What dowry did you usually prepare when you married your daughter in ancient times? Why does China society form the custom of thick marriage?

Hello, I'm Bian Xiao. Today, I will tell you about the ancient marriage customs. Welcome to visit.

Since ancient times, marriage is the most important thing in life. However, marriage must involve two issues: dowry and bride price. Whether in ancient times or in modern times, families who are about to become in-laws attach great importance to this point.

Modern people pay attention to free love. As long as men and women look at each other, get a marriage certificate, get together with relatives and friends, and have a romantic and unforgettable wedding, they will definitely get married. Besides, there are many ways for modern people to get married. They can get married naked, live in a humble house, have a dowry or not. Many people even eloped because their parents didn't agree. But in ancient times, marriage was not that simple.

Today, we will discuss the dowry when we get married.

Dowry is a gift from the bride's family when she marries her daughter. This custom can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time, not only princes and nobles married their daughters with a large amount of dowry, but even villagers had this custom. Among the well-known poems in The Book of Songs, there is a poem called Feng Weiman, which describes the wedding scene of a Wei woman: "She came by car and was bribed away".

By the Warring States period, the dowry custom in this period had been completely popularized in the whole society. According to the current archaeological research, the dowry of married women at that time was very rich. Pigs and dogs were an important part of family property at that time. Therefore, in the Chu Tomb of the Warring States discovered in Jingmen, Hubei, the dowry of the owner contains these two kinds of property.

Time passed again, and we came to the Western Han Dynasty. At this time, for the world, marriage money has become a necessary condition for marriage. It has basically become a social norm that the man's family prepares the bride price and the woman's family returns the bride price. Even if the son of heaven marries a wife, he should give his father-in-law a generous dowry according to this procedure. However, although the queen must prepare a dowry, the expenses are borne by the royal family.

After more than two thousand years, this custom still exists in China, but the dowry is different in wealth and thickness. In 1950s and 1960s, dowry was restricted by the economic conditions at that time. Most of them are simple, but only a pair of pillowcases or two quilts. Now with the improvement of people's living standards, there are more kinds of dowry, such as houses, cars and household appliances.

In ancient times, dowry was a woman's private property, and no one had the right to inherit except her own children. Therefore, in ancient times, the amount of dowry largely determined the status of the woman's husband's family after marriage. Insufficient dowry must depend on the face of the husband's family. So gradually, the whole society has formed the custom of daughters getting married in order to let their daughters have a look at their in-laws.

However, the dowry in China has been like this for thousands of years.

In ancient times, household goods, houses, land, etc. This may be part of the dowry. In modern times, they are similar. However, there are several special dowries that are invisible in modern times.

First, he married a "maid". In ancient China, men were superior to women and polygamy was practiced. In order to help her daughter get a better foothold in her husband's family, when a nobleman marries a woman, he must always be ready to marry a maid. There was also the habit of getting married and concubinage in the Spring and Autumn Period. Most of these women are sisters of married women. Marrying maids was quite popular in ancient times, and it was still common until the Qing Dynasty.

In A Dream of Red Mansions, Pinger was Wang Xifeng's maid and later became Jia Lian's room. Of course, this is a normal dowry. After all, the existence of ancient concubines is reasonable, and there is nothing strange.

Secondly, it is the "wardrobe" of dowry. In today's popular words, "the bottom of the wardrobe" is a picture of a pornographic palace, which can also be called a little yellow book. The ancients attached importance to the education of women's chastity and forbearance. But couples have an influence on fertility. Therefore, before a woman gets married, her family will prepare a photo of the erotic palace for her and put it under the box to let the newlyweds know how to live a married life.

Generally speaking, this dowry is acceptable. After all, it's just a matter of privacy. However, in modern times, this is a bit incredible.

Finally, there are coffins and fierce clothes that many people can't understand. As we all know, getting married is a big event. For people who are superstitious about ancient times, this day should be smooth and prosperous, and nothing bad will happen. The "seeking fame" and "seeking time" in the Three Books and Six Rites are all for the happy marriage of young couples and the harmonious and happy life after marriage. So, how can the murder weapon be brought into the husband's house?

We don't know the specific reason, but it did happen in history. Nowadays, in Ningbo, Zhejiang, there is a custom of "preparing fierce clothes" in dowry.

So, what is a "ferocious costume"?

That's what we call "mourning clothes", that is, the linen clothes that the daughter-in-law will wear when she dies. It's hard to understand why this should be regarded as a dowry for a good wedding. What is even more puzzling, however, is that when the man's parents see such a dowry, they will not only feel unlucky, but also be elated, thinking that the in-laws are considerate and the daughter-in-law is a good marriage.

Similarly, in Tai Po, Guangdong, there is a custom of getting married, that is, marrying a coffin board. In this place, when you marry a daughter, you will usually prepare a birthday board for the couple after a hundred years and bring it to the man's house. If it is too far to be buried, the local people will try to make some changes, that is, replace the gold with a small coffin with the same value as the coffin board.

Such an alternative dowry is really an eye-opener. In fact, today's society, whether it is a bride price or a dowry, is so rich that many families are keeping up with the joneses. However, no matter how many times he has been married, his heart is full of parents' love for his daughter. Therefore, dowry is not only a kind of etiquette, but also a carrier for parents to care for their daughters.