Xia, Shang and Zhou: Divorce is quite free
In the pre-Qin era, China did not form such a strict "male superiority to female inferiority", and marriage was relatively free. At that time, there was no requirement for a woman’s husband to die without marrying and to die. A woman could remarry after her husband died, and even a woman could take the initiative to ask for a divorce when her husband was alive. There are many examples of divorce in history.
For example, the family of Confucius had divorced for four generations. Confucius' uncle Liang He, Confucius himself, his son Kong Boyu, and grandson Confucius were all divorced. After Boyu died, his wife married Weiguo, and Confucius did not object. The historical records record that Bo Yu "wife cannot be transformed, but she is born. Later wives are virtuous, give birth to sons." Not only the family of Confucius, but other Confucian disciples also have many divorce cases. Confucius’ master Zeng Zi once divorced, Zeng Zi’s student Wu Qi once divorced, and Xia Ji, one of the four most beautiful women in the Spring and Autumn Period, remarried seven times and became a queen three times. We all know that Jiang Ziya, his wife divorced Jiang Ziya because he didn't make money in any business and had no living ability. This is the story of Jiang Ziya in more than seventy years and his wife asked for a reconciliation. Jiang Ziya is a typical example of divorced women in history. He was "the husband of an old woman", which shows the freedom of marital status at that time. Although men have the "right to be a wife", women also have the same "right to be a husband." The "Book of Rites" described the relationship between husband and wife at that time: Quite similar to the modern relationship between husband and wife, the relationship will be together, and the relationship will be divorced.
The freedom of marriage in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties does not mean that people had modern marriage thoughts at that time. The main reason is that they were born out of primitive society at that time, and the matriarchal clan social group marriage system left over. We can see that time from historical materials. Many of the stories about Jun Tongchen’s wife, Shutong nephew, father Tongzifu, Zitong father concubine, brother and sister, etc., just reflect the imperfect human relations system at that time. Compared with the feudal system that lasted more than two thousand years after the Qin and Han Dynasties, women in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties still had considerable freedom of marriage. Although men were relatively strong, women did not completely become men’s vassals as they did later. . The Confucian concepts of "Three Guilds and Five Constants" were not established at that time. The wife and wife of Shang Wang Wu Ding could still gallop on the battlefield and become a heroine for a while, reflecting the social status of men and women from one aspect.
After Qin and Han Dynasties: Seven out, three out
Since the Zhou Dynasty, the mainstream society has opposed casual divorce. "Yi Xu Guxia" says: "The way of couples cannot be done soon, so they should be persevering." Since the couple is tied with a red string by the old man, it means that they are destined in the previous life, and they should grow old. Persevere. The "Guanzi·Xiaokuang Chapter" stipulates that "strikes no wives and no girls and no homes. The wives of the wives of the wives of the wives of the wives and expatriates abroad, the wives of the wives are married for the third time, and the wives are in the valley". If men divorce and divorce their wives casually , Will be punished. In the Qin Dynasty, both marriage and divorce had to be registered with the government. If they did not register, they would be punished economically. "Abandon a wife without a book, get the second class." Each person is fined two sets of armor, which is a heavy financial burden.
Because at that time ironware was precious and expensive.
In the Han Dynasty, the Confucian master Dong Zhongshu and Emperor Wu of the Han joined forces and proposed "to ban a hundred schools of thought and respect Confucianism." In the late Western Han Dynasty, a great ritual scholar named Dai De appeared. He carried forward Zhou Gong’s "Book of Rites" and wrote A book called "The Book of Rites of Great Dais" officially proposed that men divorce their wives in seven and three. Seven outs are "disobedience to parents, childlessness, licentiousness, jealousy, malaise, talk a lot, and theft", and three do not go to "get nothing to gain, and three years of mourning, poor and humble and rich and wealthy". "Seven outs and three do not go" have affected China for more than two thousand years. In the feudal society after the Qin and Han dynasties, women had no right to make husbands, and the initiative in marriage was in the hands of men. But it is conditional for a man to divorce and divorce his wife. This is the so-called "seven outs." The wife is not filial to his in-laws, will not have children after 50, and even makes the man end of life, the wife commits adultery with others, the wife is jealous of the concubine, and the wife has a serious birth. Illness can’t participate in the sacrifice, the wife tells the truth and makes the family incompatibility, the wife has the problem of stealing things, etc. The "three nos" is a clause to protect the woman, and the wife’s family is gone. If there is no place to go to the divorce, this is not a divorce. Yes; the wife keeps the funeral for the in-laws for three years. This is a very filial performance. If you do it, you can’t divorce your wife; if your wife spends time with you in a poor period, the husband cannot divorce his wife casually when he becomes rich. For example, Chen Shimei violated the "three no-go" clauses, so Bao Gong smashed him.
In addition to "seven outs, three not to go", after the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were also theories of "heli" and "yijue". Heli refers to divorce by agreement. A Tang Dynasty cultural relic was discovered, which is similar to modern divorce by agreement. . The agreement included "being a married couple, unhappy for several years", "a cat and a mouse can stay together for a long time?", "hand letter, never goodbye", "may the wife and maiden be separated, recombine the cicada's sideburns," Sweep the crescent eyebrows beautifully, cleverly appear slim, choose the master of high-ranking officials, play in front of the filming court, and behave like a violin and rhyme. Resolve grievances and release knots, and never hate each other; one is not two wide, everyone is happy" and so on. , And the "Law of the Tang Dynasty" stipulates that "If the husband and wife are not in peace and harmony, they shall not sit down." In fact, "heli" is more harmonious on the surface, but in fact it is often because the man concealed the "family ugliness" of his wife; "Yijue" refers to the fact that one spouse and the other's family members have a vicious incident and are officially divorced. For example, if the husband kills his brother-in-law for some reason, such a marriage will be divorced by the authorities. Because women lost the initiative in marriage, ancient women after the Qin and Han Dynasties often "married a chicken with a chicken, married a dog with a dog, married a wood and hugged it." Even if the family was unhappy, they had to endure the humiliation and make do for a lifetime.
Tribute: Women who dared to break free from the yoke of marriage
Although the women after the Qin and Han dynasties had no social status and would not easily divorce their husbands, many heroines who took the initiative to file for divorce in pursuit of marital happiness have also emerged. In that era, it took a lot of courage for a woman to take the initiative to leave with a man.
Since Confucius formulated the "Three Guidelines and Five Constants", "Husbands for Wives" have become the shackles on women. But there are also many examples of women who rose up to resist in order to pursue their own happiness. In the Tang Dynasty, a man insisted on divorcing his wife, because his wife gave him the meal that should have been given to his father-in-law and made him hungry. The wife refused to accept and was divorced, and the lawsuit was brought to Bai Juyi. Bai Juyi presided over justice and sentenced that "filial piety is more important than husband", and the husband must not divorce his wife. This wife relied on the power of the government to keep the marriage. She did not choose to obey, and she also needed courage.
Another Han dynasty woman named Xiahou expressed dissatisfaction with her husband Huang Yun's transfer of love and dissatisfaction. In order to retaliate against her husband, she specially applied for a "divorce" ceremony and obtained the support of her mother-in-law. At the divorce banquet, Xiahou made the scandal of Huang Yun public, scolded Huang Yun for being ruthless and unjust, and then walked away. As a result, Huang Yun compensated his wife and broke down. The woman he admired did not marry Huang Yun. Xiahou's resistance won him the dignity for being deprived for no reason.
Li Qingzhao, a talented woman of the Song Dynasty, is a model who divorced a man bravely in pursuit of her freedom of marriage. She first married Zhao Mingcheng, an expert on Jinshi, and her husband and wife had a good relationship. But after Zhao Mingcheng passed away, Li Qingzhao did not choose to be a virgin "from the end", but married a man named Zhang Ruzhou. But this time, Li Qing took care of him and went away. Zhang Ruzhou was only embezzling Li Qingzhao's priceless property. Li Qingzhao was unwilling to give up, Zhang Ruzhou actually played "domestic violence". Unbearable Li Qingzhao rose up to resist, and told the chief of the government that Zhang Ruzhou had committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. He was sentenced by the government to divorce Zhang Ruzhou. Although Li Qingzhao also paid the price of being in jail for nine days, she finally won a free body for herself and sent her husband of domestic violence to prison.
In ancient times, women's initiative for divorce was not supported. People like Li Qingzhao are among the few. The Ming Dynasty stipulated: "Any wife who beats her husband must have a rod for a hundred, and those who wish to leave, let it be their own way." A woman who wants to divorce can achieve the goal by paying the price of a hundred board. But in the Qing Dynasty, a woman wanted to divorce, but her husband did not. Agree, basically it is inseparable. If a woman forcibly runs away from home, she will "get a hundred sticks and marry her husband" after being arrested. If this woman forcibly remarries someone else, the consequences will be even more serious, and she will be sentenced to "Hanging Prison", and her life will not be guaranteed.
