試探唐代婦女與本家的關係

Women and Their Natal Families in T'ang China: A Preliminary Investigation

本文的主題在討論唐代婦女與本家的關係。所謂「本家」，與今天一般所說的「娘家」範圍差不多，指出嫁女子的本生家庭及其兄弟所組成的家庭。婦女與本家的關係因非禮法之所重，唐代史料的記載非常零星，學者也少有研究。然而，這個關係實在是婦女生活一個重要的環節，探討此課題，將能增進我們對唐代婦女經驗的認識。再者，本文的研究也有助於了解中國歷史上婦女地位的問題。傳統婦女生活的一個主要困境是，婦女必須離開本生的家，到另一家庭度過她生命的大部分。如果一個社會或時代允許婦女多方面係持與本家的紐帶，婦女在婚後就容易從本家得到支持，這對她們在夫家的處境應有所幫助，也顯示了女兒的角色在家庭中的重要性。反之，如果社會強調婦女必須減少與本家的聯繫，她們在婚後的處境就相當孤立了──至少在初期是如此。簡單地說，婦女地位和她們與本家的聯繫大體上有正面的關係。本文的主體分為兩個部分。第一部分處理有關婦女與本家關係的規範，第二部分考察實際情況。在第二部分，本文將討論婦女婚後生活的典型狀況、夫隨妻居、婦女與本家的一般性接觸、長期歸寧、夫亡歸宗、本家對女兒婚姻的于涉、歸葬本家等問題。

This article examines the relationship between married women and their natal families in T'ang China (618-907). ''Natal families'' (pen-chia) here refer to the families of women's parents and those of their brothers. As traditional Chinese (dominantly Confucian) ethics almost absolutizes the value of the integration of women into their husbands' families, throughout the imperial era the relationship between women and their natal families received little attention in formal discourses. As a result, T'ang documents only sporadically record information in this regard. Neither has modem scholarship paid much attention to the topic. The relationship of women with their natal families, however, was in fact an important aspect of their life. An investigation into the subject, as the present work attempts to do, will contribute greatly to an adequate understanding of women's life in T'ang China. It is also likely that this inquiry will shed light on the question of the status of women in premodern China. The appraisal of women's changing status in traditional times has been a major point of interest for historians of Chinese women, and scholars have been using the social demand on women's chastity toward their husbands as the primary yardstick for their evaluation thereof. This paper will suggest that knowledge about women's relationships with their natal families can provide another valuable perspective on the matter. Generally speaking, in the Chinese context, a social atmosphere that tolerates women's ties with their original families not only offers support to women living in their husbands' families, but also signals the importance of the daughter's role in a family. To the contrary, a cultural milieu that discourages these ties will likely have a reverse effect on the status of women. Structurally, in addition to an ''Introduction'' and ''Conclusion,'' this article is divided into two parts. The first discusses the norms pertaining to the relationship of women with their natal families; the second explores actual conditions, covering a wide range of subjects.