polygynous(sān qī sì qiè)

polygynous

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"Three wives and four concubines" refers to "many wives and concubines", such as "Chuang Tzu" records: "linggong has three wives and bathes together". It can be seen that the custom of "three wives and four concubines" has a long history. According to the research of Xinyu congkao, "little wife, near wife, next wife, little wife and common wife are all concubines."

Interpretation of Idioms

[idiom]: three wives and four concubines [source]: the first chapter of "Jin Ping Mei CI Hua" written by Xiaosheng of Lanling in Ming Dynasty: "to be like three wives and four concubines, it's another matter to buy a smile and pursue a happy life." Li Yu of the Qing Dynasty wrote in his forced marriage by kite mistake: "you are the number one scholar. You have three wives and four concubines. You can marry again." [example]: Chu said, "you are a fool. The emperor's family has three palaces and six courtyards, and the rich family has ~. Although the main palace is not divided in the future, there must be my daughter's piangong. How can you say that? " The fourth antonym in the complete biography of flying dragon by Wu Yu in Qing Dynasty:

Historical records

Sima Qian's "historical records of the Five Emperors" said: "Yao was the second daughter of his wife Shun to see the inside, so that the nine men and punishment to see the outside. Shun lived in Gui Gui, and he was a good expert. The two daughters of Yao did not dare to serve Shun's relatives with pride. They were very feminine. " According to Dai Sheng's book of Rites: in ancient times, the emperor established six palaces, three wives, nine concubines, twenty-seven wives, and eighty-one Royal wives to listen to the internal governance of the world and to understand the order of the women, so the world was harmonious and the family was managed Zhuang Zhou's Zhuangzi Zeyang: "the husband linggong has three wives, who bathe in the same bath indiscriminately. Shi Xun enters the residence with the help of the emperor, and holds his wings with the help of coins. His slowness is even more than that. If you see a wise man like this, his solemnity is the reason why he is linggong." Ban Gu's biography of Huo guangzhuan in the Han Dynasty: "the emperor asked his servant Junqing: he ordered Gaochang to serve a thousand jin of gold and gave him ten wives." Li Yanshou's northern History Volume 16: "ancient princes married nine daughters, and scholars had one wife and two concubines. Jin Ling: eight concubines were set up by the kings; six concubines were set up by the Jun Jun and Hou. "Official product order": first and second products have four concubines; third and fourth products have three concubines; fifth and sixth products have two concubines; seventh and eighth products have one concubine. " In Dong Gao's the whole Tang Dynasty, volume 793: "Liu Fen was a little humble, but he was proud and had nine wives. It's called Zheng's. It's a gift to the wife of Xinguo. They are Bao, song, Wang, Ma and his wife. They are called Zhang, Guo, Li and Wu. They all have Shu Xing. " Zhou qufei's answer to lingwai Daida: man Su men: "all the people in Qinzhou are monogamous and have several wives. The wives are responsible for their own affairs, and they are driven by the market to support their husband. If a man has the name of a husband, he is not said to have nothing to return to. He who is a husband of his own travels all day long with his son in his arms, and he who has no son lives in peace. The group of women were scattered in different places, and their husbands were in contact with each other. As for the head of Xitong, for example, there are ten wives who have children, but they can't tell the difference between the di and Shu, and they can kill the Yun. " According to Zhang Tingyu's biography of vagrants in the history of the Ming Dynasty, "Zong min killed his two wives and said," I will die after you. " When the soldiers heard about it, they also killed many wives who were willing to follow. " Luo Ergang's Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Volume 2-15: "today, the East King and the west king have 11 wives each, six wives each from the South King to the king of Yu, three wives for senior officials, two wives for middle-level officials, one wife for low-level officials and the rest. From high to low, according to the level of decline, more up and less down, never envy "In ancient China, men were superior to women, and polygamy prevailed. Even if men did not have three wives and four concubines, it was common for them to go out looking for flowers and willows."

Institutional roots

According to the research of modern sociologists, there are no prohibitions between men and women. After that, the society gradually became organized, and they were divided into different generations according to their age. When this happens, men and women of the same generation can marry, but not of different generations. Further progress is restricted between relatives. At first it was Shi Zhutong's brothers and sisters. Later, it gradually expanded to the point that all brothers and sisters of the same maternal line were not allowed to marry, and became the so-called clan. At this time, men and women are still in groups among different clans. Each man of this group can be the husband of the other group's daughter; each woman of the other group can be the wife of the other group's man; there is no individual couple. After that, the more numerous the prohibitions were, the more people were not allowed to marry. So a man had a wife and a woman had a husband. However, in addition, it is not allowed to have relations with other men and women. There is no need for husband and wife to live together, and their relationship is still very loose. Further, the couple must cohabit, monogamous or polygamous. The relationship became more permanent and gradually became the family of later generations. Therefore, the marriage of human beings began with the complete absence of prohibition, and gradually increased its prohibition, that is, narrowed the scope of intermarriage, and became the form of today. The relationship between men and women, which starts with a monogamous family, is a mistake. The origin of polygamy comes from men's extravagance. As a matter of fact in biology, the number of males and females is often roughly equal. Marriage without prohibitions, or even though there are prohibitions but not strict, if it is not allowed to have sexual relations except for the legal spouse, and there are some people who want to occupy more of the opposite sex for themselves, then there are more people, that is, people with or without spouse. Therefore, the principle of monogamy must be adopted in all societies with husband wife system at all times and in all countries. But there are always some exceptions. In ancient times, there were two kinds of people who had sex with their wives: one was brought by their wives' families, which was called concubines. One is inherent in one's own family, which is called concubine. The name of concubines was also abolished because of the extinction of concubines in later generations, but concubines are the general name of people who have sexual relations other than spouses. The meaning of concubine is to send, that is, the people who send their daughters from their wives' families are not limited to women. For example, Yi Yin is a concubine Minister of the Shen family. It is the same as the royal family that follows the bridegroom to meet the bride. The original nature of concubines is just like the bridesmaids in today's marriage. There is no reason for sexual relationship. Later, the privileged man married more than one family. The wife beside the wife was not named. It was also called concubine. Concubine had the meaning of spouse besides the wife.

Chinese PinYin : sān qī sì qiè