign. Mothers give birth day and night, just to keep the flame burning. As an ordinary person, isn't it the best choice to keep pace with the times and have more children?
In other words, if you were born today and enjoy all the advances that modern civilization has brought about, would you still make the same choices as the indigenous peoples?
Therefore, commenting on history cannot be divorced from the specific context, but it is also necessary to put oneself in one's shoes and empathize. This is an impartial and objective attitude.
After all, in their time, could we have done better?