Publication details
Journeys to the kings and marriages across boundaries : Asian first ladies and sacralized polygamy in mythological motifs and in practice
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| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Migrations of royal women may be studied even in the field of world mythology due to interdisciplinary connections with population studies or development of languages. Although imperial polygamy in Asian cultures is generally well known practice, contextual explanations and related habits contain many mythological motifs, since the life of the elites is different from conditions of common people. This paper was focused on selected customs of imperial courts mainly in Korea, Vietnam, and Central Asian nomadic states in relations with China. It also includes stories of noble ladies married and transported to different cultural environment to fulfill their role in keeping political integrity within the empires (or on the contrary international relations with vassal states) and ultimately keeping the lineage of the imperial family alive. In free, but still in obvious connection with migration topic, this paper analyzes the polygamy under the following themes: 1. Evolutionary background and rules connected with searching andselection of girls. 2. Titles of first ladies, the concept of “State Mother” vs. imperial harem and internal hierarchy. 3. Moral demands supporting polygamy and mythological symbols used by the royal couple. 4. Selected impacts of royal polygamy on development of historical populations, languages, and social rules in contemporary East Asia. |
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