Madam, this is an honorific title for women. In the Qing Dynasty, the wives of ordinary landlords could also be called madams, including the wives of scholars at the lowest level, who could also be called the wives of so-and-so scholars.
Madam is just like Westerners calling Ms. so-and-so respectfully, it is an honorific.
But in ancient times, absolutely not everyone could be called madam, because madam was the title of a female official in Zhou rites.
According to the records of Zhou rites, the emperor established a queen, three wives, nine concubines, etc... It can be seen that the position of wife is second only to the queen.
Zhou Li is the origin of Chinese etiquette in all dynasties. Later in the Han, Tang, Song and Ming dynasties, there were many modifications to the etiquette, and many names were also changed, but the overall context still originated from Zhou Li.
Including the late Qing Dynasty, although the wife of a scholar or the daughter-in-law of a wealthy person could be respectfully called Mrs. So-and-so by the common people, this honorific could not be implemented in words.
That is to say, once a famous woman wants to leave her name in the history books, or carve a tombstone after her death, and write a biography for future generations, etc... she dare not write the word "Madam" randomly, because this requires canonization by the court. .
This is an honor. A first-grade lady, a second-grade lady, a third-grade lady, a fourth-grade lady, a fifth-grade lady... Only such wives who are officially recognized by the imperial court can be written in history books or epitaphs.
This was the case in the late Qing Dynasty, and the Japanese etiquette system was completely brought over from China during the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the Japanese highly respected Zhou rites. Over the past thousands of years, the etiquette system of the Central Plains has undergone many changes, but only Japan However, the etiquette system of the Tang Dynasty and even before the Tang Dynasty is completely preserved here like fossils.
Japan’s court customs and etiquette are very close to those of the Han scholar-bureaucrat class during the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. Some people may ask, wasn’t Japan’s absorption of a large amount of Central Plains culture brought back by envoys sent to the Tang Dynasty? It should be said that it should be closer to the Tang Dynasty.
This layer of window paper is actually very simple, because the Japanese, the Han Chinese in the Central Plains, and other ethnic groups all have a common characteristic, which is worshiping the ancients.
Yes, human beings have a very unique idea of worshiping antiquity. In the ancient Greek era, people also worshiped Atlantis and the Age of Gods, and the Roman Empire had a strong obsession with Greek civilization.
The ancient Egyptian civilization has long since died out, but it does not prevent future generations from dreaming and singing!
The same goes for the Chinese. The Tang Dynasty was very powerful, but the literati still had the idea of worshiping the ancients. In their hearts, the saints in ancient times were always perfect, but the ancient times were too far away, and people didn't know how those people lived.
Then we can only settle for the next best thing and choose the ancestors we are most familiar with, that is, the two Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties periods. The people of the Tang Dynasty admired the culture of that era very much, including Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, the wildness of the Seven Sages in the Bamboo Grove, and even the open relationship between men and women in the Tang Dynasty. It is also related to the legacy of that era.
The people of the Tang Dynasty admired the culture of the two Jin Dynasties, but what about the primary school students of the Tang Dynasty? Naturally, there is more fanatical worship, which is the fundamental reason why Japan retains many cultural fragments of the Two Jin Dynasties.
At this time, ordinary Japanese citizens were not even qualified to have a surname. It was normal for a grandson not to know his grandfather's name. Clan relations were limited to those civil servants and military lords.
Not to mention that the emperor has declined, no matter how powerful the Tokugawa shogunate is, no matter how powerful the shogun is, there is one thing that he cannot take away, which is the power of the emperor and the ministerial class led by him to interpret and grant official positions. .
This is an inalienable right of the emperor and his subordinates, and the samurai family has not been able to get involved in it for thousands of years.
In the hearts of the people of the late Qing Dynasty, the title of Tiger Lady may be very common, but in Fuso Japan, once the title of Tiger Lady is given, Huniu's worth will increase hundreds of times.
Mrs. Ippintora's official position is close to that of the shogun. She can receive the highest courtesy in any daimyo territory in Japan.
To give a simple example, Matsudaira Yoshiho, the lord of the Aizu domain, was a very trusted minister of the Tokugawa shogunate. He held the position of guardian of Kyoto, but Matsudaira Yoshiho's official position was only as a Higo guardian.
In Japan, Higomori is only an official of the fifth rank, which is far different from the first rank of Tigress. In other words, if one day Mrs. Tora wants to go to Matsudaira Yongho's territory to enjoy the cherry blossoms, then Matsudaira Yongho must He went out of the city to greet her and respectfully gave up his seat to his wife.
Even the right to live in the castle tower must be given to the first-class Tiger Lady. This is etiquette and law, and this is the hierarchy.
Xiao Letian scratched his head and couldn't figure out what was wrong with this, but he was very clear about one thing. The key point in this matter must be his son. It was the birth of this little thing that triggered a very subtle... The situation changes.
"Prime Minister! Since Lord Sakamoto Ryoma was convicted by you and unable to return to Fuso, Lord Sakamoto's deputy, your other disciple Ito Hirobumi, took over the work of the CIA's Fuso branch..."
Hiss... Xiao Letian took a breath of air. He seemed to have faintly touched a clue, a deeply hidden clue.
The change in the situation in Fuso actually originated from the scam before the war, that is, the conspiracy that Ryoma Sakamoto was convicted of and used to deceive British and French intelligence officers.
A very deep series of strategies, and Sakamoto Ryoma was the most important part of the plan. When Noheita and Hyoutarou's batto camp broke out, Sakamoto Ryoma insisted on taking the blame and resigning. Everyone knew that he and Xiao Letian were noisy.
In the end, Xiao Letian angrily removed all of Sakamoto Ryoma's positions and assigned them to Hong Kong, including the position of head of the Fuso CIA branch.
Everyone knew what happened later. This was actually a smoke bomb released by Xiao Letian, and Sakamoto Ryoma was just beaten by Huang Gai.
In Hong Kong, Ryoma-kun released the gold information and successfully aroused the greed of Tsarist Russia, causing them to rush towards the treasury trap on Amami Oshima.
If Mr. Ryoma had followed Xiao Letian's script, what happened next would not have happened. If he had honestly only handed over the golden information, and then returned to Ryukyu, he would have been reinstated and even received a reward.
It's a pity that the Japanese nation's stubborn and perverted genes influenced Ryoma Sakamoto. This guy actually added to the drama on his own! Not only did they release golden information, they actually released information about the Bailayitun Reclamation Area.
The Bai Layi tragedy shocked the entire Chinese nation, and Ryoma Sakamoto was convicted. In order to calm the anger within the Chinese nation, Xiao Letian could only force Ryoma Sakamoto to become a monk. This was the only way to save his life.
The high-ranking official Ryoma Sakamoto disappeared, and there was an eminent monk, the Great Monk Ryūshi, in the world. However, the Great Monk could only serve as an aide but not an official. In addition, the war was urgent and Xiao Letian focused all his energy on the war. This resulted in A very serious problem.
Ito Hirobumi of the Fuso CIA branch suddenly gained huge power in a short period of time. He was like a butterfly fanning a Pacific hurricane, quietly fluttering its wings.
