中国传统文化特别重视家庭。家庭始于男女的结合,是构成社会的基层组织,所以夫妻关系自然是中国人十分看重的基本社会关系。现在人们大体公认,远古时代的中国曾经有过一个父系氏族阶段,那里是男性家长主宰家庭中的一切。这种上古父家长制遗风始终没有彻底消除,并且在周、秦、汉以后逐渐与国家用所倡导的礼法规范融合,以至成为中国传统家庭制度的主要特色。大体上,国家政府的法规文件和正统学者的著述都无疑问地支持男性支配家庭这个基本文化原则。正由于这一原则十分明显,人们便很容易对它做过分的强调,而忽视中国家庭关系中的许多比较不易概念化的复杂具体情况。本文以“悍妻”作为一个社会历史现象来研究,主旨在于由此一点而讨论中国社会与文化的复杂的多层次的特性。“悍妻”一词在本文中专指采用身体侵害(PHISI- CALABUSE)或辱骂方式实现对丈夫控制的妻子。“悍”字在汉语中通常含有贬义,我们不想效法 Chinese traditional culture pays special attention to the family. Families start with the combination of men and women and constitute the grass-roots organizations of society. Therefore, the relationship between husband and wife is naturally a basic social relationship that Chinese people value. It is now generally accepted that in ancient times China used to have a patriarchal clan stage, where male parents dominate everything in the family. The patriarchal legacy of the ancient patriarch has not been completely eliminated. After the Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties, it gradually merged with the national norms and standards advocated by the state and became the main features of the traditional Chinese family system. In general, the regulatory documents of national governments and orthodox scholars’ writings undoubtedly support the basic cultural principle that men dominate the family. It is because of this principle that it is easy for people to over-emphasize it while ignoring the many complex situations that are more difficult to conceptualize in China’s family relations. This article is based on the study of the “defensive wife” as a social and historical phenomenon. The purpose of this article is to discuss the complex multi-layered nature of Chinese society and culture from this point of view. The term “defensive wife” is used in this article to mean a wife who is physically controlled (PHISI-CALABUSE) or abusive to the husband’s control. The word “fierce” often contains derogatory meanings in Chinese. We do not want to follow suit