In ancient times, China practiced the primogeniture inheritance system, from the family to the state, which is such a law. In a family, the eldest son inherits the power and money of the patriarch, while at the imperial court, the eldest son of the emperor becomes the crown prince and takes over the throne when the emperor dies. However, in fact, in history, many Western countries and China's inheritance system is very different, such as the British throne succession system, although the heirs have the right to inherit the throne first, but in special cases women can also inherit the throne.
This led to the fact that in British history, there were not only male kings, but also queens. For example, the current queen of the United Kingdom is Elizabeth II, and the famous Queen Victoria, Bloody Mary and so on. This phenomenon has hardly appeared in China (except for Empress Wu Zetian), and because of this, during the Opium War, there was a ridiculous story, the Daoguang Emperor heard that the British ruler Queen Victoria was actually a 22-year-old woman, and asked in surprise: "The heroine is only twenty-two years old, why is she elected as the head of a country?" Is there a match, who is the name of the husband, and what position does he currently hold in the country? "This reflects the cultural and ideological differences between China and the UK.
Marriage and inheritance system in the United Kingdom: monogamous and children are acceptable
To explore the cultural differences between the two countries, we should first start with the unfamiliar Britain. In Britain, the institution of marriage closely related to inheritance was monogamy, which stemmed from the monogamy founded by the Romans in the 2nd century BC and the Christian view of marriage. The Book of Genesis reads, "The Lord said, 'It is not good for the man to dwell alone, and I will make a spouse for him to help him. "Christianity holds that Jehovah created monogamy, and that all those who violate monogamy and their kingdom will be severely punished by God. The monogamys in Europe are not like in ancient China, they can take concubines and concubines, they really can only marry one person, and they cannot divorce or remarry.
As for inheritance, this involves the traditional European inheritance law "Salic Inheritance Law", which is a popular inheritance law in France, which does not allow women to inherit, but the United Kingdom is not a country that implements the Salic law, they only slightly suppress women's inheritance rights, men have the right to inherit first, but at the same time this does not deprive women of inheritance rights. The Salic Law is generally popular in Catholic countries in Europe, while Christianity is practised in England.
Victoria: The golden spoon of destiny
Therefore, this is a good explanation for the birth of the Queen of England. Although monogamy is romantic, but heirs will become the biggest problem, in contrast, China's emperors almost never have to worry about the crown prince, after all, the harem beauty of three thousand, the son grabs a big hand; but the King of England can only have one wife, if the wife or the king is not healthy, may end up without a son, and Queen Victoria came to power for this reason.
Victoria was born in 1819. When she came into the world, it was George III who was in power. George III had four sons, in order of age, Prince George, Prince Fred, Prince William, and her father, Prince Edward. However, of the four princes, only Prince Edward had the only daughter, and the others either passed the childbearing age or died prematurely. All in all, Victoria became the only third-generation member of the royal family.
After Prince George and Prince Fred died without leaving any heirs, Prince William IV put on the crown, and Victoria, although a female stream, became the only one in the royal family with the right to inherit (not only was there no prince in the royal family, but even the princess was only Victoria). William IV had an illegitimate son, but the bastard was despised by the people of the time, and he reluctantly recognized Victoria's status. In 1837, William IV died, and Victoria, at the age of 18, ascended the throne, beginning her unique and glorious era.
Comparison of Chinese and Western systems
Through the story of Queen Victoria's succession to the throne, we can see that the British and Chinese succession systems are very different. In China, the first was the polygamy system, which created a chaotic war for the throne within the royal family. The emperor has three palaces and six courtyards, and it is impossible for a situation like Victoria to have only one seedling (of course, except for those with physical problems like Puyi). Even if there are really childless heirs, there are alternatives, such as the brothers of the same clan, such as the Han Hui Emperor Liu Ying is followed by The Han Wen Emperor, but the Han Wen Emperor is Liu Ying's younger brother.
Secondly, the reason why the inheritance rights of women in ancient China have not been realized is mainly the inheritance system of the eldest son in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Speaking of which, the fundamental reason for the occurrence of this system is because of the existence of wives and concubines, because there are wives and concubines, so there will be a distinction between concubines and concubines. As for letting the eldest son inherit, it is the source of the idea of "the great sect obeys the small sect, and the brothers obey the elder brother", and there was the concept of the elder brother as the father in ancient times. Therefore, different environments have created a different history, With The United Kingdom having Christian influences and our country having the influence of the sub-feudal system.