Today, the editor of History Encyclopedia has prepared for you: Wu Zetian married two men as a daughter. Interested friends, come and take a look!
In ancient times, the status of women was very low because in feudal society, women were not respected. At that time, women had a low status, not only were they not respected, but even their children had to be divided according to rank. In ancient times, women were treated like commodities, and could be bought and sold freely. The water thrown out by daughters who married off has been said to be so since ancient times. This is because in feudal society, once women got married, they had to belong to their in laws’ families. They would receive a sum of money, which was the buyout money. From then on, daughters would never return to their own families. Of course, this is different for some nobles, such as some empresses. If they enter the palace and become empresses or concubines, they would also give money to their family members. Bringing some benefits, but if it’s a commoner woman, they will follow her husband and wife after getting married, Living with their husband, many people believe that their daughter is born for someone else’s family and is a loss.
Women have a relatively low status. Shouldn’t all women abide by the Three Principles and Four Virtues? In fact, it’s not like that. In ancient times, people included many rules and regulations for women, such as requiring them not to do this or that. There were also many things that regulated women’s behavior, and at that time, there were strict norms for women’s behavior. For example, when a woman was unclean in life, she might be trapped in a pigsty. Secondly, if a woman had already married someone and her husband died, she could only live as a widow. We have heard a lot about such things. But in fact, we have found that in ancient times, there were also cases where a woman married two husbands, and the most famous one was of course Wu Zetian. Wu Zetian not only married Li Shimin, but also Li Zhi, and it can be said that she married her father and son together. This was a very common practice in the Tang Dynasty.
For example, Yang Yuhuan, who was originally the consort of King Shou at that time, was later favored by Li Longji and selected to enter the palace as a noble consort, receiving great affection. From these points, it can be seen that although women had a low status at that time, there was no rule that women could not remarry after their husbands died, nor was there a rule that women must obey a husband. The so-called woman can only serve one husband and speak less after his death. This kind of thing is determined by ourselves, so in that dynasty, although women had low status and little say, beautiful women were still highly respected. Moreover, in our view, men in ancient times could marry many wives, including three wives and four concubines. However, there were also regulations in place, whether it was the Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, or Ming Dynasty, which strictly prohibited marrying too many wives. Moreover, according to the rank of the feudal lords at that time, wives and concubines in the imperial harem could not exceed the rank of the feudal lords at that time.
If there are too many, they may also face imprisonment, so in ancient times, although women had a low status, they were not as unbearable as we thought. Moreover, most women could choose their partners, so there were many women in life who could remarry after their husbands died. In the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian and Yang Yuhuan were the best specimens and examples at that time. Since they were able to do so, it proved that women from ordinary families could also do so. This seems to be like we have complained, but in fact, women in feudal society are not as bad as we think. Women in feudal society do have a relatively low status because they cannot control their own lives or their future. Whether it is Wu Zetian or Yang Yuhuan, they are all forced.
But in order to deceive people, they also did one thing, which was to enter the nunnery before entering the palace. This seemed to be equivalent to becoming a monk and returning to the public eye, as if everyone didn’t remember, but just doing a good job of saving face. Women in feudal society did have to endure their husbands marrying many wives, and if they couldn’t give birth to a son or were not favored by their husbands, it could also lead to unhappiness at home. However, it doesn’t mean that the wife who married them can become a maid or divorce her at will. In ancient times, there were strict regulations on divorce. If it wasn’t for the wife’s violation of principles, she would not have been divorced. This is also reflected in the imperial palace. Unless the empress did something very unethical and unreasonable, she would have been deposed. Otherwise, the empress’s position would not have been changed. This is especially true for ordinary families. If the wife didn’t make a serious mistake, then the concubine would never have been divorced. They are all concubines.
In ancient times, the status of women was not as bad as we imagined. Most women actually had a relatively happy life, but it was because people in the old society were more willing to marry multiple wives, which led to their lower status. However, if they were ordinary families, their lives were still relatively happy because they didn’t have to work, as long as they took care of their parents in law and their own household chores.
