For those who are interested in ancient marriage, the History Encyclopedia editor brings detailed articles for your reference. What should I do if I am unwilling to marry an ancient princess who was forced to do so?
In ancient times, women were born into imperial families, which was both fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunately, one can enjoy a childhood life that most women in ancient times dreamed of, with no worries about food and clothing. Unfortunately, since childhood in the inner courtyard of the deep palace, I have been like a bird in a cage, and as I grew up, I could not escape political marriage.
If we happen to encounter an era when the enemy is strong and we are weak, it is common for princesses to be given to foreign clans for marriage. In the customs of many ethnic minorities, the inheritance of power and property is not limited to the father’s death and the son’s succession. Women are often inherited within the clan in this way, and even become slaves in the end.
Therefore, in various dynasties, being sent to marry a princess is not a good thing. But as a property of the royal family, the princess herself does not have the right to say no to it.
Even if the emperor is unwilling to send away the princess, if he directly refuses the request of foreign designated candidates for marriage, it will still trigger conflicts between the two countries. But there are also ways to refuse marriage, such as today’s protagonist, Princess Taiping, the youngest daughter of Empress Wu Zetian, who used this method to get rid of a political marriage.
When Empress Wu Zetian was still a concubine, she sacrificed her eldest daughter’s life to bring down Queen Wang, and thus showed special love to her youngest daughter. When Princess Taiping was a child, she was very intimate with her grandmother, Lady Rongguo, and often visited her home to play.
According to records, at that time, Princess Taiping’s cousin Helan Min was promiscuous and insulted the princess’s accompanying palace maids, and there were even rumors that he defiled the princess herself. Because He Lanminzhi had once forced the fianc é e of the Crown Prince to rape without being punished, but this time it angered Wu Zetian and she killed him.
After experiencing this upheaval, Princess Taiping suffered tremendous psychological trauma. To appease her emotions and also claim to pray for her grandmother, Wu Zetian asked the princess to leave home. Due to the Tang Dynasty’s reverence for Taoism, the princess became a Taoist and adopted the Dharma name Taiping.
After becoming a nun, Princess Taiping was nominally a Taoist, but in reality, she remained a princess in the palace, living and eating as usual. The envoy of Tubo, seeing that Princess Taiping was the most favored princess of the emperor and empress, named her to marry the Tibetan Zanpu.
Wu Zetian couldn’t bear to see her only daughter suffer, so she had to actually build a Taoist temple for Princess Taiping, making her a true monk, in order to reject the Tibetan envoy. Therefore, theoretically speaking, if a princess wants to refuse marriage, she must first obtain the support of the emperor and empress, and then avoid marrying into a distant land by becoming a nun or nun.
