Tang Dynasty Nursing Mother Research

In ancient China,it was a common social phenomenon that the nursing mother took place of the birth mother to feed the infant,from the royal families to the families of the civilians.The figure of the nursing mother in Tang Dynasty existed in many handed down documents and stone carvings.These materials detailed the nursing mother’s origins,selection criterion,responsibility and treatment,of which the content was very rich.Many existing historical materials provided more informative and reliable data for the study of nursing mothers in Tang Dynasty.Based on this,it is necessary to conduct a thorough and in-depth study of the nursing mother in Tang Dynasty.The sources of nursing mother in Tang Dynasty were diverse,reflecting certain class characteristics.Most of the royal nursing mothers were selected from the servants who were brought to court for their husband’s domestic crimes.They lost their personal freedom and became the emperor’s nursing mothers under the coincidence of opportunity.Private servants were the choice of most official families.They were domestic slaves and had strong personal dependencies.Employing nursing mothers was the new approach developed in the middle and late Tang Dynasty,these nursing mothers had certain professional characteristic.And relatives taking care of the infant,when the mother died early or the family was in distress was the helpless choice.It has also been existing.The change in the source of the nursing mothers also reflected the development of economy and the political turmoil in Tang Dynasty.The selection criterion for nursing mothers were detailed and specific and were the official identification of nursing mothers.According to the requirements of the medical prescription,nursing mothers in Tang Dynasty needed to be pleasant and have a healthy body,and there were many taboos in their diet.Personally,the nursing mother needed to be kind and gentle,to speak with care,and to meet the dual requirements of mother and maidservant.In addition,nursing mothers must have a certain level of education to educate their babies to carry out childhood education,which is a higher standard.However,these standards were still based on ensuring that nursing mothers can provided excellent breastfeeding.The duties of nursing mothers in Tang Dynasty were accompanied by suckling life.Nursing mothers took the most basic nurturing and took suckling in their arms as their job to accompany the suckling’s growth.They needed education and guidance during their adolescent years,made recommendations and advice on their behavior.At the same time,the nursing mother also played the important role of the housekeeper of the suckling,and had certain family status and influence.If the breastfeeding family suffered misfortune,nursing mother must do their best to keep suckling peace.This higher demand for nursing mothers not only reflected the mother’s love for nursing mothers,but also shaped the image of loyal servants of nursing mothers.In Tang dynasty,the treatment of the nursing mothers mostly occurred when the sucklings were raised.During the lifetime of the breasting family,they often gave the nursing mothers money and gifts and the rank of nobility.At the same time,the nursing mothers’ husband,son and grandchildren also won a noble position.After the death of the nursing mother,the sucking mourned and wrote the epitaph,and the nursing mother also received the same treatment and status as the mother.The status of the nursing mother was a change from inferiority to respect,and it seed that her status had been improved through breastfeeding.However,in fact,it was still only the "Holy Lord",and whether it was revered was only between the thoughts of the suckling.As an important part of the female group in Tang Dynasty,nursing mothers in Tang Dynasty sought to change and improve their status as much as possible by taking advantage of women’s physical strength and contributing milk.This article takes nursing mothers as the research object,and studies the origin of the nursing mothers,selection criteria,responsibility and requirements,and remuneration in four aspects,describing the living conditions and life picture of the nursing mothers in Tang Dynasty.As the caregivers of children of Tang Dynasty,nursing mothers have played an important role and we can not be ignored.