Marriage On. Han Imperial Family

The imperial marriage of the Han dynasty is very important in the history of Chinese feudal marriage among those what's typist marriage is that of Han dynasty. It deeply embodied the social and politic life at that time. It should be made clear that the imperial marriage of the western Han was different from that of the Eastern Han. Generally speaking, imperial kinsmen took politic economic and social status seriously. And this hierarchy of marriage showed the tendency to deepen gradually. The thesis has four sections as follows:1. Form of expression of imperial marriage in the Han dynasty. The changes of imperial marriage in the Han dynasty could be divided into three periods. The first stage was from the early period of western Han to the middle period of Hanwudi. During this stage, the emperors selected imperial concubines without regarding their class origin and chastity. The second stage was from the late period of Hanwudi to the end of the western Han dynasty. Its character was that the range of the emperors' selecting imperial concubines was reducing, limiting in upper-class elements. The hierarchy of marriage was connected with unite by marriage. The Eastern Han dynasty belongs to the third stage. The system of selecting imperial concubines was completely established and the emperors gradually regarded the family background of imperial concubines and their quality.2. Causes of the changes of imperial marriage in the Handynasty. It included three causes. First, it was the cause of the economic base. Second, it was the cause of politic system. Third, it was the cause of culture.3. The profound influences that the changes of imperial marriage bring about to the social politics in the Han dynasty. First, concubines fought for the right, which ruined the palace. Second, it caused the relatives of concubines' dictatorship. Third, the development of bigamy made emperors have no sons, which destroys the system of successor of empress' eldest son. So many government officials fought for the right. It weakens the rule of the Han dynasty and fastens the step of its end.4. The conclusion. In the three stages, the hierarchy of marriage reinforced, which finally opens the door of hierarchical matrimony system in Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties. So the hierarchy of marriage in the Han dynasty was the base of hierarchical matrimony system.