The TV series "Wind Rises Luoyang" is being broadcast, in which Liu Qiniang, played by Song Yi, is married to Baili Erlang, played by Wang Yibo. Many female viewers were frightened by Liu Qiniang's various careful operations after marriage, "Tang Dynasty Bai Fumei", is it true that the status of women in the Wu Zetian era has not been fundamentally improved? In fact, under the influence of the empress, the status of women has undergone earth-shaking changes, and some rights have even reached the highest peak in history, and even surpass modern times in issues such as the distribution of marital property. Today, Bai Yu will have a good chat with you from the four aspects of "dowry, family status, major affairs and divorce autonomy".
1. The dowry and bride price of the girl
Before the Tang Dynasty, the mother's family did not attach importance to the dowry of girls, but only sold the married girls as goods. As the historical records record, "sell women for wealth, buy women and lose silk, and pay less debts." It can be seen that the status of the girl's family at that time was low, and the parents would not prepare a large dowry for her in the marriage.
However, in the Wu Zetian period, whether it was quantity or quality, the dowry of the married woman was changed dramatically. In the fourth year of Xianqing, when Wu Zetian was empress, the imperial court once issued an edict on the dowry, "The married women in the world receive wealth, and all the women they marry or make up are used." That is to say, in order to improve the legal status of the married woman's family, the dowry obtained by the woman when she marries must be used to the dowry. This edict has also been well implemented in practice, and the dowry of a married woman has been valued by the mother's family.
At that time, not only the daughters of high-ranking officials and nobles were married, but the families of ordinary people also attached great importance to the dowry of married women. The Taiping Guangji records that during the Wu Zetian period, when a peasant woman was about to get married, the mother's family spent most of the family's wealth in order to collect the dowry. This is enough to reflect the importance that the mother's family attaches to the daughter who is married.
At the same time, the "Tang Law Neglect" stipulates: "Whoever shall divide the land and the property shall be divided equally among the brothers, and the wealth obtained by the wife's family shall not be limited here." "The law at that time stipulated that when dividing the family property, the dowry of the married woman was not divided. It can be seen that the law has stipulated that the dowry is the private property of the married woman.
This part of the property rights of the married woman was explicitly protected by law, which was even used until the end of the Song Dynasty. The reason why the family status of the eldest lady in "Knowing or Not" is so important is actually the light of Wu Zetian. For details, you can see the previous work "Do you know whether Zhonglin Xiaoniang covets the dowry of the big bride, why Sheng Hong did not give Mo Lan but gave It to Minglan", which is also an affirmation of the preparation of rich makeup for married women at the national level.
Substituted for the plot in the TV series "Wind Rises Luoyang", Baili Erlang's family property has been ho ho-bright after his grandfather's death, and now it all depends on Liu Qiniang's dowry to maintain the normal operation of the family.
Second, the strong position in the relationship between husband and wife
In traditional Chinese society, "male superiority over female inferiority" is the true portrayal of most conjugal relations, women in the relationship between husband and wife is always in a subordinate position, there are always unfinished obligations, but the corresponding rights women can not enjoy. However, this kind of "male strong female weak" conjugal relationship underwent some reversals in the Wu Zetian period, a "fear of the inside" atmosphere began to appear, "yin sheng yang decline" became a unique social phenomenon. From the temples of the imperial court to the ordinary people, "fear of the wind within" is everywhere.
Regarding the legal status of the wife's family, the Tang Law Consultation wrote: "The words of the wife are in line with the husband. This means that in the conjugal relationship, the wife and the husband are to a certain extent equal. And in reality, there are many women who are on the strong side of the relationship, and their status is even higher than that of their husbands.
According to the Zizhi Tongjian, Wu Zetian, who was crowned empress, was tyrannical and domineering, "wanting to do something, moving into the system of the future, and being overwhelmed by the superior, so secretly ordered Shangguan Yi to abolish it." Wu Zetian was furious when he heard this, and Emperor Gaozong's legs softened in fright, and he hurriedly said: I did not have such a heart at first, and all the officials taught me.
Even the emperor of the Ninth Five-Year Emperor was interfered with in his daily affairs and was so afraid of his wife, which shows that among the lower classes of the people who were lax in etiquette, this "fear of the inside" was even stronger. At that time, the wife dared to challenge her husband and her status was significantly higher than the provisions of the law, which was a significant manifestation of the improvement of the legal status of the family.
If the empress saw Liu Qiniang's pair of "Erlang, Erlang" shouting behind the male protagonist's ass all day, how should she feel?
Women have the right to participate in major family affairs
Ancient laws gave men many privileges in family life. In general, important matters of the family are handled by the male as the head of the family, while the female is only in a position of assistance. However, in the Wu Zetian period, the state began to issue edicts to encourage wives to participate in major family affairs, and women were given the right to handle major family affairs and began to play some leading roles in the handling of major family affairs.
The Old Book of Tang records that Gao Shi, the wife of Feihu County Ling, took the initiative to lead the crowd to launch a charge when her husband could not hold his position, and silently excluded the Turkic Khan from the territory, so Wu Zetian issued an edict: "It is a silent sucking siege of the city, and it becomes a worry, the husband is stubborn, still cannot be firm, the woman is loyal, not afraid of the arrow, Yuzi is grateful, and the city is in danger." If you don't guarantee the rise, how to reward and persuade! Gu Xuanying's wife could be made the Prince of Zhizhong County. ”
This is Wu Zetian's affirmation of women's independence in handling major affairs, and it also represents the state's praise for women to handle major family affairs.
The state issued an edict in the form of an edict encouraging women around the world to emulate Gao. Also in the years of Wu Zetian's long life, the Khitan general led a heavy army to attack the city of Pingzhou, and Shi Zou Baoying organized an army to counterattack and defend, just when "the city was lonely and widowed, and it was about to fall", Zou Baoying's wife Lingshi led her family and hundreds of maids to defend together, and finally defeated the invaders to defend the people. It can be seen that in the official eunuch family at that time, women's right to participate in and make decisions in handling family affairs was well guaranteed.
4. Autonomy in divorce
In feudal society, in general, women do not have the right to initiate divorce, divorce is only a legal privilege of men, as long as men want to end marriage, then they can abandon their wives and marry others without other reasons.
According to the Old Book of Tang, the poet Cui Hao would definitely choose a beautiful person when choosing a wife, and after marriage, "if he is not satisfied, he will go to it." It can be seen that the husband divorced his wife at that time. Turning over three hundred Tang poems, there are many poems and articles describing abandoned women, such as Zhang Yuan's poem "Leaving Women" and Li Bai's "Going to Women". But by the time of Wu Zetian, women's right to divorce was protected by law, and the good days of scumbags were gone.
The system of "peace and separation" in the Tang Laws and Regulations was strengthened to a certain extent and widely used during the Wu Zetian period. The system stipulates, "If the husband and wife do not reconcile and leave each other, they will not sit." ”
In other words, as long as both spouses feel that life is not harmonious, they can file for divorce. Divorce is the modern equivalent of divorce, which is the best way to protect women's rights and interests. Since the law does not further specify the conditions for the application of "peace and separation", the wife can use it more freely.
According to historical records, "At the time of Zetian, Zheng Xuandao, a native of Zhengzhou, hired Li Yuanyi's sister as his wife, and Later Yuan's sister was not in agreement with him and asked to leave." The woman's divorce because of emotional discord reflects that it was not a difficult task for women to actively exercise the right to divorce at that time. Another example is that during the Wu Zetian period, Liu Huan's wife Xiahou Shi," because her father was blind, "asked to leave her husband as a sign of eventual support." In order to take care of the rest of his father's life, he eventually filed for divorce from his husband.
It can be seen that the phenomenon of women's active divorce was common at that time, and the "peace and separation" system stipulated in the "Tang Law" was effectively implemented during this period From the above several articles, it is not difficult to see that women in the Wu Zetian period were relatively free in divorce, and there were a lot of women who took the initiative to exercise the right to divorce. This is also a manifestation of the increased legal status of women's families. All this is due to the openness of society and lax etiquette during the Wu Zetian period, and women thus have greater personal freedom. Therefore, the concept of marriage for women in the Wu Zetian period is no longer from the beginning to the end, but pays more attention to the quality and feelings of the common life of chinese husband and wife.
Bai Yu commented: After the Tang Dynasty, the status of women in various dynasties has been declining. In the late Song Dynasty, Cheng Zhu Lixue put heavy shackles on women, and by the Yuan Dynasty, women could not even protect their property rights. The equal and free family status of women in the Wu Zetian era has become a song for eternity, and it also reflects the advanced nature of legislation and social concepts at that time, and is a dazzling glory in the long feudal society.