Concubinage

Concubinage is a socially recognized partnership in which one person, often a man, keeps another as a concubine outside a marriage recognized by law or custom. Its legal status and the partner’s rights have varied widely across societies.

Marriage: A socially and legally recognized union that establishes rights and obligations between spouses. Concubinage was defined in relation to marriage and often lacked the same recognized status.
Dowry: Property or money transferred by a bride’s family at marriage. Marriage payments could distinguish a wife’s economic position from a concubine’s.
Imperial Chinese concubinage: A family practice in imperial China in which a man could have secondary partners alongside a principal wife. It illustrates a hierarchical household system with distinct statuses for wife and concubine.
Common-law marriage: A marriage recognized through a couple’s conduct and circumstances rather than a formal ceremony or license. Unlike concubinage, it can confer the legal status of marriage.
Succession to the throne: The rules and events determining who inherits a monarch’s position. A ruler’s concubines and their children could influence claims to power.
Legitimacy (family law): The legal status historically assigned to a child born to parents recognized as married. Children’s status often depended on whether their parents’ union counted as marriage.
Paternity: The state of being a child’s father, with biological, social, or legal dimensions. Recognizing a father could affect a concubine’s children’s status and claims.
Islamic concubinage: Historical practices of concubinage in Muslim societies, shaped by jurisprudence and institutions of slavery. It shows how legal doctrines interacted with enslavement and household relationships.
Polygyny: A marital arrangement in which one man has more than one wife at the same time. It involves multiple recognized wives, rather than a partner outside marriage.
Social stratification: The organization of society into ranked groups with unequal access to status, resources, and power. Concubinage could establish distinct ranks among women and their children.

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Jin Ping MeiRelated: Ximen Qing's wives and concubines make rank and rivalry visible inside the household.