Ancient people married three wives and four concubines. Which three wives and four concubines were they?

At the beginning of the development of human civilization, this society was dominated by women. With the gradual disintegration of primitive society, women's strength can not be compared with men's, but the labor force mainly depends on men, so social sovereignty is gradually transferred from women to men's hands. Since then, men have dominated society.

Since the change of social dominant position, the status of women has been getting lower and lower. Men's social rights have also become the main reason why they can marry three wives and four concubines. The higher a man is, the more women he marries.

Shun once married two women. Since he set a precedent, his descendants followed suit, and there were countless women in the harem of emperors. Since it is said that it is three wives and four concubines, what exactly does it mean?

Although emperors after Shun married many wives and concubines, this idiom did not exist before. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that this idiom appeared in the publication of Jin Ping Mei.

This idiom has been mentioned in their works since it came out. For example, Li Yu, a writer in Qing Dynasty, used it when he wrote Kite Mistakes. Only in this way can this idiom be thoroughly understood and skillfully used by people.

From this point of view, this statement originated in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, not in primitive society. However, it was not clear which three wives and four concubines were at that time.

In fact, the third wife here refers to the first wife and the partial wife, and the next wife. But in fact, among the three wives, only the first wife is really nominal, and the other two wives are nominal.

The first person a man marries, usually his first wife, is rich in dowry and dowry. When a man married his first wife and came home, he gave her the right to manage the backyard.

The first wife can also be said to be a man's facade, so men pay more attention to behavior than appearance when they marry the first wife. A man can only have one ex-wife If his first wife dies, he can have a second wife, or choose one of his original women as his first wife.

No matter whether the mistress or the original woman is promoted to the original woman, although she has great power, she is not as good as the original woman in behavior or other aspects.

Under unexpected circumstances, a man can also have two ex-wives, but this situation is generally rare. Only when his brother happens to have no children and other brothers adopt his only son as their son can the adopted son marry two ex-wives, because the reason is to inherit the incense of both families at the same time.

Whether it is a partial wife or a mistress, it is only a nominal wife. In fact, all they enjoy is the right to be a concubine. There is also a folk saying that a woman will be called a partial wife after being divorced by a man.

Some writers in Qing Dynasty directly referred to their wives as concubines. All ancient laws protect the rights of wives. When a man wants to marry a concubine, he should put his wife's interests first in everything. And after I enter the palace, I must listen to the opinions of my first wife. What happened in the film and television drama? Spoil and kill your wife? This situation will basically not happen.

As for it? Fourth concubine? What it refers to is still controversial. Many people think that concubines refer to a girl's dowry and concubines given by the man's parents.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, when a woman gets married, she always takes her own maid or cousin as a dowry. Married women in the past usually become Teng concubines of women's husbands. Usually, in addition to serving the daily life of their masters, they will serve their masters instead of mistresses when it is inconvenient to serve their husbands.

In the long feudal period, the custom of marrying a wife has always existed. If a man takes a third wife, he must also take the handmaid of the third wife as a concubine.

The remaining concubines were given by his parents. In ancient times, before men got married, their food, clothing, housing and transportation were taken care of directly by their mothers or served by trusted maids. After a man gets married, parents worry that their daughter-in-law is not interested, so they choose one for themselves to make their son's life more satisfactory.

Whether it is Teng concubine or the intimate person that parents are looking for for their son, it seems very reasonable, but in fact there are many doubts. Because those close-fitting maids may not be accepted as concubines, and a man may not only have four concubines. The better the family, the more concubines there are. For example, there are many concubines in the emperor's harem.

This phenomenon is obviously contrary to the statement of three wives and four concubines. So this word may just be an imaginary number. It is only used to describe that a man can have many wives instead of three wives and four concubines.

Of course, not all ancient people can marry three wives and four concubines, which is only for powerful families. It is difficult for ordinary people to marry a wife. How can they marry three wives and four concubines? These people can only marry one wife all their lives.

In the Han Dynasty, courtiers who made special contributions to the imperial court could marry eight concubines, while ordinary officials could only marry three. As for Shu Ren, he has no official position and can't even marry concubines.

After the Yuan Dynasty, the policy changed again, and even ordinary men could take concubines. But there are still strict rules for ordinary men to take concubinage. A man can only marry the first wife at first, but if his wife doesn't give birth to a child for Rhapsody in July before he 18 years old, he is allowed to marry a concubine.

If men don't obey the rules, take concubines at will, or even throw the original match aside after having concubines, they need to be punished accordingly. Those who are light will be fined forty lashes, and those who are too serious may be punished by other punishments.

Under various circumstances, powerful families have more than three wives and four concubines, while ordinary families generally have only one wife. This idiom has also become a special word for powerful men, explaining the phenomenon that powerful men have wives and concubines in their homes.

Three wives and four concubines can also be said to be the civilization of traditional society. At that time, the system may have been very perfect. But for modern people, this system is absolutely not suitable for continuation, and in fact, the ancients will also be plagued by jealousy and jealousy among women in the backyard.

In Bian Xiao's view, the ancient marriage system was not so perfect, otherwise it would not be eliminated with the development of the times. I've seen too many troubles caused by concubines on TV. Not as monogamous as it is now. If it's too late, I'll divorce and find a good marriage.