Bad customs in ancient China
1. Binding feet
Foot binding is a behavior that destroys the normal development of limbs. Women with foot binding have to bind their feet from a young age, slowly breaking the bones of the feet and making them deformed.
The small feet after foot binding not only cause various inconveniences in real life, but also women have to endure great pain and disability during the entire foot binding process. This kind of thing that has no practical effect and causes extreme pain to the recipient has become widespread and has become a social custom that has lasted for nearly a thousand years.
2. Groups of wives and concubines
The main purpose of ancient people marrying three wives and four concubines was to continue the family line. Three wives and four concubines should mean multiple wives. Ancient emperors also had three wives. It belongs to the seventy-two concubines of the Sixth Courtyard of the Palace. The so-called three wives and four concubines in ancient times mainly refer to a marriage system in the feudal period. It is a kind of persecution of women.
If both are widowed, it is considered a bad omen for a man to remarry and for a woman to remarry. Men are superior to women, and women can only depend on men. This is the result of the social system, and this result has intensified the hierarchical differentiation between men and women. As a result, men have groups of wives and concubines, while women can only live with one.
3. Marriage with fingertips
An old marriage custom. Popular in vast areas of the country. That is, the parents of both parties have agreed to get married before the child is born. There are also those who are afraid that the man and woman will not recognize each other when they grow up, or that one of them will not keep their promise, so they cut the skirt into two pieces and each holds one piece as a certificate. The ruler may prohibit it, but it has no practical effect.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the phenomenon of wedding on the fingertips spread to the people, making this phenomenon very popular.
In the Yuan Dynasty, laws began to curb this bad practice. "History of the Yuan Dynasty·Criminal Law Chronicles" records: "When men and women discuss marriage, if there is a case where cutting off the pulp of the finger is the final decision, it is prohibited."
The laws of the Ming and Qing Dynasties also prohibited finger pulp marriage. After liberation, the bad habit of getting married on the fingertips really changed.
4. Superstition
When people face a huge unknown space, they often come up with their own explanations. The ancients were overwhelmed by the power of thunder, so they proposed their own explanation of "Thunder God, Heaven" and worshiped it. Later generations called it superstition.
Superstition refers to people’s blind belief or worship in things. Superstition in a narrow sense, according to the customary customs after the liberation of our country, specifically refers to people's thoughts and behaviors that believe in astrology, divination, feng shui, fortune telling, gods and ghosts, etc.
5. A woman's lack of talent is virtue
The origin of the famous saying "A woman's lack of talent is virtue", according to the research of Hong Kong scholar Professor Liu Yongchong, should be in the works of Ming Dynasty This phrase already exists.
It is mainly believed to be the words of Chen Jiru (Mei Gong) of the Ming Dynasty: "A woman who is literate and can understand the true meaning is definitely a virtuous person, but it is rare; others like to read Quben novels. It is better to stir up evil intentions, even resort to literary tricks, and do innocent things, than to be illiterate and stay contented.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Social Bad Habits