How and why did women's rights to property and marriage change in China between 960 and 1400?

Essay by i4959College, Undergraduate March 2004

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The period 960 to 1400 covers a time of significant historical changes in

China. The Song, Yuan and early Ming dynasties saw migration to the south,

the birth of a new elite in the educated class, increased

commercialisation, a revival of the influence of Confucianism and, in the

very early years of the 12th century until 1368, invasion by a foreign

force. Despite such developments, previous studies suggest that the basic

institutions of property and marriage were not among these changes and

remained fairly static. Indeed, for men, whose rights have changed very

little for centuries, this was the case. It is only when examining the

rights of women with regards to property and marriage that the effects of

the aforementioned changes become visible.

In 960 AD General Chao K'uang-yin founded the new Song dynasty at

K'ai-feng. This is the starting point from which we will trace the change

in women's rights which In 960, were those granted under the previous T'ang

dynasty. The basic rules of inheritance were ''older and younger brothers

receive equal portions'' and ''sons receive their father's share''. When a

father died, each son received an equal share of his land on which to

establish his own patriline. Female property, under traditional Confucian

ideology, was rendered insignificant in the division of household property.

The dowry a wife brought with her into the marriage remained the property

of her and her husband.

The tradition of a dowry was an ancient one. As both P. Ebrey and J.

Holmgren confirm, the institution of dowry turned marriage into a vital

means of transmitting property. Depending on the family's wealth, a dowry

could include fine materials, clothes, strings of cash, precious metals,

jewellery and landholdings. The richer a dowry a family could produce, the

richer a family their daughter could...