Why was the status of ancient women so low?

The status of women in ancient China was not high (except matriarchal society). "Three obedience and four virtues" have always been in women, who have been taught to have female virtues since birth. We should have children for our husbands and carry on the family line for their husbands. Women are always tied to a position with low certainty. But there is awakening.

Men and women are co-founders of historical civilization, and their social status should be equal. But this is not the case. From ape-man to man until the real decline of feudal society, women's status hindered two periods: one was that women dominated matriarchal society, and the other was that women had been in a vassal state since paternal society.

The matriarchal society is an early agricultural planting period, and the environment is harsh. The human survival ability and economic production ability are in the hands of women. However, with the development of production tools, the economic production capacity gradually began to be in the hands of men, and with the further development of history, men gradually occupied a dominant position in production, and the overall status of women plummeted. Although women also have unyielding struggles, they have not changed in the next few thousand years.

The feudal patriarchal clan system and feudal moral norms made the relationship between men and women a subordinate and subordinate relationship. And "three obedience and four virtues" is the best embodiment. They are to maintain the stability of patriarchal families. According to the principle of "internal and external differences, men are superior to women", Confucian ethics requires women's moral, behavioral and self-cultivation standards. Among them, "Four Virtues" exist for "Three Obediences", which will become the standard of women's morality, behavior, ability and accomplishment in China in the future. What is "three obedience and four virtues"? "Three obedience" means "obeying the father at home, marrying the husband and obeying the son, and obeying the son when the husband dies", and "four virtues" means "women's morality, women's words, women's capacity and women's merits". This is the ideological root that binds women in history, which makes most women not resist for their status.

The second reason is the social root of China ancient women's subordinate position in social production and the deprivation of political and economic rights. Tsinghua mentioned in "The Ancient Feudal Private Ownership in China and the Loss of Women's Subordinate Status and Social Adult Status —— Taking the Economic Activities of Ancient Women in China as an Example": Before the Dynasty, women were widely active in the national economic field, and women's "women workers", mainly textile, were an important economic source of feudal countries and families, but they were still dominated by men, and "women workers" were only the auxiliary and supplement of individual agriculture. In feudal private ownership, it is stipulated that the ownership of family property belongs to men, so even if women make contributions to this, they can only hide behind men and lose their independent status. (2) It is stipulated that women will no longer attend classes with Emperor Yang Di. This means that women will no longer be cultivated and serve the country, which means that women, who account for half of the population, have since withdrawn from the national economy. Although the tenancy system is still formulated according to the mode of male farming and female weaving, women's labor is no longer recognized by the state and society ... women are further deprived of their family economic status. ③

The internal reason is the spirit of self-sacrifice and self-improvement. In ancient times, women's marriages were all "parents' orders and matchmakers' words". Concubine system is another good embodiment. "Three wives and four concubines" made the marriage of ancient women in China feel insecure. Losing her husband's favor and having no support at home has become the most worrying thing for every woman. Therefore, I will not refute my husband's concubinage behavior (of course, people with status in the family will not accept it), so that my husband will not hate himself and keep a heart for himself.

Laozi asked Taoism to respect women and enhance women's consciousness, which played a leading role in theory. Women are not disobedient to their status. The story in Peacock Flying Southeast is an example: When Jiao's mother kicked her out of the house, she defied her brother's decision to marry. Even from The West Chamber, The Peony Pavilion and A Dream of Red Mansions, it is possible to see the initial awakening of female consciousness in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although the result is not as expected. Du Gujialuo, the queen of Sui Dynasty, was a famous feminist, who clearly advocated monogamy and opposed men's concubinage. It can be seen that not all women in ancient times were "without me".