There are many meetings, and polygamy of emperors, nobles and bureaucrats is often stipulated in the form of official system. For example, there is a cloud in the last paragraph of the Book of Rites: "Ancient emperors had six palaces, three concubines, nine concubines, twenty-seven concubines and eighty-one concubines."
"Zhou Li" says: "The internal slaughter teaches the six palaces to be yin." Zheng Sinong notes: "A lewd ceremony is a woman's ceremony. The sixth house is the last and the first house. There are 120 people in WangZhifei: the last one, three ladies, nine ladies, twenty-seven ladies and eighty-one ladies. "
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the number of wives and concubines of the monarch increased from several hundred to several hundred thousand. "Mencius devoted chapter" said: "The abbot served hundreds of concubines before meals." Zhao Qi pointed out: "There are many concubines, hundreds of them. "Mozi Ci Guo pian" says: "Today's monarch, his livestock are also private. A big country is tired of women, and a small country is tired. "Guanzi Xiaokuangpian" says: "(Qi)" xianggong "is standing on the high platform drinking. Tianzhu? Brother, don't listen to national politics, belittle saints and insult people, but women are worthy of worship; Nine concubines and six wives, and thousands of Chen concubines; Eating must be meat, clothes must be embroidered, Rong's frozen hunger, Rong's treatment of the disadvantages of travel, Rong's treatment: advocating outstanding dwarfs first, sages later; Therefore, the country is not getting longer and longer. "The Biography of Xun Shuang in the Later Han Dynasty says:" In the season of three generations, there is no chastity. There are hundreds of Chen Aoe in the palace. Exhaustion of yang
Above, the yin leaves the bottom. "Visible, in this period, the emperor and the noble polygamy and sexual indulgence has been very serious.
The Zhou dynasty began to establish a ritual system, which not only stipulated the number of wives and concubines of emperors, governors and doctors, but also stipulated the time and order of sharing rooms. At that time, people liked to use celestial bodies, yin and yang, and calendars to determine the order of things. Even the order in which concubines sleep with emperors and nobles is determined by the rise and fall of the moon. From the first day to the fifteenth day of each month, the moon will gradually become round, and then it will gradually become out of round at the fifteenth day. According to this rule, from grade one to fifteen, women with lower status will start to enter higher positions, and from sixteen to thirty, they will gradually be arranged from higher positions to lower positions.
The details are as follows: from the first day to the ninth day, there are eighty-one imperial women, and there are nine people in a round every night; From 10 to 12, the 27th wife, 9 people for a round every night; The thirteenth round of the ninth round; The third lady of round 14; 15, the queen. Sixteenth, the queen; 17. Third Lady; Eighteen, nine wives; From 19 to 2 1, wife No.27, 9 people in a round every night; From 22nd to 30th, eighty-one wives get married, and nine people take turns every night. This hard rule may be to prevent
Empresses compete for favor, in fact, some emperors do not necessarily strictly follow this rule.
Another way of saying it is that the queen sleeps with the son of heaven every night and takes a day off every five days. At this time, other concubines make up the position, so it takes 45 days for nine concubines to finish their rounds. The concubines below the wife in the world must wait on the son of heaven with nine wives, not alone.
This five-day patrol system was also adopted by the governors of the Zhou Dynasty. The vassal * * * has nine wives, one of whom is also divided into four groups: A, B, C and D. Every night, in addition to accompanying his wife, he has to accompany two wing rooms. Usually, the side room under the age of 50 has the right to sleep, because this kind of woman still has the ability to get pregnant; You can't sleep with the Lord over 50. But this is limited to the lateral chamber,
The wife (the first room) is not limited by age, and she can always get along with her husband day and night, advancing and retreating together.
The doctor only has two concubines together, taking three days as a round; There can only be one with the gentry. There is a strict distinction between the qualifications of a wife and a concubine. Under normal circumstances, a wife can stay with her husband from night till the next morning, while a concubine must leave after the Lord falls asleep at midnight.
Because the order of the son of heaven and his empresses sleeping in the same room is complicated, an official named "female history" came into being to master it. Women's history will make concubines wear rings made of different materials, such as gold, silver and copper, to identify their identity and determine the order of serving the son of heaven; At the same time, record their daily words and deeds as a reference for future replenishment. During menstruation, concubines must paint red on both sides of their cheeks to show their physiological condition. Some people have confirmed that due to
Later, people thought that women with red cheeks were more beautiful, and gradually formed the custom of applying rouge.
A prominent manifestation of polygamy in ancient times was the concubine system.
The origin of the marriage system is very early. It is a transitional form in the evolution from foreign marriage to pairing marriage in primitive society, that is, "a man who has been married for a long time has the right to marry his sister who reaches a certain age." In the book Dead Son, it is speculated that Yao married two women as Shun, and that "the wife is the emperor and the wife is the English", which is generally credible. This system means that when a woman marries, she must marry her nephew and slave with the same surname. "Wei Li Wedding" notes: "The ancients married women with nephews,
It's called an exit. "Yi Guimei" says: "Guimei is a product, and she is lucky to be lame." It is a good thing to think that you can walk with your shoes on, just like limping.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the rulers of various countries implemented the "Qi" system. For example, The Book of Songs Ya Hanyi: "The queen of Han married a wife. ...
All products follow it. "And" Qi Feng in July "in" the woman's heart is sad, and her son will come to the same place "is also a marriage.
About 15 poems interpret the word "return" in the Book of Songs as "getting married". Wang Xianqian and Yao Jiheng in Qing Dynasty interpreted "childe" as the daughter of the prince. The main idea of the poem is that the girls are suddenly sad when picking mulberry, and I am afraid that they will be photographed in front of him by a microscope. During the Warring States period, the social system changed greatly and the marriage system declined. The marriage custom of wife's death and wife's sister's remarriage is a legacy of the marriage system.
Concubine is the so-called little wife, wing, wing. "Gu Liangchuan Xi Gong Jiu Nian": "Don't be a concubine." Hui Yuan: "If I take it, I can meet a gentleman but not a husband and wife." Concubines are usually women from the lower classes. "Book of Rites Ji Fang Jian Zheng" says: "The concubine buyer is the same as the public property because of the time."
In addition, any woman who has not been scolded by the media is also called a concubine. The Book of Rites holds that "runners are concubines". They suffer from social discrimination. "Their parents are very cheap."
Although there are some historical reasons for the emergence of concubine system, it has long advocated its abolition because it is a very unreasonable marriage system. For example, the Book of Changes Ge Gua said: "Fire and water are mutually beneficial. Two women live together, but their ambitions are different, so they are skins. " However, this weak voice did not have much effect at that time, and it was even more difficult to achieve practical results.
There are many reasons for polygamy in this period:
First, it is the complete collapse of matriarchal system and the extension of male power. Men regard women as private property. Since they are private property, of course, the more the better.
Second, the result of tribal wars and slave use. Private ownership has triggered a much wider and fiercer predatory war than in the past. Through the war, a large number of women and children have always been slaves and arbitrarily occupied by the victorious countries.
Third, the indulgence of the ruling class regards women as playthings, and at the same time regards trampling on women as a symbol of their power. This is just as Wu Jingchao said: "The main reason why polygamy exists is that rich and powerful people want to' resist the melody'. But under the word' Yu Sheng Yin', I don't know how many people's happiness will be gently destroyed. "
Fourth, the influence of children's concept, more wives means more children, and more children means more blessings.
The fourth reason can be discussed more, because the concept of children runs through thousands of years of sexual and cultural history in China (even dating back to primitive society). The concept of children can be found in ancient books and cultural relics left over from this period. For example, Wang Guowei's Postscript to the Book of Yin Ruins has the words "many children and grandchildren".
Westermarck said:
However, people's desire for polygamy is not only based on sexual motives, but also includes things other than sex, such as children, wealth and authority, which are enough to tempt them. And a childless wife, or a childless daughter, often makes men ask for new matches. In eastern countries, obtaining children and grandchildren is the main reason for polygamy. Concubine in Japan was once recognized by law, and its argument was to have children and inherit the ancestral temple. Polygamy in ancient Duxing people seems to be one of the main reasons for fear of dying without children. The same motivation still exists in the modern world. Many Persians marry new wives just for their first wife. Ryan said: "Egyptian men are unwilling to give up their love for their unfortunate wives, but they confine themselves to their children. This is the concept of bigamy." It is a common practice of many ethnic groups to recognize or practice polygamy just because they have no children at first, or because they have girls instead of boys.
The above situation also applies to ancient China. At that time, the people of Shang Dynasty were in an environment where agriculture was quite developed and there were many enemies in their neighborhood, so they naturally wanted to have more wives, because they could have more children, expand their strength to resist the enemy, and at the same time help agricultural production and housework.
Since the establishment of the patriarchal clan system in the Zhou Dynasty, the concept of children has become stronger and stronger. For example, the Book of Songs compares women's virtue with children's kindness:
; You have many children and a prosperous family. ; Your children are many, many and have a long generation.
; Your children are many, many and happy.
The poem Yao Tao is also similar to Tiger:
Peach will burn its glory when it dies, and its son should stay at home when he returns home. There is a reason why peaches die. When his son comes back, he should stay at home. Tao Yao Yao, his Ye Zhenzhen and his son Yu Gui, deserve their home.
That is to say, after "my son returns to China", "IKEA room" and "IKEA people" are nothing more than flowers, reality and leaves, but they should be able to thrive.
The development of this concept of children in the Zhou Dynasty made polygamy more certain. Later emperors, nobles, wives of bureaucrats, and concubines of ordinary citizens often used the inheritance of their children as an excuse. For example, "White Tiger Boy Marries a Wife" says: "When the son of heaven marries nine women, he must pay attention to the country and then." Another cloud said, "Dr. Qing, what's the difference between a wife and a wife? It is also a matter of respecting the sages and inheriting the heirs. " In fact, "wide succession" may be just an excuse, and the purpose of sex will always occupy a very important position.
A little.