| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 歷史學系碩博士班 === 96 === Between the dynasties of Ming and Ching, the merchants in different districts displayed different features which deeply influenced the politics, economics, and culture of that generation. Although being the supports of the merchant, a merchant’s wife is often ignored when talking about social awareness. However, compared to those in other stratums of society, merchants’ wives between the dynasties of Ming and Ching had more prominent effects on family and social activities.
In north China, a merchant’s wife dedicated herself to her family, gaining the self- and social- value. She not only performed as a wife and mother in the family, but also as a daughter to show filial obedience for parents-in-law and to educate the descendants. Furthermore, she was expected to take care of all members in the family and therefore, became the stabilizing power in the family. However, under the pressure from both the marriage and the family, a merchant’s wife tended to search for romance relationship with males other than her husband.
In all the values, or functions that a merchant’s wife had, breeding and educating the descendants were the most important features. A merchant’s wife’s dedication to her husband’s family without any complaint delivered how critical and important her support to the family was.
In that era, a merchant’s wife in north China participated in social activities by many aspects, such as selling and buying textiles. Her active interactions with the society raised certain social issues that people criticized negatively. However, she still tried to fulfill spiritual needs from religion and social contacts. Overall speaking, we could detect that between the dynasties of Ming and Ching, merchants’ wives in north China had began to be aware of why and how to react with other people.
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