In ancient times, marital status became a part of a person's resume, just like a mole hidden in the body. A marriage that does not conform to social norms is like a stain on life. In people's eyes, personal qualities may also be problematic. Directly affect your career. As a noble gentry, if you marry the common people, it is not just a matter of dishonoring your reputation. Your family lineage is no longer so pure and noble, that is, because one's emotions affect the social status of the family. Your reputation is a trivial matter, with which your family will be criticized and even excluded from the ranks of gentry.
Married a daughter, lost his official position.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China's history, children in the Southern Dynasties compiled a book called Selected Works of Zhaoming, in which a case was recorded: Roy in the East China Sea (now west of Tancheng, Shandong Province) married his daughter to someone. Although Roy is humble, he comes from a distinguished family. His grandfather Wang Shaoqing served as a squire and participated in confidential affairs; His father Wang Rui is also a "clear generation". Roy often goes in and out of his peers' homes and has close ties with them. But in terms of matchmaking, it is mercenary. Roy often calls the matchmaker Liu Sizhi to the palace to inquire. Liu Sizhi said that Zhang Man of Wu Jun is a descendant of Gaoping's old clan, and his minions are full of powder and silver. He is rich and is looking for a partner for his son. Roy verified that the man was a middle-level official in Wuxian and his son also lived in the main book. So Roy and his son decided to get married after detailed discussion. Zhang man's dowry is 50 thousand yuan. At this time, Wang Yuan was welcoming his wife's new funeral, so he married a concubine with the rest of his dowry.
Minister Shen Yue has a high sense of social responsibility. It stands to reason that it's none of his business for others to get married and marry their daughters-in-law, but he did a detailed investigation and study and found the abnormal phenomenon warily. Shen Yue checked Zhang Zhi's genealogy and thought there was something wrong! Man Zhang is not a real gentry, and his background is not noble, but Roy is a nobleman, and marrying the Man family really corrupts human relations.
Shen Yue drafted a handling opinion with beautiful parallel prose, to the effect that Roy degraded his status, and his behavior defiled his ancestors and insulted his relatives, which was extremely bad in nature. If this bad style does not stop, marriages with corrupt interpersonal relationships will be everywhere. Roy's shameful behavior should be severely punished in a clear-cut manner, and he should be expelled from the cremation. In this way, those scholars who have done the same thing will be extremely ashamed, and those who intend to do the same thing will pull back from the brink. So, my opinion is: Roy should be dismissed on the spot, never.
It's a pity that Roy's marriage is so bad. Through the intermarriage between the gentry and the common people, this case embodies the system of the gentry's gate valve in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the grade difference between the gentry and the common people.
The emperor can't shake the literati.
The isolation of society and marriage makes the gentry a small group with exclusion. After a long time, they have been married to each other, and everyone has become an intertwined interest group. Move any one of them, and many people may be pulled out to protest. Their mentality is just as Du You said: "Killing an cremation, even if it is not wronged, is like cutting down a beautiful tree, which makes people feel really sad. If you kill a civilian, even if it is wrong, what can you be? " Some people say that these gentry are romantic and elegant in aesthetic culture. I admit that they may be elegant, but the basis of this elegance is obviously the greed and shameless of a certain interest group.
If we count the number and proportion of gentry in officialdom from the first year of Jian 'an in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the third year of God bless in the last years of the Tang Dynasty (196 ~ 906) 7 10, we can clearly see that the proportion of gentry in officialdom has been rising since the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, from 29% in Jian 'an to 80.8% in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, reaching a peak. Since then, the proportion of gentry in the Southern Dynasties has remained above half. We know that in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, with the rise of Beifubing Group, the Song, Qi, Liang and Chen Dynasties changed. These four dynasties were established by military families who were not very proficient in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. However, this does not mean that the cloth clothes called "poor family" and "cold base" have replaced the gentry. In fact, the state power is still controlled by the gentry, but it is not as good as the establishment of the royal family by the gentry in the early Eastern Jin Dynasty.
This case happened in this period. Roy, the gentry, married a woman who was a commoner all over the world, causing an uproar, and she was even impeached by Shen Yue, an official in the same dynasty. The reason is that although Roy heard from the matchmaker that the man is a descendant of the cremation, it can't be verified, so this situation is false. Therefore, Roy married his daughter to a man for the sake of wealth. At this time, Roy lost his wife and used part of his daughter's dowry to take a concubine, which shows that the greed rumored in society is certain. Therefore, Shen Yue suggested that Roy should be removed.
It can be seen that in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the concept of scholar's family status occupied an absolute position in marriage, and the law of "scholar not marrying" could not be shaken. The gentry class has the privilege of choosing officials by relying on the Zheng Zhi system with Nine Grades, and also has the privilege of being an official. Various aristocratic families make use of this privilege, constantly cultivate their own power, and strive to make this privilege passed down from generation to generation, showing their superiority on various occasions. Even the emperor can't change a person's social identity, and the difference between gentry and civilians, nobles and the poor is unbreakable. Buyi people and Han people can be officials and have actual power, but they are not respected by the gentry and have no corresponding social status.
During the Liu Song Empire, the first dynasty in China's Southern Dynasties, Wang Hong was the most trusted minister of Emperor Wu of Song, but he was a civilian. Emperor Wu of Song told him, "If you want to be a scholar-bureaucrat, you must be allowed by Wang Qiu to sit with him." . You might as well say, listen to my command and try. "Wang Qiu was prime minister. When Wang Hong wanted to sit next to him, Wang Qiu stopped him with a fan in his hand: "You can't sit." Wang hong ran away in a panic. Afterwards, Emperor Wu of Song said to him, "No way. After Liu and Song Dynasties, the most prized minister of the second emperor of Xiaoqi asked, "I am just a military attache in this county. Please allow me to be a scholar-bureaucrat. " Xiao Ze said, "It depends on Jiang Ji. It's no use begging me Go find him. "At that time, Jiang Ji was a senior official in the capital, equivalent to the Minister of Justice. Monk Ji really went to visit and was about to sit down when Jiang Ji immediately ordered the servant to move the seat. Monk Ji really complained to Xiaoruo, saying, "Scholar-officials cannot be appointed by the emperor. "
The emperor's daughter is also worried about getting married.
In the Tang dynasty, these famous families were even more arrogant, even dismissive of marrying the Li royal family, making the emperor's daughters worry about getting married. In a rage, Li Shimin wrote a letter asking for revision of the genealogy. In order to restrain the landlord of Shandong gentry, the princess of his son and the princess from choosing a spouse, Emperor Taizong asked not to marry Shandong gentry. However, senior officials such as Fang and Fang still intermarry with the gentry landlords in Shandong. It can be seen that the prestige of the old family has not diminished, and it still pretends to be a noble family. On one occasion, Prime Minister Li Yifu wanted to marry the daughter of a large family in Shandong for his son, but those large families in Shandong didn't take Prime Minister Li seriously at all. They still disdain to marry a civilian official, Li Yifu. Of course, there are also feelings of not being ashamed of Li Yifu's moral character. Li Yifu suggested that Tang Gaozong use the practice of Emperor Taizong to control the Shandong cremation. Therefore, the emperor issued a decree forbidding Shandong gentry Cui, Lu, Zheng, Wang, Li, etc. to get married, and clearly stipulated that "children such as Lu Ziqian, Lu Hun, Cui Zongbo, Cui, former Yan Boling, and Kai Lee of Jin Zhaojun are not allowed to marry on their own. Still set a number of married women in the world, and will not accompany the money. " The "dowry wealth" mentioned here means that the children of ordinary people marry the most popular children, and they have to pay for it. After Emperor Gaozong wrote a letter, these dignitaries refused to obey the ban, and some of them married secretly, although they were no longer public on the surface. Others prefer to raise their daughters to old age rather than intermarry with the poor.