清代各阶层对孀居妇女采取的救济措施浅谈

Relief Measures on Widows Taken by all Classes in Qing Dynasty

从明太祖朱元璋开始,朝廷正式提倡女性为死去的丈夫守节,并对妇女从一而终行为进行表彰,从而建立了特有的专门针对女性的旌表制度。清统治者夺取政权后,继承了旌表制度。为了更好地维护旌表制度,有清一代从朝廷到地方,到家族,甚至个人都采取了一些救济措施,以资助孀居妇女养活自己、抚养孩子、赡养老人,从而最终实现妇女对贞节的坚守,达到朝廷提倡的对从一而终道德目标的追求。这也是有清一代节妇数量庞大的一个重要原因。

Starting from the first emperor of Ming Dynasty￡¨Zhu Yuanzhang￡？,the imperial court officially promotes women to be faithful to their deceased husbands and recognizes their faithfulness.After seizing power,rulers of Qing Dynasty continue this kind of recognition.In order to further safeguard this system,every class in Qing Dynasty,from the imperial court to local governments,families,even individuals have taken some relief measures to help widowed women to support themselves,their children and the old.This not only encourages women to uphold their chastity,but also helps the realization of the imperial court＇s moral goal.It is one of the most important reasons why there are a large number of women faithful to their deceased husbands in Qing Dynasty.