Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive.Concubinage was a formal and institutionalized practice in China until the 20th century that upheld concubines' rights and obligations. A concubine could be freeborn or of slave origin, and her experience could vary tremendously according to her master's whim. During the Mongol conquests, both foreign royals and captured women were taken as concubines. Concubinage was also common in Meiji Japan as a status symbol, and in Indian society, where the intermingling of different social groups and religions was frowned upon and a taboo, and concubinage could be practiced with women with whom marriage was considered undesirable.Many Middle Eastern societies used concubinage for reproduction. The practice of a barren wife giving
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