Page 227 - A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols BIG Book

A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols 220
A man could marry only one wife, and she enjoyed certain specific rights. He could,
of course, take one or more concubines, who were inferior in status to his wife, who
could expel them from the house without consulting her husband. The concubines were at
her beck and call for housework and so on. These concubines came usually from the
lower classes, and their status was not covered by any sort of safeguard: a concubine was
highly vulnerable – unless she could produce a son for a husband whose lawful wife
could only manage to produce daughters.

Marriage horoscope drawn up in accordance with astrological data

A nervous daughter-in-law meets her husband’s parents

Each wife had her own dwelling (usually a small house separated from the main
house), in which she received her husband. Every man was expected to marry and beget
children; homosexuality, practised by older men and by monks, did not constitute
grounds for refusing marriage. Since 1928 monogamy alone is recognised by law;
polygamy is forbidden, but has been slow to die out.