Chapter 22 second concubine status

Why is the status of a concubine so low? The most fundamental reason, as mentioned above, is that she is "unknown", not "married by a bright matchmaker".The "origin" of concubines includes marriage, elopement, purchase, house collection, gift, transfer, reward, snatch, sale, official distribution, etc. According to these "origins", the status of concubines is different. Not the same. The highest-ranking concubine is "媵(ying)". "媵" means gift.In the pre-Qin period, when the princes married women from other countries (of course, most of them were princesses), the female monarch would give a few women as dowry, and other countries with the same surname as the female monarch would also give gifts, quite like the "buy one free" of many companies today. Two", buy a high-end suit, give a tie or a shirt as a gift.Of course, a shirt and tie are not equivalent to a suit, so the status of a wife is also lower than that of a wife, and she can only be regarded as a concubine.It is said that once, Uncle Qin married his daughter to the Marquis of Jin, because the woman she married was dressed in gorgeous clothes, and as a result, "people in Jin love their concubines and despise men and women".This incident was once told by Han Feizi as a joke, which shows that the status of his wife and his wife are not equal.

However, in the pre-Qin period, the dowry wives were often not ordinary women.They are either the younger sisters of the hostess, or the nieces of the hostess, and they are also aristocrats.According to the etiquette, the concubine must have the same surname as the master.Otherwise it is indecent.Obviously, this is a transitional form in the evolution from extramarital marriage to paired marriage in primitive society, which is what Engels said, "A man who marries his eldest sister has the right to marry her younger sister who has reached a certain age." .It's probably what is sung in the folk song: "Take your dowry, lead your sister, and drive the carriage"?

Since she is the wife's sister and husband's aunt, her status is of course not very low. "Zizi" speculates that Yao married the two daughters of Ehuang and Nvying to Shun. .At least, the status of concubines is much higher than that of ordinary concubines.According to the law of the Tang Dynasty, "a concubine who commits a concubine's concubine will be treated as an ordinary person." It can be seen that concubine is a concubine with a relatively high status.The reason for the honor lies in the fact that the wife and the wife are from the same clan, even the same father and mother, which is also a bridge for "combining the two surnames".However, after all, concubine is a "dowry" rather than a "main marriage", and a "deputy" rather than a "principal", so, in the final analysis, she is still a concubine.

Since the concubine is the highest status among the concubines, the concubines of later generations will try their best to describe themselves as concubines, or hope that others will regard themselves as concubines. Appellations such as "Auntie" and "Concubine" probably came from this.Because most of the concubines in ancient times were indeed husband's aunts, so of course they should be called "concubines".In addition, if a wife is tolerant to a concubine, she can also call her a "sister", which also has the taste of raising a concubine as a concubine, not exactly "brothers" or "sisters".

After the Qin Dynasty, "the world is unified", there are no vassal states, and the concubine system, which was mainly used for intermarriage between vassal states, gradually disappeared.But death is death, and there are always legacy.For example, after the death of a wife, it is the custom to remarry with his wife and sister.But the continuation is a wife, not a concubine.In addition, there is also the custom of dowry, but most of the women who are dowry are slaves and maids, and they are maids, not concubines.In short, this kind of system was mainly realized in the pre-Qin period, and it was mainly seen in the Zhou system.

After the pre-Qin period, the concubine with the highest status was the so-called "second wife". Strictly speaking, the so-called "second wife" refers to a concubine who is "officially" married after already having a regular wife.The "formal" mentioned here means that it must comply with the regulations and procedures for taking concubines.The feudal dynasties of all dynasties had certain regulations on the qualifications of concubines and the number of concubines, for example, "a scholar has one wife and one concubine".Of course, there are many non-executors in later generations who take concubines in disguise, countless.But seriously, there can only be one concubine of a scholar, and it is called "Second House".Of course, even if only one concubine is accepted, there must be legitimate reasons, for example, "the main wife has no children", and the husband's family is in danger of "cutting off children and grandchildren", etc.In addition, procedures such as parents' approval (or even designation), wife's consent, etc. must also be carried out, and corresponding ceremonies must be held.The concubine married in this way has more or less the meaning of "formal marriage", so its status is lower than that of the wife and above the concubines, so it is called "second room", which means that it ranks second among wives and concubines, and is the "second wife". Second in command" means.

However, some "second wives" were transformed from the husband's lover, that is, the husband married a woman privately other than the wife designated by his father, and even married a woman privately before officially marrying a wife.According to the etiquette, "If you hire, you will be a wife, and if you run away, you will be a concubine." Since the woman "elopes", of course she can only be a concubine.For example, the second sister You, the concubine of Zhongjia Lian.Jia Lian first married Sister You as an "outside room", that is, he found a house outside to raise her.Although I also took a sedan chair (but it was a "plain sedan chair", not a "bridal sedan chair") to worship the world, but after all, the parents didn't know it, the matchmaker didn't have the certificate, and the wife didn't approve it, so it was illegal and could only be called "private marriage". , In fact, it is "cheating".As a result, Second Sister You, a concubine, did not even know her identity as the "Second Household". She had no status at all in the Rongguo Mansion. The Ming media is marrying her." It seems that Second Sister You's "missteps" all lie in the words "rape first and then marry".So even if he died later, there was no decent treatment.Jia's mother ordered: "It's not only a second-bedroom affair, but also a relationship between husband and wife. Stop for five or seven days, carry it out, or burn it, or bury it on the ridge."

"Second room and one game" is nothing more than that, the status of concubines can be imagined. Although there can only be one "official" concubine (second room), the number of "informal" concubines is hard to say. The most common "informal" concubine is the "concubine from a maidservant".A maidservant is a kind of female domestic slave with an extremely humble status, so she can only act as an "informal" concubine.As I said before, formal concubinage needs to go through some formalities, and most of the concubines they marry are "good family women", but the family background is generally relatively poor.For example, Second Sister You is the younger sister of You Shi, the wife of Jia Zhen in Ningguo Mansion.The You family is the in-laws of the Jia family, and of course they are also "good people".However, one is that You's father is dead, the family is in decline, and You's mother is a stepmother, so she doesn't have much qualifications to speak; the other is that the second sister You is the "oil bottle" brought over by You's mother when she remarried, not from the You family's blood. Of course, the status is also lower, so she is willing to be a concubine.But no matter what, they are always people in the in-laws' house.If it wasn't for the reputation of "rape first and marry later" and Sister Feng played tricks, her life in Jia's mansion would not be so bad.

The servant girl is different.There are two kinds of maidservants, one is "family born" and the other is "foreign".The so-called "family-born" ones were the slaves' daughters, and they would naturally still be slaves; the so-called "foreign" ones were bought, some of whom were bought out for life, some served for a short period of time, and some married with their daughters.But either way, the status is low.Therefore, accepting a maidservant as a concubine does not require any formalities, sometimes it is just a matter of one sentence. But even such concubines have different statuses.The higher one is rewarded by parents.The reason why it has a higher status is that it has more or less the meaning of "parental order".Therefore, when Jia Hao wanted to ask Mother Jia for her close girl, Yuanyang, to be his concubine, Mrs. Xing persuaded Yuanyang, "You can't compare to the newly bought one from outside. Once you go in, you will be disgraced and you will be sealed." Being an aunt is both decent and honorable", "After a year and a half, give birth to a boy and a half girl, and you will be side by side with me."Judging from these words, the maid assigned by the parents has a relatively high status among the concubines.She can get the title of "Auntie", and she can be regarded as a half master.If you "give birth to a boy and a half girl", you may also be "side by side" with your wife.Of course, there is obviously the temptation of Mrs. Xing here.Because Aunt Zhao (who was also a concubine from a maidservant) really gave birth to "a man and a half woman" (one Jia Huan and one Tan Chun), and she has never been "side by side" with Mrs. Wang, and who really regards her as "the master's grandma" ?

However, it is true that the status of the maid appointed by the parents is not very low among the concubines.For example, Qiutong, Jia Lian's concubine, was originally a maid in Jia Lian's father's house.In terms of status, not only under Sister Feng, but also under Second Sister You.However, that Qiutong "thought he was gifted by Jia Amnesty, and no one dared to accuse him, even Sister Feng Ping'er didn't pay attention to him." sister.Moreover, after she complained to Mrs. Xing, Mrs. Xing still spoke for her, and scolded Jia Lian, saying: "I don't know the seeds of good or bad! Whatever he does, it was given by the master! For a foreigner (referring to Second Sister You) to kick him out!" He, even Lao Tzu is gone!" It can be seen that this type of concubine, because of her "background", has some prestige.

The lower-status among the concubines who turned from maidservants were called "Tongfang girls", also known as "Housemen".Since she is called a "girl", it can be seen that she has not yet broken away from the status of a slave and has been promoted to be the master's grandmother; and the so-called "tongfang" is actually "living together".Because of Yili, the master's room should not be connected with the girl's room.Now that the room is connected, what else can't be done?Therefore, the so-called "intercourse" is nothing more than "same room" or even "adultery".In essence, it is a kind of forced occupation of slaves by masters. However, even this kind of occupation or adultery, there are two kinds of "formal" and "informal".For example, Jia Lian's "insider" Ping'er and Xue Pan's "insider" Xiangling are both "official" maids who have "opened their faces" and gone through some formalities.This procedure is called "receiving the house", which means "receiving in the house".Once the maid takes over the house, she becomes the master's exclusive product, and no one else can touch her, and she will no longer be betrothed to others.If the people in this house are "lucky" and can give birth to "a boy and a half girl", they can also be promoted to be a concubine and live in a single room. It can be seen that in order to be a "house girl", there must be certain procedures, such as "open face" and so on.If there is no such procedure, it does not count.For example, Xiren, although he had a sexual relationship with Baoyu, according to Aunt Xue, he should be "a person in the house", but unfortunately, "after all, he and Baogeer didn't have a clear relationship." In other words, after all, " The identity of the concubine is not clear."Therefore, when Baoyu became a monk, the whereabouts of the attackers became a big problem.Although we dislike Xiren very much, it is still sympathetic that she has fallen into such an unclear and nondescript fate. There are mainly two kinds of maids who may become "Tongfang maids". One is the maid who was originally ordered by the husband, and the other is the maid who came along with the main wife as a dowry.Because they have a very close relationship with the master, they take care of the master's diet and daily life, and all the trivial matters of life, so they are often not too constrained by appearance, and it is easy to arouse the male master's "evil thoughts" or even "love".It is often that the sexual relationship (such as Baoyu and Xiren) has happened without any formalities.After the raw rice is cooked and cooked, come to "open your face", and the hostess is often more tolerant.The reasons for tolerance are, one is because after all, there is somewhat of a "master-servant relationship", the other is that they know that they "can't make big waves", and the third is that they are their own slaves after all. Or "slutty" is fine.Therefore, many mistresses also encouraged their husbands to accept the maids in their own rooms. Even if the girl took over the house, she was still a girl, and she definitely couldn't afford it.However, among the girls, she is the one with the most "face".What's more, after all, they are the people around the host and hostess, so it's easy to pass a small word or make a stumbling block.Some small things can even be called the shots.Therefore, other servants often come to curry favor with them.For example, Jia Lian's housekeeper, Ping'er, has enough face.She was waiting outside the "meeting hall" to deliver food to Xue Baochai, while the servants handed cushions and served tea, trying their best to curry favor.The reason for this is that apart from Ping'er's popularity, one of the reasons is that he has some power and convenience in his hands. If the identity of "Tongfang Maid" is between concubine and maidservant, then "Ji" is between maidservant and prostitute. The original meaning of "Ji" is a beautiful woman, and Ji, who is collectively called "Ji concubine" with concubines, mainly refers to Ji servants, domestic prostitutes, domestic opera singers, etc.Most of them were bought, some were gifted or snatched, they had no personal freedom, and their status was extremely low, which was similar to maidservants.However, the tasks of maidservants are mainly to do housework and serve the master's food, clothing, housing and transportation; while the tasks of concubines are mainly to entertain the eyes and ears, sing and dance, and satisfy the spiritual needs of the master. This is the difference between them and maidservants.Therefore, their lives are often better than those of maidservants. They do not have to do heavy housework, and they can also travel east and west.Individual "advanced" pet concubines may also be accompanied by some girls for driving. However, no matter how gorgeous the concubines dress and how leisurely they live, they are still the master's playthings.The master "pets" her just to make her playful; the master "trains" her just to make her more fun.So, after all, they are still very humble.For example, in Chapter 64, when Aunt Zhao, actor Fangguan and others were angry, Tanchun taught her: "Those little girls are just playthings. If you like them, you can joke with him; if you don't like them, you can ignore them." He is. If he is not good, he is like a cat or a dog scratching and biting once. If you don’t forgive, you should only call the housekeeper and daughter-in-law and tell him to punish him.” These words are very powerful. Represents the views of "masters" on Ji. Since the girls are just "playthings", then, if the male master wants to take them to play on the bed, he will probably have to obey.But the difference between Ji and concubines is that concubines can only have one sex object, the male master, while Ji can accompany guests.For example, when Bai Juyi held a night banquet in Pei Shizhong's mansion, there was a poem "twelve sisters in front of the nine candlesticks, the master stays drunk and entertains".This is quite different from a concubine and close to a prostitute.Concubines, whether they are accepted or bought, are the exclusive property of the male master.For example, Liu Gongchuo of the Tang Dynasty took concubines, and his colleagues wanted to see this woman. Liu said: "A scholar has a wife and a concubine, and they are fed by the master for cleaning. Gongchuo buys concubines, not prostitutes." Ji is not the case, not only can Go out to entertain guests, serve wine and stay with them, and can also be given away by the host, and can even be used to exchange horses or make bets. The so-called "a concubine is like a concubine in a single game", the concubine mentioned here is Ji. In short, whether it is a concubine whose status is higher than that of a maid, or a concubine whose nature is close to that of a prostitute, these women who are collectively called "Ji concubines" are generally insulted and played with.They are inferior in status, have no dignity in personality, and some even have no guarantee of personal safety (as mentioned above, Shi Chong ordered Ji You to drink, and the guest killed Ji if he didn't drink).It should be said that concubines are victims of feudal patriarchal system and class oppression and exploitation. However, it is precisely these low-status concubines who are more likely to be loved by their husbands than high-status wives in many cases.In the traditional Chinese relationship between the sexes, love is often expressed between husband and concubine, rather than between husband and wife. This is what the ancients often said "a wife is not as good as a concubine".In Chinese history, love stories between romantic emperors and concubines can be described endlessly (such as Tang Minghuang and Yang Guifei), but the love between husband and wife is rare.So, why is this? This starts with the different family roles of wives and concubines.