A man over 40 years old who has no children needs to take a concubine. Why did the Ming Dynasty have such a rule?

The record holder for having concubines is still Tang Ming Emperor Li Longji.

In China, the emergence of concubines can be traced back to at least the Yin Dynasty cycle of more than 1,000 BC. Later, with the standardization and strictness of the class system, the status of concubines in the relationship between husband and wife became more fixed. Before the last emperor of China was overthrown, the influx and spread of new Western culture and new ideas, as well as the concubine system that was inconsistent with human civilization, all tended to be condemned and declined.

There is an old Chinese saying of "three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines", which refers to the phenomenon of Chinese emperors taking concubines.

If you take concubines tomorrow morning, you must have children after you are forty years old

It is said that King Wen of Zhou had 24 concubines. After Qin Shihuang destroyed the six kingdoms, all the beauties selected from the original palace of the six kingdoms and from various places were brought into the Epang Palace.

In the Han Dynasty, Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty favored 3,000 palace people, and Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty had 5,000 beauties. By the time of Emperor Yan of Jin, there were more than 10,000 beauties in the harem. The harem of the Sui Dynasty only had 5,000 people. With the addition of palaces in various places, the number of maids exceeded 10,000.

The highest record holder was Emperor Ming Dynasty Li Longji of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the number of maids from the capital palace to palaces in various places reached 10,000.

Concubinage has always been the preserve of those in power, and ordinary people do not have such a blessing.

In the pre-Qin period, the emperor could have 136 wives, 10 princes, 3 doctors, and 2 scholars. "Spring and Autumn Gongyang Chuan Zhuang Gong Nineteenth Year" records:

"The princes married one country, and the two countries went to the concubine, and the nephew and the concubine followed. How about the nephew? The child of the elder brother. What is the concubine?" The same goes for my younger brother."

This is the original origin of the theory of "one prince marries nine women." It can be seen that the princes can marry nine women at a time, tainting the original wealth of the family. It turned out that when she got married, two "daughter-in-laws" (wives) came with her, and the "daughter-in-law" had two wine girls. In this way, the two "嵵" and their respective dowry girls together become nine women.

This is the "blessing" of the princes. Other men cannot encounter such delicacies. Although there is a saying that "one man has many concubines", it is not easy for ordinary officials to take concubines in Donna, and "common people" are even prohibited from taking concubines.

Putting it in the homes of ordinary people is not as simple as a TV show!

There are regulations for concubines in ancient times: one must have parental consent. Ask the second oldest wife for permission. Perform 3 rituals - hold a wedding.

First of all, give a small amount of property to the wife's family, that is, "concubine's capital". Then, Qingyi's cage pretends to be the little wife, enters the room from the side door or the corner door, and does not worship God or parents, but only bows his head and offers tea to the eldest wife.

Concubinage must be obtained with the wife’s consent in advance. If the wife disagrees, the husband cannot hire a concubine. No wonder the Ming Dynasty general (probably Qi Jiguang) had to apologize to his wife after secretly taking a concubine. If you take a concubine tomorrow morning, you still have to have children after you are forty years old

This is not a humane idea or a feminist conscience tendency. It just demonstrates the status of the wife. It is just that the etiquette has passed, and it has not reached that point. Don’t declare it in your heart. Not listening to a wife encouraging her husband to have concubines is called a considerate attitude. Under the reflection of the mirror, the face with the mouth must be exposed.

In this case, if the wife does not agree, the husband has only one choice. Between them, there is only one wife. The so-called breaking out of the cauldron is the final blow to women's dignity.

In fact, having concubines of the common people has not been advocated in all dynasties, and circumstantial evidence of the restrictions can be obtained from the "Minghui Code and Regulations 4". "People who are over forty years old do not listen to their children." That is to say, if ordinary people want to have a concubine, they must meet the two conditions of being over forty years old, and they must have no children.

It can be seen from this that, all the time, They are all monogamous, and concubines are just a foil for privilege.

There are many women who opposed polygamy in history!

In Fang's later years, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty offered him beauties many times, but was always rejected by Fang Xuanling.

Tang Taizong persuaded the eldest grandson Queen Fang Xuanling's wife Lu. The lawyer said: "I am so jealous!".

After hearing this, Emperor Taizong brought wine to Lu and said, "If you are so determined, just drink it." Lu really liked drinking crow wine, but other women didn't want to drink it. She refused to use Xuanling in the room, so Emperor Taizong Li Shimin said helplessly: "I'm still afraid, let alone Xuanling."

There was an earlier Empress Dugu, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty. She made a promise to Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty and said: "We will love each other forever in this life, and our love will never change, and we will never have a different child." In addition, Concubine Yang Jian did not dare to approach the emperor and had the right to repair the palace from Huangfu.

The emperor had just killed Wei Dong at the hands of Wei Dong, and the lonely queen died at the hands of Wei Dong the next day. Emperor Wen was still in the early morning, and she and the emperor moved forward until the cabinet stopped. After that person retired from court, they went back to the palace together, ate the same music and slept together, and they were both very happy.

Zhu Xi put forward the concept of "preserving natural principles and destroying human desires" and believed that "one husband, one wife and multiple concubines" is essentially "three wives and four concubines". Three wives and four concubines are human desires, and one husband and one wife are the only ones. Heavenly principles.