How does China's traditional culture define the status of women?

The Status and Rights of Women in China Traditional Culture

The status of traditional women in China in family and society is, to put it bluntly, no status. Therefore, there are no rights, only obligations. In view of the close relationship between status and rights, it is often difficult to make a more accurate division, so let's talk about it together.

(a) Men and women are born unequal

Giving birth to a boy is called "amusing"; When a girl is born, it is called "the joy of playing with tiles". "Zhang" is a beautiful jade, and "tile" is a primitive spindle.

This is an obviously discriminatory description. From the very beginning, "playing with tiles" fixed women in the role of "housekeeper", limiting their range of activities, thus facilitating further control of women's minds and manipulation of their bodies.

(b) Women in traditional culture have no independent identity.

"Book of Rites Suburbs" clearly stipulates: "* * * eats a prison meal, and the same respect and inferiority, so the female has no title, follows the husband's title and sits on the husband's teeth." This remark first hypocritically affirmed that husband and wife are "equal in status and low in status", and then turned to point out that women have no title, but only "husband's title", and even the arrangement of seats should be subject to the husband's identity.

It can be said that the obscene idea of "women without titles" is rampant and full of classics praised by scholars.

"Woman, she is also prostrate." Mencius Teng Wengong: "... not against the master. Being tactful is right, and so is being a concubine. " Ban Zhao: "The husband, the sky is also; Heaven cannot be violated, and the husband cannot escape. " It can be seen that the status of a woman has been humble to what extent, and her husband is regarded as a day, which must not be violated! Besides, there are many popular sayings, such as "marry a chicken with a chicken, marry a dog with a dog", "marry a husband with a child" and so on.

All these show that under the tyranny of "husbands as wives", traditional women have become accessories of men.

(C) Women in traditional culture have no independent personality

Li Ao once said that the personality of traditional women in China was absorbed by patriarchy and husband power, and there was no independent personality at all. This is a very correct assertion, and it is not wronged at all. "History of the Song Dynasty Biography 20" impressively wrote: "Rites, women have the meaning of three obedience, but there is no way of self-specialization."

What is "a woman follows her husband's knighthood without a knighthood", what is "a woman obeys others" and what is "not disobeying her master", and "Records of Song Shili": "A woman's rank is impermanent, and her husband's death takes second place." Biography of Women in the Ming Dynasty: "When a woman travels, she never leaves the boudoir." Both of them show that traditional women have no independent personality.

(d) In traditional culture, women have no right to property and inheritance.

Because women have no independent status, correspondingly, they naturally lose their property rights and inheritance rights.

"The Book of Rites": "The adopted daughter is selfless in goods, storage and equipment, and dare not take private leave." Not only that, if the son-in-law gets a gift from her mother's family, she should also "give it to her aunt and uncle". Exploitation to this point can be described as thorough!

Sima Guang also said: "Anyone who is a son-in-law has no private wealth, and the salary, land and house belong to parents and aunts. Please use it when you use it; Don't dare to take a private vacation, don't dare to be private. "

Although it is a common phenomenon for women, especially in large families, to store private wealth, one of them often has a small amount and the other has no legal basis. The second point is very important, which determines that women have "private wealth" but no "right". This property is not guaranteed.

Since there is no property right, there is no inheritance right. Family property rights are generally in the hands of fathers and brothers, and women have no right to participate in management, and they are not exposed to light when they inherit. What's more, even if a woman with official property dies, according to Sui Shu's etiquette, her "gold and silver jewelry shall not be put into the coffin". It can be seen that even if a woman dies, she has no property!

(e) In traditional culture, women are the private property of men.

Women not only have no property rights and inheritance rights, but also become men's private property, which has been the case since their engagement.

Book of Rites Quli Shang: "If a woman promises to marry, she must marry." It means that a woman hangs a necklace after engagement, indicating that she already belongs to someone. It's like wearing an engagement ring today, which is quite normal. But it went on to say, "Don't go in unless there is a great reason." It is stipulated that idle people (mainly men) should not ask questions or ask her out to play unless there is anything important. It seems that once a woman is engaged, her status and personality are all men's, so for the benefit of men, she should be "protected" from being "defiled".

The ancients paid great attention to each other's property when they got married. When talking about the ancient marriage in the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yi said: "All marriages are based on money, so it is not surprising that there is more competition for less." This kind of marriage maintained by economic relations can also prove from the side that women are men's private property.

We can also use the aforementioned "wife storage" to prove that women become accessories of men. Storage and maintenance, Confucius said: "It is difficult to raise only villains and women." Women in China depend on "support", so they are men's private property. In the history books, there are records of "marrying a wife and having children" everywhere. Not only that, the aboveboard law also stipulates that "adultery with women is limited to marriage sales." In order to maintain their "dignity", cuckolds can be promoted to traffickers, sell their wives as bitches, and take money to drown their sorrows!

(6) Women in traditional culture have no right to remarry.

Women's right to remarry is gradually losing.

Before the Song Dynasty, although there were many Confucian ideas advocating women's widowhood, they did not arouse much response and had little effect. "Pipe" contains "Take several widows and give them to Tian Zhai to live at home." It can be seen that the government not only does not prohibit women from remarrying, but also provides incentives. Historical Records of the Family of consorts also clearly recorded the historical fact that Princess Pingyang remarried to Wei Qing, and she was married in a dignified manner. The wife of Chen Ping, a famous minister in Han Dynasty, "tasted five husbands and died", but people at that time did not despise her because of it, nor did they think she was "one husband". Twenty-seven princesses remarried in the Tang Dynasty, of which twenty-four were married twice and three were married three times. Five generations of Zhou ancestors married four widows. Remarriage was also common in the early Song Dynasty. Many ministers' mothers had remarried. For example, Fan Zhongyan's mother decided to marry her widowed daughter-in-law to his favorite pupil Wang Tao as her second wife.

The above historical data prove that women's remarriage has a long history and has always been a generally recognized custom in society. Cheng Hao, a corrupt scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty, pushed her husband to the extreme, so that he could not remarry after his death. His "motto" is: "Hunger is small and shame is great." In this pedant's mind, a woman's life is not as important as an empty so-called "honor day"! However, this high-profile anti-remarriage guy was exposed by Uncle Song of Qing Dynasty: "His niece is still presided over by Uncle Zheng."

Although Cheng Hao is suspected of being "uncompromising", this idea of "keeping pace with the times" has gradually become orthodox. The small imperial court in the Southern Song Dynasty was unable to recover the Central Plains, resist foreign aggression and oppress women one by one. "Merit" is boundless! This is the manifestation of the concretization, generalization and autocracy of the "ritual system".

(7) Women in traditional culture have no right to education.

Of course, it is not absolute that women have no right to education. Women in the aristocratic class have a certain right to education, and there are many "talented women" in the past dynasties. In addition, it is not only a right but also an obligation to receive education as an actor and a housekeeper. However, the traditional idea that "a woman is virtuous without talent" is not just verbal. Although women's needlework and housekeeping are education in a broad sense, they are only women's morality, far from being "talented". Only by accepting the influence of orthodox Confucianism can it be called. Otherwise, making you a first-class actress is just a woman's job, not worth mentioning. Generally speaking, women are not entitled to formal and orderly Confucian education. At best, she has a good knowledge of literature and ink.

In the aspect of depriving women of the right to education, it fully exposed the contradictory thoughts of the ancients, and also fully exposed their thoughts of discriminating against women and their hypocrisy about ethics. According to Confucianism, human nature is good, and Mencius did not add a qualifier such as gender before these four words. But in traditional ideas, women are natural disasters. What is human nature in this case? At least, half of them are bad! Because women are born a disaster, reading is the way to monopolize social resources for officials to get rich, so it is natural to deprive women of their right to education. But isn't Confucianism preaching its own set that can affect everyone? Then why not let women have a place in education? Isn't this a contradiction? In fact, to put it bluntly, political rights and cultural rights must be monopolized by men, and resources must not be "* * *". Only in this way can they make better use of and play with women.

In such an environment, ignorance and ignorance have buried many outstanding women, and there will be many more writers, politicians and militarists among them than now ... However, they have all been strangled by bureaucracy and patriarchal centers. Even if there are people like Li Qingzhao occasionally, they are under great and complicated pressure before and after their death.

The Obligations and Fates of Women in China Traditional Culture

Because they have no status and rights, they are all obligations, as is the case with traditional women in China. Let's take a peek at the so-called "seven out" first.

(A) the so-called "seven out"

"Seven Fruits" is the product of patriarchal clan system, which is designed for the utilitarian purposes of maintaining social stability, political peace, normal family and children's inheritance.

"Seven endings" comes from "The Core Monument of Dai Dai's Life", with the following contents and a brief comment:

1, against parents. The daughter-in-law is not filial to her in-laws and does not serve them, which constitutes an important element of divorce. This seems reasonable, in fact, because there are only five broad words, the so-called fluency is not standard, which can be left to the husband's family to make a loose explanation. Therefore, although the daughter-in-law is filial, but the in-laws don't like it, they will still be fired. This is the case with Jiao Zhongqing and his wife in Peacock Flying Southeast. Tang Wan, the first wife of Lu You, a great poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, also hated her mother-in-law, and staged a tragedy of eternal hatred. On the other hand, fickle men often use this signboard to cover up their selfish desires. What "scolds the dog" in front of in-laws, and fails to give them water to quench their thirst in time ... can all be justified reasons for men to dissolve their engagement.

2, no children go. The ancients believed that "there are three kinds of unfilial, and there is no big after." If we consider the specific conditions and historical background, there is no need to be harsh. But the terrible thing is that traditional culture is completely "one-way". In other words, the responsibility of not having a son is entirely on women, and the responsibility of men is only to find new reproductive tools.

3. Go whoring. Wife rape constitutes an important element of divorce. Not only divorce, but also women who commit rape will be punished by criminal detention, flogging, imprisonment or exile. Even if she was killed by her husband at the scene of rape, she deserved it. According to the Daming Law: "If a woman commits adultery, the law shall be based on marriage sale." Adultery not only refers to women's active adultery and rape. According to the Qing law, if a woman lets her abuser succeed, even if she is humiliated, she should be punished as adultery. She not only has to "undress and be punished", but also "marry and sell from her husband". Therefore, according to historical data, jane doe's "adultery" should be specifically analyzed.

4. Be jealous. Jealousy is universal, and men are jealous all the time. But strangely, men can envy money, covet beautiful women and envy each other, but they will never allow women to have the same rights. Emperor Taizong tried two women, but his wife was forced to die, but the palace compromised. In the Song Dynasty, I was not so polite. Biographies of Empresses and Concubines in the Song Dynasty: "The familiarity of the lake made Yuan Xian's wife jealous to death, and made the near ministers write jealous wives in Tongzhi."

5, evil diseases go. If the wife is seriously ill, the husband can expel her from the house, regardless of whether she is humane or not. The so-called "evil disease" has no standard and is manipulated by men. What is a "bad disease"? Does a sore on your back count? Originally, there were slight restrictions on "seven out" and "three don't go", but when a woman got a "bad disease", "three don't go" was meaningless.

6. Talk more. This article is a veritable "disaster comes from the mouth." As a wife, you must always be cautious, or you will be in danger of divorce if you are caught by your husband. According to the biography of Chen Hanping, Chen Ping's sister-in-law was very hard on him, and his brother Chen Bo "abandoned her". This is really the best annotation of "wife is like clothes, brother is like brothers"!

7. stealing. Because traditional women have no property rights and inheritance rights, they are not allowed to store private wealth, so "the wife is in a slave position in her husband's house and has to take care of the goods for her master." If she loses them due to poor care, or damages the ownership of her husband's family and others without permission, she can be accused of antonym. "

After a brief analysis of the "seven results", we can draw the following conclusions:

First, the "seven outcomes" are all "one-way". For example, disobedient parents are aimed at the woman. As for whether the man is filial to his parents-in-law, there is absolutely no requirement. Aside from jealousy and verbosity, the so-called "fornication" is completely one-way morality. Since women are required to keep their virginity, so should men. But in fact, the husband can take concubinage, go whoring, cheat and give people a green hat, but the wife can't file for divorce because of this.

Second, except for "no children", other clauses are broad in content and have no general scope. The right to interpret and operate is owned by men, which has gradually evolved into a tool for men to play with women. In particular, "talkative", purely catching shadows, can effectively serve as the basis for a husband and wife to divorce. Quite a few men use trivial matters to expel their wives.

Third, the "seven endings" directly led to the tragic fate of women. For example, if you are abandoned as a prostitute, you will inevitably not be able to stand in society. It's not just fornication. As long as a woman is divorced-for whatever reason, it is difficult to live, and death is often waiting for her.

(b) In traditional culture, women become trophies.

War is a "sport" for men, and women are often the first victims in the war. Throughout the history of our "ancient civilization", it is impossible to refine.

Biography of Chen She Jixiang: "In the next few days, Yu Nai slaughtered Xianyang ... and collected his treasures, slightly surpassing women and heading east." Not only loyalists; The "peasant uprising army" has similar behavior. For example, "History of Song Dynasty, History of Abolishing the Emperor in the Former Dynasty", (thieves) feast gardens and tombs, and plan for excavation. Slash the innocent and learn from women. "Draft of the Qing Dynasty": "Ding Wei attacked Dorotte and defeated it. Dolzaha talked about the capture of Batulu, the capture of his wife, the killing of Taiji Gulu and the return of 11,200 prisoners. "

If there is robbery, there will be robbery. "Ming History": "The people are happy to go home and take the army to plunder women." They are very busy, but they always regard women as private property and playthings. On the one hand, all I think is that this is my property, my woman, how can you take it away from me?

(c) In traditional culture, women are regarded as "weapons".

Everyone is familiar with "honey trap". In addition, there is an "inexhaustible" method, that is, "China people are superstitious that they can subdue others by cursing, thus winning". "Winning fatigue" is applied to the battlefield, not only chicken blood, dog head, dog shit, dog urine, but also women.

Li Xichuan in Ming Dynasty: "Women are naked, and they vote for cattle, sheep and dogs, winning the first prize." Similarly, "Biography of Li Yong in the Ming Dynasty": "For the three floors near the city, the female chickens and dogs are tired."

These women seem to have made meritorious deeds, but in fact, their "aversion to victory" is the product of superstition, which is equivalent to imposing unlucky things on the enemy and making it unlucky. It can be seen that women are regarded as "killing weapons" and nothing has changed.

(d) In traditional culture, women are accused as "disasters"

China has always been a centralized system in ancient times, that is to say, all power is controlled by men, all resources are dominated by men, and all beings are led by men. Men "invent" everything for a reason, and no women are involved. In this case, the responsibility for the destruction of the country should be borne by men. But just as all centralized people will never admit their mistakes, those who monopolize the world will never admit their stupidity, and they will find scapegoats to safeguard the legitimacy of their centralization. The scapegoat is a woman.

The idea that women are a disaster has a long history. "Yi Zhuan": "Women rule, the country is not quiet; The cock crows, and the Lord does not respect it. So the house thinks it is also in the middle. " The Eighth History of Geography in Hanshu: "The monarch is weak and the woman is strong. If you ride in the dark, the moon will come out. " "Hanshu Wuxing": "If a wife is not straight, it is called a good yang ... It is said that women are good at serving the country." Biography of Empresses and Concubines in the Ming Dynasty: "Ming Taizu learned from the misfortune of the previous generation, established the discipline of Chen Ji, and opened the strictness of internal education." This means that women should not be good at housekeeping and state affairs, otherwise the country will be in trouble, so we should take strict precautions.

"Zhou Shuchuan Six": "Today, women are in charge of the DPRK, and politics is close to learning. When thieves start, the sea boils. " "The History of the Song Dynasty and the History of Emperor Xiaowu": "In the past, women complained that the mountain was too high to be light; Widows mourn, Taiwan Province leans eastward. " Song Shi Fu Yaozhi: "When talking and serving a woman, she also died." "Xizong in Ming Dynasty": "The female temple steals the handle, rewards the lascivious punishment indiscriminately, and suffers a tragic disaster because of loyalty. Even if it wants to survive, how can it be obtained?" This is a terrible result of women's politics Even men wear women's clothes to die, so women are really a disaster!

(5) In traditional culture, women are always chaste, widowed or heroic.

Since the rise of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty, social thoughts have become more and more closed. Its outstanding performance is the sharp increase in the number of virtuous women. The data will not be duplicated. What I want to point out is that women in feudal society have no status and lack channels for survival. A dead husband is extremely pitiful, and it is really inhuman for a corrupt scholar to let her live all her life! It should be pointed out that not remarrying is not limited to married women. As long as you are engaged, even if your fiance dies without going through the door, you are still not allowed to remarry, otherwise spitting will drown you! This kind of thinking just proves the previous assertion that "traditional women are men's private property".

If a woman is raped, her only way out is to die. For example, in Ming History, Guangzu, the man who remonstrated with his father, was arrested and the thief made him kneel. He said,' I have studied all my life and only know loyalty.' He cursed. The thief killed it and smashed its body. His wife, a sister and a daughter advised his wife Li to die in the well. My concubine Li Fang was pregnant, and the thief died by caesarean section. The second son decided to make a plan, and Sun Rixi scolded the thief for his death, but he himself put forward suggestions for living. There were 130 victims, 37 urban women died and 8 women died. Yingzhou is brave, and everyone wins the cloud. "

(6) In traditional culture, women are insulted and have no recourse.

"History of Han Xiao Zhuan": "Yang Zhai is light and chivalrous, and most of them are livestock passengers, trying to catch a fisherman and eat him, even committing adultery". "Records of Food in the Ming Dynasty": "Official schools recruit small groups, calling them village heads and attendants, occupying land and accumulating wealth and polluting women." According to Daming Law and Qing Law, anyone who rapes a woman shall be treated as a young girl! If there is a law, what can we say? !

All these facts show that women in China have a humble position in traditional culture, lack of rights, endless obligations and miserable fate.

Therefore, since the history of China has developed to this day, women in China have formed their own way of doing things, especially the issue of marriage between men and women, which many foreigners do not understand; I once asked a foreign young man who had lived in China for eight years why he didn't find a China girl as his wife. His answer is basically the same as ours. He said: It's too tiring to get along with China girls, and there are too many additional conditions. After listening to these conditions, he couldn't figure out whether they really loved themselves. Let's take a look at some marriage enlightenment at home and abroad, which is completely different. No matter what age women in China are seeking marriage, the first requirement is "successful career, good economic foundation, car and house, stable and high income". However, foreign women's marriage initiation mainly emphasizes "love, interest and life value", which is a serious sense of crisis caused by thousands of years of traditional culture in China to women in China. In their bones, men are unreliable and accessories. Therefore, in their consciousness, survival is the first thing, and then love, so material is always the first thing, even if he does not lack material foundation or even a good material foundation; Love, always ranked second, even took up the "business" done by the lover, and regarded love as a pure commercial behavior.

Having said that, maybe someone will refute my friend and say that foreigners still like China women, yes, very much, because of the curiosity caused by racial differences! But in the end, most women in China are married to elderly foreigners. Why do foreign old people marry China women? One is to satisfy their childhood curiosity; Second, their life experiences have given them enough patience when they are old; Third, they have accumulated some material foundations. Because of the material foundation, women in China are also willing to marry an old foreigner. However, in the end, 80% of people are divorced. ...

This is the abominable traditional culture, which has left "wealth" for women in China.