Knowledge of Chinese Culture
In traditional China, the law
allowed only one wife for a man. However, a man could have many concubines. The main
reason for this was that the wife could not bear a son for the man. Although a concubine
was called "little wife", she was not a legitimate wife. The concubine had
unequality with the wife. She could be dismissed for any reason as different from the wife
(see divorce). A concubine's position in the family depended
upon many things: whether she could bear a son; her relations with the wife, etc.