论“仲春之月,令会男女”

On Non-matchmaker Marriage in Zhou Dynasty

周代是宗法社会,占主导地位的婚姻是父母之命,媒妁之言的聘婚。聘婚是周人的合法婚姻。这在《诗经》和《礼记》中均有反映和记载。但是,在以聘婚为主要形式的婚姻中,同时又并存着"仲春之月,令会男女","奔者不禁"的无媒婚。对这一婚姻现象,古今论者多语焉不详。本文拟从当时为政者无奈中的权宜之计、"令会男女"的文化背景和增殖人口的现实需求等方面加以考察,可能会求得个中三昧。

Being a patriarchal society, in Zhou Dynasty it is the betrothal marriage that occupy a prominent position contracting a marriage by the command of parents and the good office of matchmaker. Betrothal marriage is the legal marriage reflected and recorded in The Book of Songs and The Book of Rites. The non-matchmaker marriage exists also, allowing young men and women to meet and have sexual intercourse freely in sacrifice place in the second and the third month of the lunar calendar. The rulers permit this due to: the open association between men and women after smashing the sexual abstinence, remained sorcery culture, agriculture culture background and the need of increasing population.