嫡长子继承制是宗法制的核心,嫡长子身份地位的确定对于宗法制的顺利实施起着关键作用,对当时政治的稳定具有至关重要的作用,而嫡长子的身份又是由母亲的身份决定的,因此,母亲的地位是决定其子享有嫡长子地位的关键,这就必然要求西周社会妻妾关系的等级严明。《礼记》作为研究西周礼仪的重要文献,在维护嫡妻身份地位方面做了大量的礼仪规定,以保证宗法制度的顺利实行。 嫡 eldest son inheritance system is the core of the patriarchal system, 嫡 determination of eldest son status for the smooth implementation of patriarchal system plays a key role in political stability at the time has a crucial role, and 嫡 eldest son’s identity is by the mother’s identity Therefore, the mother’s status is the key to determining her son’s status as the eldest son, which inevitably calls for the strict grading of the relationship between the wives and the wives in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Book of Rites, as an important document for studying the rituals of the Western Zhou Dynasty, has made a great deal of etiquette rules in the maintenance of the status of the wife in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the patriarchal clan system.