《中国古代婚姻》PPT课件.ppt

Marriagein Ancient China New words principal wife 正妻 concubine 妾，庶出 constraint 约束 yoke 束缚，枷锁 Auspicious 吉祥的 Palanquin 轿子 Polygamy 一夫多妻制 there is a big difference between the institution of marriage in ancient China and modern China. Marriage in Ancient China, with the establishment of the feudal system ,constantly maturing. And in turn, it became the tool of feudal rule. It is attached to the feudal system, and support the feudal system, but bound the men and women and impede the development of society. It became the feudal rulers’ tools to safeguard their interests. It not only destroyed a lot of innocent women and many men also suffered from it. It has some obvious features, especially polygamy . polygamy In Chinese feudal society, women do not have social status, all women can only be subject to and dependent on their husbands until their death. A man is usually only one wife and many concubines,and it’s not influenced by legal and moral constraints. It is mainly to continue the family line(传宗接代)，rather than the feelings of both man and woman. There are also some differences between principal wife and concubine. A woman must go through the program of “liu li”(六礼) before marrying, then she will gains the recognition of the wife’s position. While, in some degree, concubinage is equal to buying and selling. Their status is much lower than principal wife both in society and family, which is also existed in their children. The principal wife’s children are called direct line of descent（嫡系）, and the concubine’s children are called concubine . It has resulted in inequality between people. Everyone of us has the right to pursue our own love and happiness. But in ancient China , the right belongs to parents. They will decide who we will marry to.What we can only do is obeying them. Only in this way, can it be recognized legal and moral. Such a marriage without affection between men and women and family life is very detrimental t