Chapter 15 Chapter Four: Marriage and Family in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties (Before the Opium War)

There have been some changes in the marriage forms of the monogamy and polygamy of the ruling class in the feudal society and the monogamy of the common people since the Song Dynasty. As the supreme ruler of the country, the emperor regarded the marriage system of wives and concubines as a matter of course and was protected and confirmed by laws and etiquette.According to historical records, the Song Dynasty followed the Tang system, and the harem was also the same as that of the Tang Dynasty.The number of concubines of the emperor in the Yuan Dynasty was more than that in the Song Dynasty, and the imperial court would send personnel to the palace for beauty pageants from time to time to meet the emperor's unforeseen needs.The emperors of the Ming Dynasty also had many concubines.It became a rule in the Qing Dynasty to select folk girls into the palace every year, and it also clearly stipulated the number of concubines the emperor took and the number of concubines with various titles.

The marriage form of monogamy and multiple concubines has been restricted to a certain extent among the people.The limitation manifests itself in two ways.First, moral restrictions; second, legal restrictions.The so-called moral restrictions mainly refer to the rise of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. Women's chastity was emphasized to the point that it could not be further emphasized. Correspondingly, men's remarriage and concubines were also restricted morally. Concubines are valuable, and some family rules stipulate that if the descendants have wives, they are not allowed to have a concubine. Only those who have no children at the age of 40 are allowed to have a concubine.The so-called legal restrictions refer to the number of concubines stipulated by the law according to their status and status privileges, and it is especially emphasized that concubines are for the purpose of passing on the family line. Nobles, bureaucrats and literati, and rich and wealthy families buy concubines mainly for their own enjoyment.For example, the law of the Ming Dynasty stipulated that: the prince can take 10 concubines at a time; the son and the county king can have four concubines, but only the first wife who has reached the age of 25 has not given birth to children before he can choose two concubines. Sui's concubine had no children, so Fang Xu married two more concubines, making a total of four concubines.The number of concubines of a general is three.As for the common people, the Ming Law formally stipulates monogamy, and at the same time allows "only those who are over forty years old and have no children can marry concubines."Anyone who illegally marries a concubine shall be punished with 40 floggings.In the Qing Dynasty, there was no definite standard for the number of concubines, which generally depended on people's financial resources, so the phenomenon of concubines increased compared with the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties.

In terms of the relationship and status of wives and concubines, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing also strictly prohibited wives and concubines from disorder and bigamy.The law of the Yuan Dynasty stipulates: "Those who have wives and concubines who remarry their wives and concubines will be whipped forty-seven and leave them; those who are officials will be dismissed and recorded as demerits, and they will not seek employment money" ("Dayuan Tongzhi").But at the same time, polygamy is allowed for Mongolians, because Mongolian marriages follow the custom, "not limited to this" ("Tong Zhi Ting Ge Hu Ling").The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates: "Anyone who takes his wife as a concubine shall be given a stick of one hundred. If the wife is still alive, those who take a concubine as a wife shall be given a stick of ninety and corrected. If there is a wife who remarries a wife, the stick shall be ninety and divorced." (" Great Ming law")

Concubinage is a complementary form of monogamy in feudal society.Of course, the restrictions on the number of concubines in the middle and late stages of Chinese feudal society and the principle that marrying a concubine is mainly for bearing children cannot be seriously implemented, but in any case, this is a product of changes in the times. It shows that with the development of the times, the implementation of the concubine system The days are numbered.