What is the difference between an aunt and a wife?

A wife is a wife and a concubine is a concubine. In ancient China, wives and concubines were separated. The name of a wife is marriage, which requires the words of a matchmaker. The marriage of six rites, whether bearing or not, should be written on the genealogy; My concubine's name is Na, which means she can take it with her at will and has no right to inherit property. Although there were some conditions for concubinage in ancient times, it was much simpler than taking a wife. Moreover, children born to concubines, called concubines, should also be owned by their wives, but their family status and property inheritance are very different from those born to their wives.

During the Republic of China, "wife" was not only a title, but also a special class in a society with cultural connotation. Wife is a special address for wife in the upper class. They are often powerful or emerging bourgeoisie. Although they were educated and modern, they still lacked independent personality and were criticized by intellectuals at that time. They were still in the traditional society and under the traditional gender power order.

The origin of the title "Taitai"

In the early days of the People's Republic of China, Shanghai Film Factory filmed Long Live My Wife. In order to cater to the social trend at that time, many commentators thought that Mrs. Wang was an old-time woman who loved to enjoy but did not love labor, and had the idea of exploiting the class. With more and more social criticism of wife, the word wife has been abandoned.

In fact, the word "wife" was ubiquitous in the Republic of China and was regarded as the product of modern civilization. The popularity of the word "wife" also had a lot to do with the society at that time, and "wife" was once regarded as synonymous with new women.

In ancient China society, different classes had different appellations, which constituted a common knowledge discourse system, and their function was to distinguish or locate their own or others' classes. In the ancient cultural order of China, "men and women are different, the young and the old are different, and the young and the old are orderly", not only men and women have class order, but also women in the same family have class division.

For example, in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other areas, if you are upper class and call your wife "my wife", people usually call her "madam" or "madam". What if you are in a middle-class society? I usually call my wife "the head of the room", and others will call her "your sister-in-law". If you live in a dirty society, you usually call your wife an "old official" and outsiders will call you a "wife".

In fact, there are many names for the wives of dignitaries, such as "madam" and "madam". In fact, the title of "wife" appeared in the Song Dynasty. According to A-B Dialect, in the Ming Dynasty, wives were called "secretaries", while those above Zhong Cheng were called "wives". Then I relaxed. In the Ming Dynasty, "Four Friends Zhai Cong said", it was recorded: "Every scholar-bureaucrat's wife was called a wife before the age of 30, and no one before her." In other words, if the wife is younger, she will be called "wife".

If we analyze the word "madam" from the perspective of ancient semantics, "Tai" and "Da" were originally the same word, but later the two words had a division of labor. "Tai" is bigger than the word "big", and anything bigger than the word "big" is called "Tai". Although "madam" comes from the word "tai", its meaning is completely different. Because the word "Tai" has multiple meanings, unique, supreme, respectful and peaceful. If the above artistic conception is integrated, it means "noble, noble and serene".

In addition, "Tai" also means "mother". In "Madam", the first "Tai" is an adjective and the second is a noun. Together, these two phrases symbolize noble status. In the Qing Dynasty, with the more and more extensive appellation of "grandfather", grandfather's wives were all called wives, and even concubines were called "aunts". "Auntie" here means foreign.

Therefore, before the Republic of China, "Mrs." was always the address of officials to their wives. However, since the Revolution of 1911, the government has banned calling you "grandpa", but the word "wife" has always been retained. So in the Republic of China, wife became a universal title, which often appeared in novels of the Republic of China.

The word "wife" is popular for many reasons. The word "wife" has a husband's title of respect for his spouse, and later it gradually became the address for his wife in social places. With the opening of women's social activities in the Republic of China, the original social order was also loosened.

However, in the process of the alternation of old and new cultures, especially in the great differences between urban and rural cultures, it is inevitable that there will be a phenomenon of separation. For example, in some local squires' homes, they may be called "madam" if they are in public places such as dances, but they will still be called "madam" when they return home, which is also a unique cultural separation phenomenon in the Republic of China. The appellation of the upper class has changed, but in the rural society, it is still sticking to its closeness.

During the Republic of China, everyone wanted to have identity and status, so "wife" was widely used. Especially in the military and political organs, people usually add positions in front, such as "the wife of the section chief" and "the wife of the brigade commander", and later referred to as "the wife of the section chief" and "the wife of the brigade commander".

Later, as the title of the word "wife" gradually changed from aristocrat to commoner, it developed into a synonym for "wife". Whether it is an old man who cultivates the land or a butcher who kills pigs, everyone enjoys the "glory" of "wife". Of course, this is people's yearning for the upper class, and they show their respect for their wives by calling them "wives".

Become the wife of the "leisure class"

In literary works, "wife" has its specific meaning. For example, in Zhang Ailing's Gossip, she thinks that her wife is the pillar of society, which is very different from those women with short clothes, small feet and illiteracy. In the past, women could only cook and sew at home, while their wives had a higher education, a modern life and the ability of self-consumption.

Compared with the Qing Dynasty, the enrollment rate of women in the Republic of China was greatly improved. For example, in 1929, the number of female primary schools reached1300,000, accounting for 14% of the total population in China. By 1930, the number of female middle school students has reached more than 56,000. Although women's education was considered as a valuable ornament at that time, it was used to increase women's status and identity, and they would have better capital when they got married in the future. On the other hand, education is women's independent capital and a springboard for their future independence.

After all, educated women in the Republic of China were a minority, and marriage was their destiny given by traditional society. After marriage, they have two living conditions. One is to be a full-time wife and stay at home all day. The other is to go out in public with her husband. Husbands who can go in and out of public places are generally more open-minded, returned from studying abroad, or engaged in foreign affairs.

In western society, the wife is often an "ornament" around her. A beautiful wife can show her status. Therefore, if a diplomat doesn't have a beautiful wife, he will appear "undignified" in public. For example, in Gu Weijun during the Beiyang government, his wife Huang Huilan often accompanied him in public places and played an extremely important role, not just as a foil.