However, philosophers have found that the Seris do not seem to have thought about such a question.

There is a saying of "eight mothers" in Seris society, which means that eight types of women can be regarded as mothers, including mothers-in-law, stepmothers, adoptive mothers, loving mothers, married mothers, out-of-law mothers, concubine mothers, and nursing mothers. For philosophers, this is a clear example.

Because some of the eight mothers are not directly related to their fathers.

Mother-in-law is the name given to the father's wife by the concubine's children, and this relationship depends entirely on the father; The same goes for stepmothers and cousins. Motherhood means that at the behest of a father, a concubine adopts a child from another concubine, and the child is called by the adoptive mother who takes care of her. Since the key point of emphasis is on the father's instructions, it is also related to the father.

But adoptive mothers and nursing mothers don't have to have anything to do with their fathers. Even in the absence of a father, a child can be adopted or nurtured. In this way, the authority of the father is not a sufficient condition for maintaining the position of the mother.

The remaining two are even counter-examples: marrying a mother means that the mother of a child has remarried someone else; A mother is a mother who has been abandoned. In both cases, the original parental relationship has legally ended. If the mother-child relationship is maintained by the father, then both relationships should be abolished immediately.

The Ceris philosophers have not been unaware of this problem.

Confucius's grandson's name was Zisi, and his great-grandson was called Zishang. The Kong family has had wives for several generations, and the son's mother also divorced and remarried someone else.

After his mother died, Zishang was about to go to the funeral, but Zisi stopped him. The disciples asked why, and Zisi said that the woman should first be the father's wife, and then the child's mother. If the relationship between husband and wife is severed, then the relationship between mother and child is also severed. Now this woman is no longer his wife, so she is no longer the mother of the son, and there is no need to mourn for her.

His line of thinking is what Greek scholars call the father-centered model.

But the problem is that Zisi's theory has not been used by later generations. How to treat the marrying mother and the mother, the Confucians debated endlessly, and there was never a unified opinion. In different times and places, people often go their own way.

Finally, the regulations on the mourning period given by the government are often the product of compromise: you have to serve the mourning, but you don't have to fill it. In short, it's obviously with the mud......

This shows that the Seris have patriarchy, but patriarchy is not the only factor. The mother-child relationship itself has been recognized for a long time, and there is bargaining confidence. In this case, the customs naturally became what they are now.

In short, the purity of patriarchy is too low.

On the other hand, through some extreme cases, the difference between the two sides can be seen better.

In Greece, there is a popular story that Agamemnon, the commander of the attack on Troy, was killed by his wife and her lover after returning home - this seems to be a very common plot in the Mediterranean world, and there are many reproductions in reality. But Agamemnon's children were very determined and always wanted to avenge their father.

Agamemnon's youngest son, Orestes, went into exile after his father's death and returned to his hometown when he grew up. With the help of his sister, he succeeds in killing his mother and his mother's mistress, fulfilling his desire for revenge.

But after that, Nemesis continued to pursue him, and Orestes could only continue to flee everywhere. Later, Apollo helped him run to Athens to seek refuge in Athena, and Athena organized a group of the wisest men to put him on trial.

Apollo himself came forward to defend him, saying that his father was more important than his mother, so his actions should be pardoned. But the goddess of vengeance considers mothericide to be a felony and cannot be pardoned. The judges could not reach an agreement, with half for and half against. At the critical moment, Athena cast the last vote and declared him not guilty. Orestes was eventually pardoned.

Although it is a fictional myth, this classic story has been repeatedly cited by scholars because it represents people's basic understanding. However, in Seris, such a thing is not to be found.

The case of killing the mother to avenge the father did not happen uncommonly, on the contrary, there were classic cases in the Han Dynasty.

During the period of Emperor Jingdi of the Western Han Dynasty, the famous "Anti-Year Case" occurred. Fang Nian's stepmother Chen killed Fang Nian's father, so Fang Nian avenged his father and killed his mother. Tingwei was arrested and sentenced to death according to the law, and he was found guilty of "killing his mother" and should be punished according to the crime of "great rebellion".

But at that time, the concept of revenge was very popular, so Emperor Jing of Han recruited Emperor Wu of Han, who was still the crown prince at the time, to consult him.

The prince said that in the Book of Rites, "a stepmother is like a mother." Why do you say "like a mother"? It means that after all, she is still different from her own mother, but because of her father, she is just regarded as a mother.

And the stepmother killed the father, at this time, it means that the husband and wife kindness has ended, and the derived mother and son kindness will also end. Therefore, killing a stepmother should not be counted as a "great rebellion" crime of killing a mother, but should be counted as an ordinary homicide.

Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty agreed with his views, so the crime of Fang Nian was mitigated, and he was eventually sentenced to beheading and abandoning the city.

The judgment of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has been repeatedly cited by the legal codes of all dynasties and dynasties as a standard reference, and it has also had a great impact. And even overseas, in the eyes of Greek researchers, there is also a wealth of information.

The most obvious place is the problem of "stepmother is like mother". What exactly does it mean to be like a mother? It means to say "such as" mother, which means to be like a mother. Is that a mother a mother or not? It is "such as" the mother, that is, in the end, it is still not the mother......

This shows that although the stepmother is the father's legal wife, she is still not the real mother of the original son, but only relies on the marriage relationship between the parents to simulate the mother-son relationship. But like the previous example, this difference just proves that in addition to the relationship brought by the father, the mother-child blood relationship itself also has a certain influence and will be taken into account.

Similarly, the verdict of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was actually very "ingenious", saying that it was a reduction of the first-degree crime, but in fact nothing was reduced. He did not reward the revenge of the year, and he was given a reduced punishment. Moreover, after clearly analyzing the legal provisions, he still put Fang Nian to death.

In this case, it is difficult to say which side the judgment supports. Because judging from the results, the government actually does not support anything, even against the act of revenge itself. This kind of high control, and the supremacy of the authority of the imperial court, is also not found in Greece, because there are no "other parties" here. The roles of Nemesis, Apollo, Athena and other characters have all been replaced by the government.

(End of chapter)