The Life of Women in the Six Dynasties

六朝婦女生活

李真德(Jen-der Lee)

《婦女與兩性學刊》 4期 (1993/03) Pp. 47-80

https://doi.org/10.6255/JWGS.1993.4.47

摘要

本文採用正史，文學作品，考古資料和墓誌銘等史料探討六朝婦女生活。首先陳述先秦典籍與六朝士人所要求、提倡的婦德與婦教內容，然後描繪六朝婦女處在社交、教育、經濟和家庭生活中的情況。最後，利用約兩百五十個婦女的墓誌銘討論一般貴族婦女的婚齡、大婦年差、守寡年歲和年數，以及婦女壽年。從本文的討論可知：雖然六朝婦女仍以主中饋和生養子女的婚姻生活爲重心，其活動範圍卻不限於家庭之中。男女之防旣不嚴格，六朝婦女便享有相當自由參加社交活動。其婚姻生活展現夫妻親密之情。在教養子女和分擔家庭財務責任方面，婦女亦多參與。而北朝婦女更是藉著爭訟屈直、造請逢迎拓展自己在家庭以外的作用。年輕的寡婦再嫁雖爲當時人所認可，但是年長的寡婦則大多將心思物力投注於佛教信仰之上。總之，六朝婦女旣不虧負爲人妻母的責任，又能參與社交、教育和經濟的活動，其生活呈現了豐富的多樣性與活力。

關鍵字

六朝 ； 婦女 ； 生活 ； 墓誌銘

並列摘要

This article shows the agreement and discrepancy between classical teaching and social practice with regard to women's life in the Six Dynasties. It first examines the precepts of female propriety prescribed in the Classics and promulgated by contemporary scholars, then depicts a more realistic picture of a woman's social, educational, economic and family life. It portrays the average life of women in the Six Dynasties, applying not only the standard histories, but also archaeological materials, epitaphs, and contemporary literature. Several points are made here. First, marriage was the norm for a woman's career. She prepared food and clothing for her husband's family, and took the responsibility of bearing and raising children. Second, however, a married woman could still enjoy certain social freedom. Gender segregation was not successfully enforced: conjugal life in this period demonstrated affection and liveliness, and a northern wife's function was not confined within the household. Third, remarriage for widows was accepted, although most elderly widows devoted their attention more to Buddhist faith than to worldly relations. The picture thus suggests that without failing the responsibilities as wives and mothers, women in this period played a larger role in family, enjoyed social and ideological alternatives, and displayed vigor in their lives.

並列關鍵字

women ； Six Dynasties ； history of life ； epitaphs