In ancient times, the problem of bachelor was much more serious than it is now. How did they solve the marriage problem?

Being single is a phenomenon after human sexual behavior is bound. It's not about sex, it's about marriage. In ancient times, the problem of bachelor was actually much more serious than it is now, and it has existed throughout the ages. First of all, the biggest factor affecting the social phenomenon of "bachelor" is the gender ratio. In the face of "absolute number (supply and demand)", other factors can be counted as chicken ribs. So what was the sex ratio in ancient times?

In Song Zhenhao's Life History of Xia and Shang Societies, archaeologists found that the sex ratio of Wang Yi in Yin Ruins in Shang and Zhou Dynasties was roughly 183: 100 by comparing the male and female skeletons unearthed in civilian cemeteries. Perhaps because of medical care and other reasons, the probability of death of women is much higher than that of men. In other words, in ancient times, the high survival rate of men was the chief culprit leading to the serious imbalance between men and women in ancient times. So, how did the problem of bachelor be solved in ancient times?

There used to be a saying that "marry a chicken with a chicken, marry a dog with a dog, and marry a shoulder pole to carry it away" and "a good woman doesn't marry two husbands", which pays attention to life. Because of superstition, a woman marries two men, which means that they meet each other in a narrow way and make her mean. After her death, she will be looked down upon and restless. When she goes to the underworld, she will be haunted by two ghosts. If the two ghosts make trouble with the underworld, it will be even more horrible, and the female ghost will often be sawed in half for the two ghosts. Therefore, it was still difficult for ancient widows to remarry. In order to balance the proportion of marriageable men and women, in places where there are more men and fewer women, both the people and the government are actively supporting widows' remarriage, instead of emphasizing the three cardinal principles and the five permanent members.

You have to marry whoever you specify, which is mainly an arrangement made in ancient times to stabilize border defense and settle in new immigrant areas and reclamation areas. This is usually done through official matchmakers, also known as official media. They have great power to appoint a woman to marry a man. For example, in the Qing dynasty, according to the national policy, many men guarded the border. In order to maintain stability, official media have been set up in these places, and women who are sent or moved here to get married are forcibly designated. In other words, as long as the official media takes a fancy to the Jane Doe, it can be forcibly distributed to men. This has also led to many gray transactions. Many bachelors can marry beautiful women by sending some money.

In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang also stipulated that the number of wives of princes should not exceed 10, and the number of wives of county kings and princes should not exceed 4. This can prevent a large number of women from being occupied by a few people. However, from the actual situation, although the number of wives and concubines is limited, many officials and rich people will take up more women by raising their daughters, singing prostitutes and maids, and this is also the case now.