A brief discussion on the improvement of women's legal status in the Ming Dynasty (abstract repost)

Flying with wings

1. The improvement of women's status in marriage rights

First, women's right to engage in marriage. Although engagement is the matter between the men and women involved, traditional customs and laws believe that this is a behavioral negotiation between the parents of both parties. Generally, individuals are rarely taken into consideration, because under the ethics of "father is the leader of the son" and "father at home" principles, both men and women are the actual hosts. Therefore, the law generally does not hold men and women responsible for violations of interference in marriage.

The laws of the Tang, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties generally stipulate that the marriage marriage regulations for marriage marriages are punished for marriage marriages that have been reported and privately owned by the Qing dynasty will be punished for marriage marriages. However, there are slight differences in sentencing. The dynasty still regards the illegal act of charity for marriages. In addition to the punishment for marriages and each husband, there are no exceptions: "If the woman returns to her ex-husband, if the ex-husband does not marry, the daughter will also have a betrothal gift, and the later husband will be added." It can be seen that in terms of engagement, women in the Ming Dynasty are basically the same as those in the early and late periods.

In a feudal society where patriarchal power is paramount, women's marriage and emotions are limited to a narrow range. The creed of "parents' orders and matchmakers' words" leads women to be in a tragic situation in choosing spouses "marrying chickens with chickens, marrying dogs with dogs". Feudal ethics suppresses women's true emotions and requires them to abide by their wife's morals and become the so-called good wife and mothers needed by men. This unequal marriage is a common phenomenon in feudal society.

In the late Ming Dynasty society, some women gradually abandoned the old principle of "matchmaker's words" and "family relatives" in choosing their love partner, and advocated that men and women should respect each other and respect each other and love each other. For example, Li Yingying in "Suxiangting Zhang Hao Meets Yingying" [1] revealed this new ideological and personality trait. She was enthusiastic and proactive in the pursuit of love, persistent and bold and brave in fighting. The work wrote that Li Yingying, who was a family of officials, had long admired Zhang Hao, who was famous for his long time, so she took the initiative to express her to Zhang Hao.

"I wish to be a good person of both genders". Later, I sent letters to Zhang Hao several times, especially when she got Zhang Hao and was forced to sign up for Sun's family by Ji's father, and she was facing the fate of abandonment, she first told her parents the truth that she had "lost her daughter's behavior", and with the strong will of "if this wish is contrary to her, she will break her own smile", she forced her to disagree with her in the past to report to the official without "the orders of her parents and the words of the matchmaker" to the official. In the Zhuang article, she took the story of Zhuo Wenjun and Sima Xiangru as an example.

, revealing that the feudal "superbs" of "women should not marry," there are also some unsuccessful lies and deceptions. It also proposes that in love and marriage, "the income belongs to others" and "etiquette obeys human feelings", which forced Longtu Pavilion to "repeat and accomplish it". Here, Li Yingying did not use the help of "the talented man passed the imperial examination and got married under the order" to find a destination for love, but instead fought with his sincere feelings and courtesy, thus finally realizing a happy marriage based on the point of true love, which is a kind of "modern"

"Free and equal marriage of sex". Wang Jiaoluan in "Wang Jiaoluan's Hundred Years of Eternal Sorrow" [2] also has the characteristics of their origin, experience and the ideology of the boudoir. This praise of true love is particularly prominent in women from the citizen class. In "Le Xiao Tong Fight for Life" [3], the crazy love between businessmen and Shun Niang is vividly and meticulously portrays the women's progressive concept of marriage and autonomy in engagement.

The second is the right to break off the engagement. After the engagement is settled, the engagement contract is called the right to break off the engagement or the marriage repentance. The Ming Dynasty can break off the engagement into three types: "recky prosper", "inflicting traitors", and "the male family violates the marriage period." Among them, "inflicting traitors" was formulated and implemented by the Ming Dynasty, while "inflicting traitors and traitors" began in the Yuan Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty inherited it.

These three situations were specifically manifested in the Ming Dynasty: First, in the case of a man committing a crime, "the man who engages in marriage acts as a thief or a criminal, and the woman who moves to the village will be willing to give up the family, and he will be hired for money." [4] Second, after the marriage, a man who refuses to a woman for five years without reason, "if he does not marry a husband for five years without reason and does not return for three years, he will listen to the official's license and remarry, and will not pursue wealth and gifts." [5] Third, in the case of a man's family, "if he grows in men, he will be promoted first, and he will not pursue wealth and gifts. Those who are not married will still follow the original plan; those who are married will divorce." [6]

It can be seen that in terms of breaking off engagement, women in the Ming Dynasty had more broad rights than those in previous dynasties, which undoubtedly protected women's rights in marriage to a certain extent.

Third, the scope of illegal marriage is expanded. Marriage violation means that marriages that are not subject to law shall be terminated according to law and shall be punished according to law. The "Tang Law" of the House Marriage Law of the House Marriage Law shall have several types of divorces: same-sex marriage, high-ranking marriage, good-ranking marriage, and wives and concubines of relatives. The provisions of the Ming Dynasty in the "Ming Law; House Rule; Marriage" are generally similar to those of the Tang Law, but they also added the rules of hiring wives and concubines, marrying people as wives and monks and Taoists as wives.

In the case of marriage of relatives, the Mongolian people in the Yuan Dynasty "recruiting marriage" custom, when the father dies, the son can accept his concubine's mother, and the brother dies, and the brother can accept his sister-in-law. Because "recruiting marriage" is a customary habit of Mongolian people, it has caused the facts of marriage that must be accepted for the majority of Mongolian women, which greatly restricts their freedom of choice of remarriage. The "Ming Law" resolutely corrects this "Hu Feng" and punishes "recruiting marriage" severely. "If you accept your father, ancestor concubine and uncle, you will be beheaded; if your brother dies, you will accept your sister-in-law, and your younger brother dies, you will be wounded." This regulation is in line with the customs and habits of the Han people and has a certain positive effect on the remarriage of women in the Ming Dynasty.

2. Improvement of legal status of unmarried daughters

In ancient China, women who were in their parents' homes and were not yet suitable for others were called unmarried daughters, also known as virgins. Regarding the status of unmarried daughters, they were influenced by the concept of male superiority and inferiority of women. Unmarried daughters obeyed their ancestors at home, and their fathers were "unmarried to their fathers"; on the other hand, they were influenced by the ethics of "the orderly of the elders and the young", the older daughters of the same generation not only enjoyed relatively superior rights to young daughters, but also sometimes had advantages for young men, as Zhao Fengyi said:

"Chinese ethics always attach importance to ethics, and 'the elders and the young are orderly' is one of the five relationships. Therefore, although women's status in the family is inferior to men of the same generation, the status of elders and young is still maintained." [7] In the Ming Dynasty, the sentences of "all those who beat brothers and sisters" were more severe, which is similar to the laws of the Tang and Song Dynasties. It can be seen that the legal status of women in the Ming Dynasty was first to obey their fathers, and among the brothers and sisters of the same generation, their status was mainly divided according to the "order of elders and youngs".

Regarding the inheritance rights of unmarried daughters, in ancient my country, unmarried daughters determined their status according to the ethics of "the elder and the young are orderly" in accordance with the ethics of "the elder and the young are orderly", but in terms of property inheritance rights, unmarried daughters no longer enjoy the privilege of "the elder and the young are orderly" because in feudal society centered on patriarchal rights, men were legal heirs, while women were not legal heirs of inheritance. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the inheritance rights of women were legally recognized. The "Kaiyuan Order of the House" stipulates that "all those who should divide the land, house and property shall share equally... Those who are unmarried shall not be given half of the money for hiring, sister, and sister in the house, and those who are in the house, shall reduce half of the money for hiring," which shows that the Tang Dynasty had the right to inherit property in the treasure of hiring, and obtained half of the money for hiring, according to the law.

Minglu only recognizes the legal inheritance rights of unmarried daughters only when the household is vacant, that is, "If there is no one who is the same clan to inherit, the daughter who is born will be divided, and no one will be appointed to the official." [8] The laws of the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties all have provisions, and the content is roughly the same, and recognizes that when the household is vacant, the property will be inherited by the female. The difference is that Songlu's Funeral Order stipulates that "if a person is in Japan, he will have his own will and the evidence will be clear, this order will not be used," that is, parents can use the will: deprivation.

Unmarried daughters inherit the right to inherit the estate. The Yuan law clearly states that it is clear that the household is destined to be absent, and women can inherit it. It can be seen that the Song Dynasty was also restricted by wills, and the Yuan Dynasty enjoyed absolute inheritance rights. In contrast, the Ming law stipulated this slightly, that is, women could inherit it if there is no inheritor of the same clan". Compared with the Tang Dynasty, the Yuan law undoubtedly weakened the inheritance rights of women. In short, the Ming Dynasty's property inheritance rights of unmarried daughters was greatly weakened compared to the previous dynasty.

3. Improvement of status after marriage

In ancient society, the concept of wives was very broad, including both the righteous wife, which is commonly referred to as "biological mother", and there are also concubines. Due to the length, the "wives" discussed in this article took the righteous wife as the research object. The legal status of "wives" in the Ming Dynasty basically follows the identity and status of housewives in traditional society since the Han Dynasty, that is, following the principle of "husband as wife" as one of the "three pillars", thus creating a situation of "husband as wife" in law. However, some legal provisions in the Ming Dynasty also revealed a certain atmosphere of protecting women's rights, which provided legal guarantees for the improvement of women's status in the Ming Dynasty.

First, the personal rights of a wife. In the Ming law, "the husband's respect for his wife is reflected in the "same crime and different laws punishment" when the husband and wife commits each other's crimes, which will inevitably cause damage to the wife's personal rights. For example, the wife beats her husband and "one hundred wars" to more than one injury, "each one three-level mortals"; and the husband beats his wife, "not to be injured, not to be injured"; "the more than one injury, less than to be injured, less than to be injured." There are similar provisions in the "Tang Law", which shows that under the same degree of fighting injury, the punishment of the wife by law is far more serious than the punishment of the husband. What's more, the husband's mistakes are listed as "each without discussion". It can be seen that the laws of each dynasty regard the wife as the husband's private property, and even the lives of the wife are not guaranteed.

The second is the property rights of a wife. In the Tang Dynasty, the property rights of a wife include both the dowry at the time of marriage, and also include the inheritance of the family property in accordance with the law in the case of "household severance". In the first year of Yuancheng, Emperor Wenzong of Tang Dynasty, "There is no man but a woman, and the woman who gets married will be able to obtain property together." [9] Women in the Yuan Dynasty can freely dispose of dowry. The "Regulations on the Division of Households of the Yuan Dian Provincial Ministry of Revenue" stipulates: "The family property should be divided, if the property obtained by the wife's family is not subject to the division limit": "For women who remarry, whether they divorce during their lifetime or live in widowhood after death, if they want to marry someone else, they will follow the dowry." When they heard that the ex-husband's family was the main one, they were allowed to move with them.

After the Ming Dynasty, as the rulers' control over women's chastity became increasingly strict and the rulers discriminated against women's divorce and remarriage and widow remarriage, the personal property of the married daughter - dowry gradually evolved into part of the husband's property. The Ming Dynasty law restricted this: "When a woman dies and has no children... a remarried man will mainly follow the husband's property and the original dowry." For widows who keep their chastity, they are allowed to inherit the inheritance, and at the same time, the provisions of "sharing the husband's family" were also made. It can be seen that the Ming law stipulates that the wife has no property rights in essence.

But in the actual situation of the Ming Dynasty, this was not the case. For example, in "Jiang Xingge's Pearl Shirt", Wang Sanqiao was divorced and remarried Wu Jinshi after being divorced. The original husband Jiang Xingge did not stop him. Before marrying, he "sent sixteen boxes of cages upstairs, and remained intact" to serve as a dowry. Meng Yulou and Li Ping'er also took away a lot of property when they remarried.

The third is the right to divorce for a wife. After the Tang Dynasty, the law took "If a husband and wife are not harmonious, and those who wish to divorce will not sit" as the divorce principle, that is, divorce can be realized only under the premise of two wishes, that is, divorce is agreed upon. In addition, it also stipulates that "any wife who does not have the strength to come out and the righteousness is extinct, will be 80 rods. Even if the offense is in danger, there will be three who do not go out and will be pursued and reunited." [10] This "seven out" refers to the dissatisfaction of parents, no children, lust, jealousy, have evil diseases, speak more, and stealing. The seven out is also called seven out, or seven out of abandon, which is a tradition in ancient China.

The conditions for divorce, and the "three no-go" refers to "who has a marriage and no-go, and the loss of three years is due to the loss of greed and wealth after three years." This is a restrictive rule made by Ming Dynasty on the birth of a wife, which protects the rights of women within a certain range. However, in actual situations, if a woman commits a bad disease and commits a traitor, the restrictions on "three no-go" are often invalid. If a husband indulges his wife, and the concubine commits adultery with others, and the husband escapes for three years, he will beat his wife up to more than more. He will hire his wife and be beaten up by his husband's parents inappropriately, and the wife can file a divorce with her husband, but it is very taboo to divorce in the Ming Dynasty.

Fourth, the right to remarry for a wife. Ming law stipulates that widows have parents-in-law to remarry, but the social atmosphere in the Ming Dynasty has changed drastically, and women have a broader right to remarry in real life. Women's teaching believes that whether widows are up to their own qualities or not should be decided by themselves. For example, Chapter 25 of "Water Margin": "Wang Po told Pan Jinlian that the first marriage is followed by the bride, and remarry is by their own body. How should my uncle manage it?" Pan Jinlian eventually took charge of the marriage and remarryed Ximen Qing. Moreover, the remarrying of husbands has become the basic value orientation of ordinary people's women, and social public opinion also recognizes it. In some places, there is the custom of a wife being hired as a woman of others before her husband dies of illness.

After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the relaxation of ethics and the changes in people's values, people were able to accept widows. In "Jin Ping Mei", Pan Jinlian remarried twice. She was originally a concubine of Zhang Dahou, then remarried to Wuhan University, and finally remarried to Ximen Qing. Meng Yulou was remarried by the cloth merchant Yang family, and then remarried to Li Yanei. After Li Ping'er died, she remarried to Jiang Zhushan and Ximen Qing. There were many servants who remarried, which shows that women remarried has become a common trend.

Comments

[1] Feng Menglong: "Jingshi Tongyan" Volume 29, Tianjin People's Publishing House, 1957, page 258

[2] Feng Menglong: "Jingshi Tongyan" Volume 34, Tianjin People's Publishing House, 1957, page 350

[3] Feng Menglong: "Jingshi Tongyan" Volume 23, Tianjin People's Publishing House, 1957, page 206

[4] "The Ming Dynasty Order: The Husband Order", Zhonghua Book Company, 1960, page 20

[5] "The Ming Dynasty Order: The Husband Order", Zhonghua Book Company, 1960, page 20

[6] "The Law of the Ming Dynasty; The Law of the House of the Three Kingdoms; Marriage" Volume 6,

[7] Zhao Fengyi: "The Legal Status of Chinese Women", Commercial Press, 1928, pp. 8-11

[8] "The Ming Dynasty Order: The Husband Order", Zhonghua Book Company, 1960, p. 60

[9] "Song Zhengtong·; House Marriage" Volume 1, 2,
Chapter completed!