再论周人的结婚年龄

Theory of the Zhou Dynasty People's ages

儒家经书记载,周人“男三十而娶,女二十而嫁”,由于学者对此有不同的理解,所以关于周人的结婚年龄历来存有争议。作为代表性的观点,汉经学家郑玄、班固就认为周人是男子到三十岁,女子到二十岁才可结婚,因为这样才符合阴阳之道,合“天地相承覆之数”;唐史学家杜佑则认为“男三十而娶,女二十而嫁”这种礼制是针对众庶,即平民百姓的,贵族则不受此限制。本文对此进行了梳理和辨析,指出上述观点的不妥之处。同时,运用典籍记载、各代法律法令、考古发现,文学作品等史料,确认“男三十而娶,女二十而嫁”是指周人结婚的最晚年龄,始婚年龄则与汉唐各代大体一致,即男子二十上下,女子十五上下。这也是人类自然生理属性的反映,庶民间的结婚年龄可能比贵族会更自由一些。

According to the Confucian documents, the Zhou Dynasty People bear in their heart the convention of “Men should marry once they are 30, while women should marry once they are 20”. Scholar understand this convention with their own views, so that there has always been disputes concerning the marriage Ages of the Zhou Dynasty People. Chinese classic theory expert in Han Dynasty Zheng Xuan and Ban Gu hold a representative viewpoint that the Zhou Dynasty men cannot marry until they are 30 while women cannot marry until they are 20. They think this complies with the lunar and solar principle and the inter-inheriting of the sky and the earth. In contrast, historian of Tang Dynasty Du You considers the old saying of 'Men should marry once they are 30, while women should marry once they are 20' is merely applied to the public, while the aristocrats are not restricted by it. This article comprehensively and systematically analyzes the saying and points out the blemishes of the above mentions opinions. In addition, employing the records of classic works, laws and statutes of various dynasties, archaeological discoveries and literature documents, this article confirms that the old saying 'Men should marry once they are 30, while women should marry once they are 20' refers to the marriage age at the latest of the Zhou Dynasty People, while the marriage age at the earliest of the Zhou Dynasty People is roughly the same with that of Han and Tang Dynasty People, namely, around 20 for men and 15 for women. This accord with the natural attributes of human being, while the marriage age of the public might be more liberal and flexible than that of the aristocrats.