What are three wives and four concubines?

Three of the three wives and four concubines were ancient wives, even wives and partial wives.

The status of wife and husband and wife, their children are also called sons, in a precise sense, only the wife is a wife. In the Qing dynasty, the monarch could have a direct Fujin, that is, a wife, two flat wives and two lateral Fujins, but in fact, lateral Fujin had no right to be a wife. They are actually concubines, but they are also called wives because of their status.

With the passage of time, the meaning of three wives and four concubines has become richer. A man with many women or concubines is described as three wives and four concubines.

The fourth concubine is actually a concubine with four identities. In ancient times, concubines had a low status, just like commodities, but because of their different origins, they were divided into four different sources.

Four of the three wives and four concubines:

1, concubines, they are the dowry of the wife, they may be the daughters of the same family, or they may be the confidants of the wife. Their role is to help the wife consolidate her position and marriage.

2, good concubines, their family background is innocent, but for some reason, they voluntarily become concubines. After becoming a concubine, she will sign the concubinage document, so she will become a member of the family and will not be given and developed at will.

3, concubines, mostly from dusty places, fell in love with their master for prostitutes or prostitutes, so they were redeemed by their master and became concubines, or guilty daughters, rewarded by Shangguan or others and became concubines of their master.

4, flat concubines, they are different from the top three, just ordinary concubines.