Is it really illegal for "ancient women not to marry"? The marriage journey of ancient girls.

For girls in our modern society, the consciousness of "equality between men and women" has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Girls are often more assertive in the choice of lifelong events, and can boldly "say no" to dissatisfied objects! But you know what? In ancient times, it was illegal for girls not to get married, and even they were forced to "get married" by the rulers at that time, without listening to the real thoughts of girls at all. What caused this? Is it really illegal for ancient girls not to marry? According to Article 5 of Chapter II of the Marriage Law of the People's Republic of China: "Marriage must be completely voluntary, and neither party may force the other party, and no third party may interfere." It means that in the face of the choice of marriage partners, both men and women have completely independent choice, and no one has the right to interfere. In other words, if a girl does not want to get married, no one can force her to get married, and vice versa. However, in the History of Emperor Hui of Han Dynasty, it is clearly written: "If a woman does not marry between the ages of 15 and 30, five counts." It is said that in 189 BC, Liu Ying, the second emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, explicitly issued an imperial edict: "1A woman between the ages of 5 and 30 will pay taxes if she doesn't get married", that is, a woman who doesn't get married will be fined. In the "population tax" system of the Han Dynasty, under normal circumstances, everyone pays one yuan a year, that is, 120 yuan, but once this "five-yuan system" is implemented, unmarried girls aged/kloc-0 to 30 have to pay five yuan a year, that is, 600 yuan, which is as high as the "population tax" paid by normal people. In this way, if a girl doesn't want to get married, you will be forced to pay poll tax, which is obviously unreasonable and unfair. According to the poor background in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, who else can pay such a high "fine" except the rich? We can only get married before 15 years old to avoid "fines". Arranged marriage has a unique intention. There is also a clear record in Wu Jindi Ji: "If parents don't marry at the age of seventeen, the chief should match them." "This is the imperial edict issued by Sima Yan, Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty, in the winter and October of the ninth year of Taishigong. What do you mean? It means that if a girl reaches the age of 17 and her parents haven't arranged to get married, the court will take over and personally choose the "husband" for the girl, that is, the "marriage partner", which is what we see in the current film and television works. But it's not as good as the one appointed by the emperor himself in the TV series. With so many girls, is the emperor too busy? Under normal circumstances, the local officials randomly designate a "man", and then you get married, which is mandatory, and you can't do it without getting married. In addition, in ancient times, it was not only these two dynasties that explicitly required girls to get married in the form of law, but also mentioned it in the Marriage Law of Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. The difference is only the degree of strictness. Moreover, the Song Dynasty even advanced the marriage age of girls to 13 years old, and the Ming Dynasty was not far behind, so 14 years old was about to get married. If we put this in our present situation, a girl of thirteen or fourteen is still an ignorant child. Those who are slow to develop may not have started to develop. But in ancient times, girls of this age may have become mothers. For example, in A.D. 1626, Bumu Butai, the thirteen-year-old queen of Xiao Zhuang, was escorted to Shengjing by her brother, married Huang Taiji as Fujin, and gave birth to a daughter, Aisingiorro Yatu, namely Gu Lunyong in A.D. 1629. Although it is not a dynasty, it fully shows that in the ancient feudal period, it has become a common norm that girls were forced to marry as wives or even mothers when they were only teenagers. So, what caused this feudal bad habit in ancient times? As for why this feudal habit of "girls breaking the law first" was formed in ancient times, I personally think there are three main reasons: first, frequent wars, second, constant natural disasters, and third, the necessity of maintaining political stability. The illustration of ancient wars begins with the first point "frequent wars". The history of the feudal period, to put it bluntly, is a history of "continuous separation and integration", and war is undoubtedly the product of this era. But "war" is not a game. Throughout the history of war from ancient times to the present, countless bloody historical facts are accusing us of the cruelty of war. For example, in 1267, Mongolia launched the "song and yuan war" from the Southern Song Dynasty to the end of 1279, which lasted 12 years, resulting in "plague" and "famine", which directly led to a sharp drop in population from more than 80 million in the late Southern Song Dynasty to more than 50 million in the early Yuan Dynasty. It even entered the Guinness Book of World Records. For another example, the Black Death, which ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages, was also brought to the land of Europe because of the crusade of religious wars, and then quickly began to spread, becoming a nightmare for Europeans in the Middle Ages. In just six years, the population of Europe lost as many as 20 million people, equivalent to one-third of the total population of Europe at that time. The horror of war is by no means what we can imagine in peacetime. Let me talk about the second point about the land ravaged by drought. The backward scientific and technological level of "natural disasters" makes the ancient people's understanding of "nature" too shallow, which means that their understanding of nature is almost infinitely close to zero. In the face of the anger of nature, it is impossible to make a series of arrangements in advance to prevent it. Once "natural disasters" come, it will be a nightmare that no one can resist in ancient times. For example, during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, the "Seven Famines in butyl five", which lasted for four years from A.D. 1876 to A.D. 1880, brought an irresistible catastrophe to the people of the Qing Dynasty. "Nanjiang County Records" records: "Dingchou is old, and northern Sichuan is also dry, especially in Ba (Zhong), Nan (Jiang) and Tong (Jiang) counties ... hundreds of miles of bare land, rice seedlings are burned, rice prices are soaring, and the poor are miserable." According to the final statistics, there are tens of millions of casualties caused by the "Ding Wu Qi Huang", and this "natural disaster" in history is by no means just this one. Drought, locust plague, flood, plague, any natural disaster in ancient times may lead to a large number of casualties, which is so sad. Finally, Mao Li Shimin's wax figure will talk about the third point: "It is inevitable to maintain political stability." Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, once said: "The monarch is also a ship; People, water also. The knife cuts bread and fingers. The foundation of political power lies in the people, that is, the population. From the above two factors, it can also be clearly seen that if a major "natural disaster" or "war" occurs in a dynasty, the population will shrink sharply, that is to say, the foundation supporting the political power will face a collapse. In other words, without the "people", who can the rulers of the regime rule? Therefore, how to increase the population as much as possible has undoubtedly become a matter of great concern to ancient rulers. With people, there is the foundation of political power, and the political power can develop and grow on this basis. It is precisely because of this concept that the ancients believed in the "people-oriented" way of governing the country. It is also based on this concept, coupled with the ancient people's general concept of "patriarchal", leading to the social status of ancient women can only be called male accessories. Therefore, it is understandable to enact laws to force women to get married and have children at a specified age and increase the population. Truth is the necessity under the background of that era! What is the reason for the bride to get married, so that the "marriage" of modern girls can be mastered by themselves without interference and restriction from others? The reason is also very simple, because it is stipulated by a modern and sound legal system. As mentioned above, "marriage must be completely voluntary by both men and women", and any party's objection can be regarded as "marriage relationship" is not established. Of course, this is before marriage! With this little book of marriage certificate, you have to apply to the Civil Affairs Bureau for dissolution of marriage. It is precisely because of the protection of women's status by law that the consciousness of equality between men and women is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, forming the status quo that whether to marry or not is up to girls. In addition, the progress of "social development" and "scientific level" is also one of the driving forces for this situation. The development of society has made all countries in the world peaceful and eager for peace. Without war, people can naturally live a happy life, and there will be no more "population catastrophe" caused by ancient wars, and human beings can thrive normally. The progress of scientific level has further deepened human's understanding of nature, and many dangerous natural disasters can be prevented and remedied in advance without causing too much loss. Even if there is, it will not affect the continuation of normal human life. Workers who clean urban drainage pipes are like floods. If it was in ancient times, how many casualties would a flood cause? Not to mention the spread of the plague caused by the flood. However, under the early warning of weather forecast, people can prevent floods in advance, and developed urban drainage systems can also discharge the accumulated water in the city to other places in a very short time, and can resume normal life in a very short time. Needless to say, under the developed medical level, what kind of "plague" can wreak havoc uncontrollably? It doesn't exist. Therefore, cherish the present peace, only peace can bring us real "freedom", not just "freedom of marriage" under the equality of men and women! end