英文摘要
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In Chinese traditional marriage rites, men were generally superior to women to a large extent, except in the marriage of princesses. Although Confucian scholars consistently tried to incorporate the marriage of princesses into the normative androcentric model, reality often went contrary to their wishes, especially in the Ming dynasty. In this article, I first survey the procedures of imperial princess marriage rites in the Ming. I then compare these marriage rites to the ideal Confucian marriage, and attempt to demonstrate how the royal family elevated the status of princesses by revising the marriage ritual procedures. It is very obvious that the royal family was never inclined to Confucian dogma. The primary reason for the distinctive status of princess-consort marriage in the Ming, apart from unique circumstances of individual marriages, was this deliberate manipulation by interested parties.
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