In ancient times, the poor couldn't afford a wife, so how could they carry on the family line?

In May 2020, some netizens compiled a price list of bride price in major provinces across the country. Internal prices and demands for houses and cars make most men say they can't afford to marry their wives. In fact, this custom of bride price has existed since ancient times, not only in our modern times, but also in ancient times. It is not easy for men to marry their wives. But there are also many poor people. What if they can't get a dowry and can't afford a wife?

In order to let them marry a daughter-in-law, the ancients came up with a way to pawn their wives for various reasons in exchange for money and let the poor redeem them. This behavior is a very shameful thing for us now, but it did solve the problem at that time.

Wife-making began in Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the world was in turmoil. At the same time, corrupt officials were rampant in the groggy halls of the Han Dynasty, especially when Cao Cao and Yuan Shao separated in 196, and the people at the bottom were exploited very seriously. Many families still can't afford the high taxes on perennial agriculture. Unable to support their children, many people have to choose to pawn their property.

When everything that can be pawned is pawned, only the wife can exchange it. However, it is not easy to pawn your wife. After all, the Han Dynasty was a dynasty with strict etiquette. Pawning a wife must have a reason and pass the examination. For example, the ancients had no heirs, so they could give their wives at this time, just like surrogacy now, except that it was cheaper for the ancients to give their wives, unlike the high price of surrogacy abroad today.

However, this is unfair to women. Although the husband pawned himself, the woman who pawned the second wife is no longer tolerated by her husband's family, and may be pawned again, and the end will be similar to that of the servant girl. There is also a kind of woman who can pawn, that is, after a woman gets married, her husband dies unfortunately, and the husband and the woman agree not to live together.

At this time, women can go to the pawnshop and pawn themselves out in exchange for a place to go. Although this kind of behavior is a bit cruel, such a typical wife is cheap, which can make many other single men with no money marry daughters-in-law, and also give women a place to live, because it is difficult for women to live alone in ancient times. This behavior provided a way for the poor in ancient times to get married, and another way was to sit in court and recruit a husband. Women have their own in-laws, but their lives can no longer be maintained.

Therefore, with the consent of the in-laws, the woman pawned herself out, and the man who needs a wife can live in this typical in-laws house, where three people live together, but the man needs to pay the living expenses of three people, that is, enjoy his wife. Although we enjoy bicycles everywhere now, we really haven't heard that wives can enjoy them.

Wife-making has been going on for 1000 years, but it is actually bigamy and drunkenness, and more and more people are against it. After Yongzheng ascended the throne in A.D. 1772, he immediately ordered the people to ban this kind of wife-taking, and also increased severe punishment measures, which largely eliminated this phenomenon, but it still did not. After all, poverty cannot be eradicated, and this phenomenon will certainly happen to the poor.