What was the ancient marriage system in China? Why did ancient women tolerate husbands' concubinage?

The ancient marriage system in China was determined from the Zhou Dynasty, not polygamy, but monogamy and concubinage. These two systems are essentially different. Polygamy means that a man can marry multiple wives, and the status of wives is equal, while polygamy means that a man can only marry one wife, but he can marry many concubines. The fundamental difference between wives and concubines lies in their completely different identities, and the status of wives is noble.

With monogamy and polygamy, it is the eldest son inheritance system. The reason why this system was formulated is to solve the cruel struggle between heirs that lasted for thousands of years. If a man has several wives, and each wife gives birth to a son, the struggle between sons will break out. This is a cruel political struggle, and the Zhou Dynasty stipulated monogamy and the inheritance system between concubines and eldest sons to solve this problem.

As we all know, the history of China before Qin and Han Dynasties was aristocratic politics, and aristocrats represented the mainstream of society, so did men get married. They pay attention to the right family, and nobles only marry nobles, not other classes. Before the Zhou Dynasty, aristocratic families had multiple wives, such as Huangdi, the ancestor of China, who had four wives and twenty-five sons.

Book of Rites: The son of heaven has a queen, three concubines, nine concubines, twenty-seven concubines and eighty-one concubines. This is the concubinage system of the Zhou emperor, which stipulates that every son of heaven has one wife (queen), three wives, nine concubines (concubinage level), 27 wives (concubinage level), 8 1 lady (imperial concubine), and the highest level comes last, followed by wife, concubine and lady.

Emperors, emperors, princes, ministers, doctors, scholars and other nobles are all the same, but the number of wives is limited and gradually decreases. The emperor is the earliest, the scholar is the lowest, and even fewer ordinary people marry wives and concubines. So what caused ancient men to marry multiple concubines? Ancient men married concubines, why didn't their wives or other concubines object?

The first reason: men are superior to women. Since the society entered the patriarchal society, the status of men has been far higher than that of women, and the decision-making power of all important affairs in the whole society depends on men. From the emperor to the ordinary people, men can have wives and concubines at will, but it is stipulated that men can only marry one wife and many concubines.

Moreover, marrying a wife requires the right media to marry the right person, and there is a set of detailed procedures, such as three teas and six gifts. One is to win the lottery, that is, to send a bride price to propose marriage; The second is to ask the name, that is, the date of birth; The third is Naji, that is, divination marriage; The fourth is to collect and send the bride price to the woman's home; The fifth is the invitation period, which is to determine the date of marriage; The sixth is to visit the bride, that is, the man visits the bride's house.

Even now, these techniques are very popular in some places. This is the process of getting a wife, which takes time and effort, but concubinage is different. You don't need to get married legally, and you don't need any process. You can spend money on concubines in the market, you can directly concubinage enemy female prisoners, and you can accept women donated by others as concubines. All this is up to the man, because the man is in a high position and his wife or concubine can't interfere.

"Women's Commandments Couple": The husband has the intention of remarriage, and the husband and wife are the father of Ershi, so the husband is called heaven; Heaven can't escape, and husbands can't violate it ... A husband's story is like a wife, and he is also a dutiful son, father and loyal minister.

This means that the husband (man) has the obligation to remarry, while the wife (woman) has no reason to remarry. Therefore, the husband is the wife's day, and the day can't escape, so the husband can't live without it ... So, treat the husband like a wife, treat the father like a dutiful son, and treat the king like a loyal minister.

This is the "Women's Commandment" written by Ban Zhao, the sister of the famous historian Ban Gu and the famous military strategist Ban Chao in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It tells the wife how to treat her husband. This book was written by a woman. In articles written by talented female historians like Ban Zhao, men are superior to women, which is basically the knowledge of the whole society.

Therefore, concubines, other concubines can't control them at all, so they can only obey. Even if you are not satisfied, you can only obey in a society where men are superior to women.

The second reason: carry on the family line. The ancients attached great importance to carrying on the family line, because without descendants, there would be nothing. The descendants here are all sons, and daughters have no inheritance rights, especially nobles, such as princes. If they have no sons, their country will be taken back, such as Doctor Qing. If they have no sons, their fiefs will be taken back.

Therefore, when a man has no son, wives and concubines will fight for him to take a concubine, or take back the fief or fief. After the death of the man, all the wives and daughters have no fiefs or fiefs to live in, so they have to drink the northwest wind, which is determined by the interests. In another case, fiefs or fiefs are inherited by men from other branches of the same clan, and the original wives and concubines will be driven out of the family door.

For example, Wu Zetian's mother was a concubine, but Wu Zetian's mother, Yang, gave birth to three daughters instead of a son. After Wu Shihuo's death, Wu Zetian's mother and daughter were kicked out of the house by his half-brother in a few days. They could have inherited a little of their father's property, but because they have no son, they have no inheritance right.

Under the guidance of this urgent interest, the nobles are desperate to have sons. The best way to have a son is to take more concubines. After all, if there is only one wife, there are not many sons, and the survival rate of ancient sons is very low. The more wives you marry, the more likely you are to have a son.

For example, Zhen Shiyin, the wife of Xelloss, once said such a thing to Xelloss, and Zhen Shiyin said:

In ancient times, the descendants of the Yellow Emperor flourished because of the large number of wives and concubines. Therefore, the husband should also be a virtuous and beautiful woman, so that the children can thrive.

In addition, China society has always advocated the concept of having more children and a prosperous population. In order to have more sons, the best way is to keep concubinage. Only one wife and more concubines, only concubinage.