Revisit the TV series "Do you know?" Do you know? Should be green, fat, red and thin", I found such an interesting detail. Hualan, the eldest daughter of the Sheng family, is about to get married. The man is from the Yuan family of Zhongqin's house. On this day, the Yuan family sent someone to recruit her, but a series of changes happened. Not only did the head of the Yuan family violate the agreement and did not come in person, the eldest son of the Yuan family who went on his behalf also deliberately instigated the guest Gu Tingye to play a game of pot with Sheng Changfeng, the son of the Sheng family. The bet was Hualan's main betrothal gift: a pair of wild geese. The eldest wife of the Sheng family had a big quarrel with her lord, Father Sheng, who was unwilling to marry her daughter to an unreliable relative. However, Father Sheng persuaded his wife with sweet words. On the surface, Father Sheng was compromising for the sake of his daughter's reputation. In fact, Father Sheng was compromising for his daughter's reputation. Woolen cloth? Dad Sheng insisted on marrying Hualan to the Yuan family, but there was actually another reason. Lady Changzi
In ancient times, marriage was a major event, not only related to personal happiness, but also closely related to the rise and fall of the entire family. Therefore, the ancients had a strict marriage process, especially for officials and officials like Sheng and Yuan, who had to strictly follow the etiquette and laws and perform various marriage procedures. According to the provisions of the "Book of Rites", marriage must go through the "six rites" process, namely: accepting gifts, asking for names, accepting gifts, accepting invitations, asking for dates, and welcoming in person. The most important of these is the three-step process of accepting, accepting, and welcoming. The key performance in "Know or Not" is the part of accepting the challenge. Nazheng, also called Naqian, is popularly known as betrothal gift. The man gives the betrothal gift to the woman's family to confirm the marriage. Only when the collection process is completed, the marriage contract will be truly established and effective, otherwise it will still be undecided.
But why didn’t Dad Sheng do this? According to the laws of the Song Dynasty, there are already strict restrictions in the "acceptance" link, the first step of marriage. If violated, not only will you be morally condemned, but you may also bear legal liability. In the adoption stage, after the couple's families have preliminary intentions, the woman will notify the man with a "draft post", and the man's family will use the woman's post for divination and seek fortune-telling. If the horoscopes of both parties are consistent, the man will reply to the post and express his wishes. agree. 02 Exchange of fixed stickers
Then the two parties enter the exchange of fixed stickers. The man once again sends someone to deliver the fixed stickers to the woman’s home, listing the man’s family situation, such as official position, origin, whether his parents are present, and the person who will preside over the marriage. , number of properties, etc. After receiving the invitation from the man, the woman also needs to reply and write down her basic situation, including dowry and property. After the men and women exchange marriage certificates, the marriage contract is basically finalized. However, because the more important part of the recruitment process has not yet been completed, there may still be variables in the marriage, such as the man regretting his marriage, or the woman marrying someone else. In order to prevent this situation from happening, the families of both parties who entered into the marriage contract may use a third-party agency to notarize the marriage contract to strengthen the effectiveness of the marriage contract. This kind of notary institution is called a bookstore. 03 Notary institutions in the Song Dynasty
There were two types of bookstores in the Song Dynasty, one was a book-selling shop, and the other was a notary institution that specialized in handling various notarization matters. According to the "Song Hui Yao Election" records, the bookstore already appeared in the eighth year of Qingli reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, and it has been used in successive dynasties since then. In addition to writing pleadings and documents, the bookstore is also responsible for authenticating and distinguishing the authenticity of documents in litigation. Therefore, when a civil engagement is made, the contract is often written in a bookstore. Under the witness of the bookstore, representatives of both families sign and pledge to ensure the validity of the marriage contract. Want to ruin your regrets? Go through the bookstore level first! To open a bookstore in the Song Dynasty, you must have a guarantor, be registered with the government, be issued an official seal by the government, and be subject to government supervision. A certificate of reward and punishment must be issued before authenticating the documents. Therefore, the binding letter witnessed by the bookstore is very effective and it is difficult for both families to regret it. 04 The consequences of the woman breaking the contract
Some people may want to say, what’s the big deal if the contract is valid? After all, if the marriage formalities are not completed, they are not a real couple. A marriage contract is just a contract. If you break the contract, the worst possible outcome is to return the betrothal gift or pay some compensation. Breaking up a marriage is really not a matter of money. It may involve criminal punishment and legal liability. Liu Kezhuang (Haohou Village) in the Southern Song Dynasty handled a case in which the girl's family had replied to the invitation and then regretted it. A man named Xie Dili promised his daughter to marry and wrote a reply, but later refused to admit it and identified it through a bookstore. The handwriting was definitely written by him. In the end, Liu Kezhuang ruled that the Xie family should continue to perform the engagement and also gave them corresponding punishments.
It seems that the Sheng family has already exchanged promises with the Yuan family. If he goes back on his word at this time and even promises his daughter another marriage, Father Sheng will most likely bear a penalty of sixty to one hundred canes. If his daughter If he has married another person, his father may be sentenced to one year in prison, and his daughter will have to be chased back to her ex-husband. No wonder Dad Sheng couldn't bear such serious consequences and didn't dare to go back on his word. If it is difficult for a woman to go back on her promise after making a decision, can the man go back on his promise at will? In principle, a man cannot go back on his word, but in real life, there are various ways to circumvent the law. 05 Can a man regret it?
Volume 9 of "The Qingming Collection of Ming Gongshu's Judgments", "Those who have been engaged for no reason and have not married for three years must be divorced" records a case of disguised marriage destruction. Liu Youguang's adopted daughter Wei Rong was engaged to the Chen family. However, the man's family had not gotten married for five years, so the woman's family wanted to regret the marriage, and the two parties filed a lawsuit with the county government. The man argued that not getting married for five years was a violation.