Multiple Marriage. In imperial China a man was allowed to have only one wife, but he could have multiple concubines. Such a polygamous institution prevailed not only among the wealthy and powerful but also in ordinary families. An official wedding ceremony sealed the union between a man and his wife, and laws established by the Tang dynasty (618-907) prohibited bigamy, yet the same man was allowed to possess other women as concubines. Because of this legal difference, there was a huge stratification in social standing among the wife and the concubines in terms of status and privileges within the family. Concubines were called the Xia Qi (second wife), Xiao Qi (minor wife), or Ce Shi (companion).

Sons. The desire for male children to perpetuate the family name and to have descendants to burn incense before the ancestral tablets...