Abstract: There have been many misunderstandings of the marriage system of the early Manchus. An example is the practice of polygamy，a long一standing custom among ethnic groups in North and Northeastern Asia. In monogamy，where by secondary wives had the status of concubines. It was assumed that wives in polygamous Manchu households were the same as Chinese “concubines.” Originally，polygamy only existed among the nobility and rich families. With the rise of Nuthaci，males took many wives not just as custom but also as a political necessity. Beginning in the Chongde reign of Hong Taiji，polygamy in noble families began to be practiced in accord with the orthodox Chinese concept of monogamy，though it took a longer time for the lineal wife(diqi) to affirm her status and for the secondary wives to drop to the status of concubine. This only occurred in the Yongzheng and Qianlong reigns. Only in noble families was the secondary wife’s name maintained(ce fujin):otherwise it disappeared. These changes developed more slowly among ordinary Manchus，so that the remnants of polygamy could still be found up to the fall of the Qing.