娶失节者如己失节——试析明清“不娶再醮之妇”的深层原因

He Who Marries a Disloyal Woman Seems Disloyal——An Analysis of the Deep Reasons of Not Getting Married to a Remarried Woman in Ming and Qing Dynasties

明清时期对于再醮之妇的歧视达到顶点,与之相应的是,娶再醮妇之男子也难以独善其身,在遭受歧视之余,还须承受种种现实打击。因此中上层社会的拒娶再醮实质是惧娶再醮,是出于趋利避害的本能抉择。作为一种普遍的社会心态,它导致许多理论上的家庭重组无法实现。士绅阶层甚至出现鼓励男子丧妻守鳏的倾向。

In Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Discrimination against remarried women reached the apex during the ancient time. If a man married a remarried woman, in all probability, he would suffer the slings and arrows from all sides besides discrimination. Refusing to marry a remarried woman is commonly considered that he looks those kind of women in contempt, while actually he was obsessed with fear of be punished. So men＇s choice of refusing to marry a widow is from their basic instinct of seeking advantage and avoiding harm. Due to this lingering prevalence of social mentality, lots of theoretically possible remarried family failed to come into existence. A lot of scholars suggest that if a man can＇t find a virgin to marry, it＇s best to remain single after the death of his wife.