158041
What was the status of women in the Song Dynasty?
In the seventh chapter of “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”, “Contest and Marriage Recruitment”, Guo Jing came to Beijing, the capital of the Kingdom of Jin, and ran into Yang Tiexin who came here to look for relatives. At that time, Yang Tiexin was aliased as “Mu Yi”, and he was taking his righteous daughter Mu Nianci here to “competition to recruit relatives”-unexpectedly, he met the little prince Wanyankang (Yang Kang) who came to smash the scene, causing a paragraph throughout the book. evil fate…
In our impression, in ancient times, the status of women was significantly lower than that of men. Under the moral customs of “three obediences and four virtues”, women usually stay at home to care for their husbands and children, and rarely go out to show their faces. As for their marriage, “parents’ order and matchmaker’s words” are strictly enforced. It is almost unheard of for Mu Nianci to openly “competition to recruit relatives” like Mu Nianci. In the book “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”, there are many such situations.
Han Xiaoying, Huang Rong and other female heroes of the Seven Monsters of the South of the Yangtze River not only walk the rivers and lakes in broad daylight, but also fight and kill strange men, which is surprising.
Of course, Mr. Jin Yong’s artistic fiction is indispensable here. However, in the real Song Dynasty, women also had more status than we imagined.
Most of the time, women in the Song Dynasty could go outside to “show their faces”, and people didn’t think it was too indecent. For example, Li Qingzhao, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, although he had already married and established a career, often went out to drink and enjoy himself, and he didn’t come back until dusk when he was drunk. The “female man”.
Women in the Song Dynasty not only had status, but sometimes even reached the supremacy of men-this made many feminists “envy, envy and hate”. The famous allusions of “Hedong Lion’s Roar” and “Rouge Tiger” are true stories that happened in the Song Dynasty.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, there was a man named Chen Zhen, who called himself “Longqiu Jushi”. His wife Liu Shi is not only very powerful, but also very jealous. Once, Chen Zhen invited the poet Su Dongpo and others to dinner. During the meal, I invited a singing girl (the kind who performs art but not herself). Mrs. Liu was very angry. When the guests were discussing the important affairs of the family and the country, she threw pots and stoves and scolded the general next door, which made Chen Zhen and the guests very embarrassed. On a whim, Su Dongpo wrote a doggerel:
Layman Longqiu is also pitiful, talking empty and sleepless at night.
Suddenly hearing the roar of the lion in the east of the river, the stick fell down and the palm was at a loss.
The allusion of the Lion’s Roar in Hedong has been handed down.
The story of “Rouge Tiger” is like this. A magistrate named Lu Shenyan in Weishi County (located in today’s Eastern Henan Plain). His wife, Zhu Shi, is extremely fierce. To what extent is County Magistrate Lu afraid of her? Not only is she in charge of all housework, but even matters in the yamen must be discussed with her before they dare to decide.
Although Mrs. Zhu is very fierce, she is very beautiful, so people call her “Rouge Tiger”. Later, Hong Kong director Qin Jian adapted this story into a movie of the same name and put it on the screen. The leading actors are Hongxiannv and Xie Xian, who are very familiar to everyone.
This kind of thing is a bit unimaginable in the Tang Dynasty.
Women in the Song Dynasty had status, of course not for no reason, but protected by laws.
In the Song Dynasty, after a woman married into her husband’s family, the dowry she brought did not belong to her husband, but completely belonged to the woman herself. Even if the marriage changes later and she is dissolved, the dowry can be taken away intact. In some historical materials, there are many examples of wives subsidizing their husbands and husbands using their wives’ dowry, but in these cases, it is the wife who initiates or expresses her consent.
Perhaps it is precisely because of this that families in the Song Dynasty spared no effort in purchasing dowries for their daughters, and to some extent formed a trend of “high dowry”.
As the saying goes, “Marry a chicken and follow the chicken, marry a dog and follow the dog”, but women in the Song Dynasty can not only fall in love freely, but also divorce after marriage. As mentioned earlier, of course the dowry after divorce must be properly brought back to her natal family, and she can remarry at any time if she wishes.
As we all know, after her husband Zhao Mingcheng died of illness, Li Qingzhao remarried to a literati named Zhang Ruzhou in his later years. Of course, this time Li Qingzhao was “unkind to people”. The reason why Zhang Ruzhou wanted to marry Li Qingzhao was because he wanted to covet her gold and stone antiques. Li Qingzhao was very angry, and the consequences were serious. She reported her husband’s embezzlement of military pay to the government, and sent her husband to prison.
Women in the Song Dynasty had the same inheritance rights as men. This is divided into three situations, one is “virgin girl”, that is, the daughter who has not yet left the cabinet. They have the same full inheritance rights as their brothers. One is “guizongnv”, that is, a woman who returned to her natal family after divorce. “Guizong daughter” is less than “Zaiwei daughter” in terms of inheritance rights. They already had a handsome dowry. One is “married daughter”, that is, a daughter who has been married. They have the least rights of inheritance—after all, they have a dowry but are not yet divorced.
It is said that women can hold up half the sky. When enjoying the same rights as men, women in the Song Dynasty also had to participate in labor. Those who do farm work, “the old woman has a sickle at her waist, and the little woman’s basket is chased away.” A small vendor, “in front of Zhongwa, there is a mother-in-law who brings three flowers to order tea, knocks on the lid, shakes her head, and makes a decision. Playing with tourists on the street Seeing it, everyone laughed.” The mulberry picker and silkworm raiser, “I am a daughter of the Qin family, and I will marry Wang Lang this spring. The husband’s family attaches great importance to silkworms, so I go to pick mulberry on Moshang.”…
Perhaps, it was precisely because of their participation in social labor that women in the Song Dynasty were able to be relatively independent financially, thus gaining the economic foundation of “equality between men and women”.
