妾

Refers to a woman of lower status within a household, often translated as concubine or serving woman.

In classical and feudal contexts, it described a woman secondary to the lawful wife (正室), yet bound in loyalty and service to the same household.

It is an ideogram or pictophonetic derivative depicting servitude and subordination.

In its oracle bone form (甲骨文), the character shows:

女 (woman) — a female figure kneeling in service.

辛 (tattooing or branding needle) — a tool of punishment or marking, indicating subjugation or servitude.

Thus, the original pictograph represents a woman marked or branded, signifying a female slave or servant.

Over time, the meaning broadened to include a concubine — a woman under a man’s authority but not possessing the legal or social status of wife.

正妻妾 (정처첩) — wife and concubines

姬妾 (기첩) — wives and concubines collectively

侍妾 (시첩) — attendant concubine; lady-in-waiting

妾身 (첩신) — “this humble self” (used by women of humility in classical Chinese)

宮妾 (궁첩) — palace maid or imperial consort of low rank

婢妾 (비첩) — maidservant or slave woman

妾侍 (첩시) — servant girl; companion woman

In classical correspondence, women of lower rank used 妾 as a humble self-reference:

「妾願奉侍左右。」

“Your servant (I) wish to attend at your side.”

The character 妾 encapsulates the social hierarchy of ancient patriarchal society, where women’s roles were stratified between:

妻 (wife) — the primary, legitimate spouse.

妾 (concubine) — a secondary partner or household servant.

While 妾 carried lower status, some concubines gained influence through childbirth or favor — e.g., mothers of princes in imperial courts often held the title 妃 (consort) or 妾 in earlier stages.

The presence of 辛 (branding tool) in the ancient form symbolizes social stigma, marking servitude, obedience, and submission.

In moral literature, 妾 was sometimes contrasted with 婦 (wife) — representing humility versus authority.

In Confucian ethics, 妾 was tolerated but morally restrained under the principle of ritual order (禮).

By later dynasties, however, the term acquired emotional and literary resonance — symbolizing devotion, quiet suffering, or hidden affection.

妾 embodies the tension between devotion and subjugation, affection and inequality.

It represents both humility and constraint, often appearing in poetry to convey a woman’s restrained longing or loyalty.

「妾心如月，終照君前。」

“My heart, like the moon, forever shines before my lord.”

The character’s structure — a woman (女) under the mark of 辛 (discipline) — visually encodes a life lived in service and quiet endurance.

Thus, 妾 symbolizes not merely a social role but a psychological statev— one of constrained love, obedience, and patient suffering.

妾 reminds us of the human cost of hierarchy — how devotion and tenderness may exist within constraint, and how dignity can persist even beneath submission.

「妾非願卑，時使然耳。」

“I did not wish to be lowly; it is merely the age that made it so.”

In modern reflection, 妾 stands as a poignant reminder of historical gender inequality, but also of the enduring strength of the human heart, which finds grace even within the bounds of servitude.

Thus, 妾 — though born from pain and hierarchy — speaks softly of loyalty, humility, and the quiet resilience of love.