中国古代的外室现象与妇女地位

外室本是指那些未经媒妁之言而与男子同居的妇女,后来便成为男子私下偷娶的姬妾的专称。这种现象产生于魏晋,盛行于隋唐,两宋以后变成公开合法。一夫多妻是我国封建社会合法的婚姻制度,男子大可不必偷娶外室,但由于某些原因,外室现象在中国古代还颇为流行,成为婚姻生活中的一个重要组成部分,对家庭对社会都产生了一定的影响。本文系统论述了外室现象的产生和发展的历史,从另一个角度论证了中国妇女地位的变迁。

Concubinage in Ancient China and Women' s Status

The term "waishi" originally referred to a man' s female cohabitant other than his legal wife, and later to a woman married by a man clandestinely. This phenomenon, the concubinage, appeared first in the Wei and Jin dynasties, became the rage in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and acquired legitimacy after the Song Dynasty. Polygamy, or a man with more than one wife, was a legal marital system in feudal Chinese society, under which a man needed not take a concubine secretly. For one reason or another, however, the "waishi" phenomenon was still quite popular in ancient China, so much so that it had be come an important part of the marital life, producing some impact on both the family and society. This essay expounds the emergence and development of the "waishi" phenomenon, and thereby elaborates the change of Chinese women' s status from another angle.