Introduction 2
Conclusion 5
Works cited 6
What does the treatment of women in Chinese law tell us about understandings of justice in Late Imperial China?
Introduction
During the Late Imperial China, women were treated as inferior to the men in the society. Even for those who were educated. However, it can be observed that during the seventeenth century, there were many calamities that befell China such as earthquakes, drought and famine. These facts caused a lot of changes in the society. Many people turned into bandits and thieves because of the hunger they were experiencing. There was also a moral decay in the society to the point where some men rented out their wives in order to get money. There are instances where some people turned to cannibalism so as to eat. Therefore, through these information women were treated like a commodity that can be sold or used by the men. Hence, the question that comes to mind is how women were treated by the Chinese law? Men were dominant in the society, therefore, they were the ones in charge of making the laws. Hence, the chances of the laws favoring men in the society were high. This fact can be observed from the Late Imperial China’s law of property, which made it hard for widows to inherit their husband’s property (Sommer et al. p.166).
Treatment of women in Chinese Law
The society was already treating women in a degrading manner. Therefore, the laws of the land will also be formulated in a manner that will mistreat the women. This fact can be observed from the Legal Code of the Ch’ing that was written specifically for the widows (Spence p.72). There is one passage in that code that directly hurts the rights of all widows in Imperial China. The clause stated that if any widow who remarries another man will be stripped of her dead husband’s property and it will all be given to the former husband’s family (Spence p.72). The sole purpose of this clause was intended to cause the woman to stay true to her dead husband’s memory. However, such a clause was misinterpreted by people and thereby, causing the former husband’s family to start mistreating these widows by forcing them to remarry.
According to the book, woman Kao was being forced by the members of her former husband to remarry whether she wanted it or not (Spence p.72). However, Kao did not want to lose her husband’s property, therefore, she had to take drastic measures in order to ensure that her husband’s inheritance remained with her. Hence, she disfigured her face so that no man would want to marry her. Afterwards, she taught her son to live an upright life and struggled with him to get ends meal. Through, such examples one can be able to see the injustices that women were facing in China. Thereby, resulting in some women committing suicides (Ropp p.3).
In another example resulting from the clause, was the struggles for woman P’eng in T’an-ch’eng. After her husband’s death, P’eng enrolled her son Lien, in one of the village schools (Spence p.73). This was very important because at that time to have a literary status was considered to be an honor, especially for the family. However, P’eng’s-in-laws, especially Lien’s cousins did not support this move. Instead, they began harassing P’eng and his son by taking their ox, which was considered to be a sign of wealth in the society. The cousins also extorted three of her taels and one of them decided to move into her house. All these acts were done in order to drive out P’eng away from her property in order for them to take it. It can be observed that P’eng suffered and no one tried to help her, especially the clan’s head who was already aware of her situation. These kinds of mistreatment were being faced by many widows in the country (Sommer p.166). Thereby, causing many of them to abandon their husband’s properties and remarrying other men.
There was another provision in the Legal Code, which states that a widow shall only inherit her former husband’s property if she has a son and if she doesn’t have one, then it will be the work of the clan’s head to decide who will be the heir of the property (Spence p.74). P’eng’s family must have been aware of such a clause and that is why they assured her that they will take away all of her property. Therefore, this means that if Lien was to die then the three cousin brothers will be able to take away her property through the help of the clan’s head. In this case, one can be able to state that such clauses were used to hurt the widowed woman because the law made it easy for people to strip off widowed women’s property if she has daughters.
The clause also created the possibility for the family to commit crimes against the widows and their family (Sommer et al. p.166). Examples are committing murders and kidnaps in order for the widows to give up their properties. This fact can be observed from P’eng’s life as a widow. The three brothers decided to kill P’eng’s son in order for them to take away her wealth. It all began when they plotted to kill her son in a manner that would indicate that they were avenging their father’s death who was supposedly killed by Lien’s father (Spence p.75). Hence, the eldest brother, brutally attacked and killed Lien and claimed that it was an act of vengeance. His case, however, did not go according to his plans and he was sentenced to death for first degree murder.
P’eng was left without a son and another heir had to be found by the clan’s head (Spence p.76). This means that through all the heartache she went through after losing her son, another problem arose when someone else had to be found to inherit her husband’s property. The law, which was misinterpreted by her family turned her life inside out. She was left without anything. These types of injustices were being experienced by many widows whose in-laws had turned out to be their worst enemies in the society. The other enemy was the laws of the Land, which seemed to be favoring the in-laws by forming clauses that would make it easy for them to lose their husband’s property.
Conclusion
Works cited
Ropp, Paul Stanley. Passionate Women: Female Suicide in Late Imperial China. BRILL, 2001, 3. Print
Sommer, Matthew Harvey et al. Sex, Law, and Society in Late Imperial China. Stanford University Press, 2000, 166. Print
Spence, Jonathan D. The Death of Woman Wang. Penguin Books, 2011, 72-76. Print
