从“牝鸡无辰”到“共牢合卺”——由考古学统计资料看东周女性贵族社会地位之变迁

基于文献的东周女性史研究往往强调女性在东周时期社会地位逐渐式微。然而从考古学视角观察,女性贵族社会身份地位在东周时期却并非单向的跌落。春秋早期,女性贵族墓葬随葬器物延续西周以降的趋势,与男性贵族存在一个显著等差;春秋中期后,女性贵族墓葬随葬青铜器物组合层阶有了明显的提高,逐渐向异穴合葬男性配偶墓葬靠拢;春秋晚期,"夫妇同庖俎"(即合卺)逐渐成为一种稳定社会现象,女性贵族身份地位有了一个质的提高。这标志着贵族家庭婚姻制度及财产所有制发生了重大变化,显示社会基本构成由大家族向核心家庭转换。

From Pin Ji Wu Chen to Gong Lao He Jin:Archaeological Materials Revealing Shifting Status of Elite Females in the Eastern Zhou Period

Previous studies focusing on written records usually hold the attitude that the status of females was decreasing in the Eastern Zhou societies.However,archaeological data suggest a different story:the status of elite females was not consistently decreasing in the Eastern Zhou period.In the early Spring and Autumn period,the grave goods in tombs of elite females suggested a lower status in comparison with those in the males’tombs,a pattern noticeable as early as in the Western Zhou period.After the middle Spring and Autumn period,however,the ranking or status of elite females’tombs was greatly enhanced,as evident in the combination of bronze artifacts,supposedly matching the ranking or status of the male’s tomb.By the late Spring and Autumn period,he jin became a well-established practice and a popular social phenomenon,suggesting that the status of elite females was substantially improved.It can be inferred that substantial changes occurred in the marriage system among the elite families as well as in the ownership of private properties,possibly implying a shift–from extended family to nuclear family–in the basic social unit.