A Study On The Conception Of Selecting Son-in-Law Of The Scholar-Officials In The Tang Dynasty

The scholar-officials was the intellectual and elite class in the Tang Dynasty.Unmarried women as an indispensable part of the scholar-officials,the choice of their spouses often represented the value orientation on marriage issues of their whole family.When choosing a son-in-law,the scholar-officials in Tang Dynasty often considered the family background,good personal characteristics and political and economic benefits that the son-in-law could bring to themselves.In the early period of Tang Dynasty,the social atmosphere of valuing family status of Wei and Jin Dynasties continued,and the conception of valuing family status was deeply rooted.Therefore,valuing family background was the main conception of selecting son-in-law in the scholar-officials in this period.In the middle of Tang Dynasty,with the gradual improvement and development of the imperial examination system,the old scholar-officials began to decline,and the influence of the conception of family status on the conception of selecting son-in-law of the scholar-officials began to weaken.The conception that emphasized talent,scholarly honor won in imperial competitive examination and economic interests emerged gradually,thus the conception of selecting son-in-law of scholar-officials in this period showed the characteristics of diversification.In the late Tang Dynasty,the imperial examination system was further improved and developed,the old scholar-officials declined,and the new scholar-officials gradually became powerful.Although the conception of family status in marriage still existed,the conception of choosing son-in-law,which emphasized talents,scholarly honor won in imperial competitive examination and political and economic interests,became the mainstream criteria of selecting son-in-law in this period.Although the content and evolution of the conception of selecting son-in-law of the whole scholar-officials class were the same,the conception of selecting son-in-law of the new and old scholar-officials had their own characteristics.On the whole,the old scholar-officials paid more attention to their family social status,whilethe new scholar-officials paid more attention to their good personal characteristics such as knowledge,morality,talent and scholarly honor won in imperial competitive examination.Both the new and old scholar-officials had the criteria of valuing interests,but the old scholar-officials mainly valued the economic interests,while the new scholar-officials focused on the political interests;In the middle and late Tang Dynasty,the conception of selecting son-in-law of the scholar-officials began to change from the emphasis on family status to the emphasis on talents and scholarly honor won in imperial competitive examination.However,the change of the new scholar-officials was earlier than that of the old one,and the change speed was also faster.The evolution of the conception of selecting son-in-law in different periods of Tang Dynasty and the different characteristics of the conception of selecting son-in-law between the new and the old scholar-officials were related to the social hierarchy,social customs and the gradual improvement and development of the imperial examination system at that time.