혼인과 관련된 漢字에 투사된 고대 중국의 혼인 풍속

Abstract

This study explored the unique marriage custom of ancient China through the Chinese characters related to marriage such as "姓, 后, 姑, 舅, 媾, 婚, 娶, 嫁, 妾, 娣 and 姪". During the time of ‘group marriage within a clan’, the social status of a female must have been higher than the social status of a male. This characteristic of a matriarchal society is projected to ‘姓’ and ‘后’ as it is. During the time of group marriage with another clan, an elder female is one’s husband’s mother and a paternal aunt at the same time from the viewpoint of a female and an elder female is a one’s wife’s mother and a paternal aunt from the viewpoint of a male. Therefore, it is possible to say that the custom of group marriage with another clan in the form of exchange marriage between the people of about the same age in different clans was projected to ‘姑’ and ‘舅’. The marriage between the different clans in a matriarchal society was the group marriage by exchanging multiple males and females; therefore, the case of bigamy naturally occurred. It is possible to say that the bigamy in the history is the remains of such group marriage with another clan custom and this marriage custom was projected to ‘媾’. At the time, conquest war was common and a female was also a looted goods when she became a prisoner of war; therefore, ‘女’ was joined with ‘取’, meaning capture and take, to become ‘娶’. It is also possible to say that the custom of having wedding ceremony at twilight time was the remains of the marriage by looting. Therefore, it is possible to say that the custom of the marriage by looting, which was the transitional marriage form during the patriarchal society in which a wife was taken by looting or as a prisoner of war, is projected to ‘婚’ and ‘娶’. In a marriage by sell and buy, getting a wife by sell and buy was natural; therefore, it is possible to say that ‘嫁’, ‘賣’ and ‘賈’ were commonly used and this marriage custom was projected to ‘嫁’. 妾, meaning a concubine, was the object of sell and buy as a slave; therefore, a concubine could not take the status of a wife in the feudal society. It is possible to say that the status of female related to this custom of a marriage by sell and buy is projected to ‘妾’. In ancient China, there was a custom of marrying the females who have same family name together. At the time, a younger sister and a niece with same family name were the main ‘accompanying concubine’; therefore, the custom of ‘姪娣從之’ was projected to ‘媵’. Therefore, it is possible to say that the custom of ‘marriage of accompanying concubine’ is projected to ‘娣’ and ‘姪’.