The Weight of Lineage: Marriage in Tang Elite Society

The Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) represents a fascinating paradox in Chinese marital customs—an era of cosmopolitan openness yet entrenched aristocratic pretensions. At the heart of Tang marriage practices lay an obsession with genealogical prestige that even imperial decrees couldn’t eradicate. The famed “Five Surnames and Seven Clans” (Cui, Lu, Li, Zheng, and Wang families) maintained social dominance despite political decline, their allure undiminished since their Han Dynasty heyday.

Emperor Taizong’s attempt to recalibrate social hierarchy through the Clan Records—prioritizing current official ranks over ancient pedigrees—proved futile. When Chancellor Wei Zheng proudly married his children into old aristocratic families, it revealed a truth: bureaucratic power bowed to centuries-old prestige. The phenomenon reached absurd heights under Emperor Gaozong, when the “Forbidden Marriage Edict” (banning intermarriage among elite clans) backfired spectacularly—families rushed to wed before enforcement, then boasted of their “prohibited” status as a badge of honor.

Imperial Frustrations and the Limits of Power

Even emperors chafed against this social hierarchy. Emperor Wenzong’s lament—“My family has ruled for two centuries, yet we rank below the Cui and Lu clans?”—epitomized the throne’s humiliation. The case of Zheng Hao, a scholar forced to abandon his betrothal to a Lu daughter to marry Princess Wanshou, illustrates this tension vividly. His lifelong hatred for the matchmaker, Chancellor Bai Minzhong, became court legend, with Emperor Xuanzong casually dismissing piles of grievances against Bai with imperial nonchalance.

The Economics of Matrimony

Beyond aristocracy, marriage functioned as an economic engine. The concept of dianmencai (“threshold compensation”) required families of lower status to pay substantial sums to “elevate” their standing in unequal matches. Bride prices and dowries circulated wealth while serving distinct purposes:

– Dowries as Female Empowerment: Contrary to simplistic views, dowries weren’t mere reciprocity for bride prices. They constituted a wife’s inalienable property—lands, tools, or valuables that ensured financial autonomy in a patriarchal system. The poignant Ballad of the Poor Maiden captures the despair of women lacking dowries: “Others marry with joy,/ Why must I suffer so?/ I ask the heavens above,/ But heaven stays silent.”

Gender Paradoxes: Openness Within Constraints

Tang women navigated a complex landscape. While expected to adhere to sancongside (Three Obediences and Four Virtues), elite women enjoyed remarkable social liberties:

– Cultural Permissiveness: Bai Juyi’s Pipa Xing—where a married man converses intimately with a stranger at night—would scandalize later dynasties. Widow remarriage faced minimal stigma, and premarital meetings (like Li Linfu’s daughters observing suitors through a screen) were tolerated.
– Flexible Chastity: The infamous case of Yang Guozhong’s wife—claiming pregnancy through “dream conception”—showcased societal wink-and-nod tolerance. Zhang Ji’s Chaste Woman’s Lament, with its conflicted heroine (“I return your pearls with tears,/ Regretting we met after my marriage”), horrified Ming moralists but reflected Tang’s nuanced views on emotional fidelity versus physical chastity.

Rituals and Social Theater

Tang weddings blended tradition and spectacle:

1. Six Rites Protocol: From nacai (proposal) to qinying (bridal procession), the process mirrored Zhou Dynasty customs. Notably, nazheng (betrothal gifts) triggered legal protections under the Tang Code.
2. Twilight Ceremonies: Evening weddings (originating from alleged “bride-capturing” rituals) used hun (dusk) characters before acquiring the “woman” radical. The shift to daytime weddings in Ming times—due to lamp oil costs—highlights how economics reshaped tradition.
3. Theatrical Elements: “Groom-beating” rituals (symbolic warnings against spousal abuse) and queshan poetry (newgrooms reciting verses to make brides lower their fans) added performative flair absent in later eras.

Polygamy’s Nuances and Legal Safeguards

The “one husband, one wife, multiple concubines” system revealed stark hierarchies:

– Wives vs. Concubines: While men like Du You faced backlash for elevating concubines, rare bingdi (dual-wife) arrangements persisted—often stemming from war separations or inheritance strategies, as seen in six of seventeen Dunhuang households.
– Divorce Mechanics: The “Seven Outs” (including infertility or jealousy) favored men, but “Three Non-Expulsions” protected wives who’d mourned in-laws, risen from poverty with husbands, or lacked natal family support. Remarkably, women could initiate divorce for “irreparable alienation”—a provision unimaginable in later centuries.

Legacy: The Fall of Aristocratic Hegemony

The Tang’s marital world collapsed with the old elites. Huang Chao’s rebellion (875-884) massacred northern aristocrats, while Song Dynasty meritocracy erased their prestige. Yet echoes lingered: dowry pressures, status-conscious matchmaking, and the tension between individual desire and familial duty remain resonant themes in Chinese social history.

Through matrimony, we glimpse the Tang’s contradictions—a society both rigidly hierarchical and unexpectedly fluid, where poetry celebrated secret longings even as tomb inscriptions lauded conventional virtue. This duality makes Tang marital culture a mirror for understanding how civilizations negotiate change while clinging to tradition.