Women, Property, and Confucian Reaction in Sung and Yuan China: 960-1368

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 5
Title......Page 7
Copyright......Page 8
Dedication......Page 9
Contents......Page 13
Figures......Page 16
Tables......Page 17
Chronology of Chinese Dynasties......Page 18
Abbreviations......Page 19
Acknowledgments......Page 21
Introduction......Page 25
Contours of Change at the National Level......Page 28
Local Conditions: The Prefecture of Chien-ning, Fukien......Page 42
Chu Hsi (1130–1200) and the Learning of the Way (Tao-Hsüeh)......Page 48
The Language of Minimization......Page 55
The Economic Significance of Women’s Property......Page 61
1 Women and Property before the Sung: Evolution and Continuity......Page 65
Chou Feudalism and Confucian Ideals......Page 66
Han Dynasty Developments: Communal Living, Common Property......Page 70
Dowry versus Betrothal Gifts......Page 75
T’ang Inheritance and Property Law......Page 77
Conclusion......Page 84
2 Women and Property in the Sung: Legal Innovation in Changing Times......Page 88
Sung Law and the Legal System......Page 90
THE HALF-SHARE RULE......Page 100
STATE SUPPORT OF FEMALE INHERITANCE......Page 115
DAUGHTERS' INHERITANCE BY TESTAMENT AND LEGAL PROTECTION OF THE PROPERTY OF MINORS......Page 118
Inheritance by Daughters without Surviving Brothers......Page 121
NEW PROVISIONS FOR DAUGHTERS IN CUT-OFF HOUSEHOLDS......Page 122
INTERVENTION OF THE STATE......Page 128
DAUGHTERS AND POSTHUMOUS HEIRS......Page 133
RULES OF DIVISION BETWEEN DAUGHTERS AND POSTHUMOUS HEIRS......Page 134
Women’s Property within Marriage......Page 137
Son and Stepmother Dispute Property......Page 139
Hsiung Pang and His Brother Dispute Property with [the widow] Ah Kan......Page 148
REMARRIAGE AND THE LAW......Page 149
Separate Property within Marriage While the Husband Was Alive......Page 151
Divorce......Page 154
Disposition of Dowry When a Wife Died without Heirs......Page 158
Conclusion: Property, Gender, and the Law......Page 162
3 Women’s Property and Confucian Reaction in the Sung......Page 167
Patrilineality and Daughters’ Inheritance......Page 168
Opposition to Private Property within Marriage......Page 174
Chu’s Hsi’s Encouragement of Dowry Donation......Page 175
Dowry Donation and the Learning of the Way Fellowship......Page 177
The Growing Concern over Dowry during the Sung......Page 185
Northern Sung Discourse on Women as Household Managers......Page 193
Chu Hsi and Women’s Roles in the Household......Page 198
Chu Hsi’s Contemporaries and Followers......Page 203
Huang Kan’s Enforcement of Learning of the Way Ideals......Page 209
II......Page 213
III......Page 214
Conclusion......Page 221
4 Transformation of Marriage and Property Law in the Yüan......Page 224
Marriage and the Levirate in Mongol and Chinese Society......Page 225
Law in the Yüan Dynasty......Page 232
Family Property and Daughters’ Inheritance......Page 241
Inheritance in Cut-off Households......Page 244
Women’s Separate Property in Marriage......Page 252
Changing Laws on Marriage and Property in the Yüan......Page 253
Stage 1: Separation of Mongol and Chinese Law, 1260 to the End of 1271......Page 254
Stage 2: Mongolization of the Law and Universal Application of the Levirate, 1271–1276......Page 262
Stage 3: Reassertion of Chinese Values and Lenient Enforcement of the Levirate, 1276–1294......Page 269
Stage 4: The Confucian Transformation of Marriage and Property Law, 1294–1320......Page 277
LEVIRATE MARRIAGE......Page 278
THE MOURNING PERIOD......Page 281
FAMILY PROPERTY AND WOMAN AS PROPERTY......Page 285
NEW LEGISLATION PROMOTING WIDOW CHASTITY......Page 288
Sample Petition for a Widow without Children Requesting a Permit to Remarry......Page 296
Stage 5: The Exaltation of Chastity in the Late Yüan......Page 297
Post-Yüan Developments......Page 301
Conclusion......Page 303
Conclusion: Gender, Mongols, and Confucian Ideals......Page 307
Primary Sources......Page 321
Secondary Sources......Page 328
Glossary-Index......Page 353