Study On Xixia Women From The Perspective Of Social Stratification

To study ancient Chinese women,we should not only pay attention to the stratification of Xixia women from the perspective of social stratification,but also analyze the relationship between Xixia women and men from the perspective of social gender.The immaturity of various systems in the early Xixia period provided the palace women with an opportunity to participate in politics,but this opportunity was only possible for a very small number of upper-class women.Their political status determines that they have legal privileges and cultural advantages.Legally,upper-class women have the exclusive privilege of reducing or exempting penalties and special items.In Buddhist religious activities,the upper-class women of Xixia are mainly engaged in large-scale support activities that cost a lot of money.Among them,the prayers of royal women involve many aspects of people from all walks of life,from religion to social life,and promote the spread of Buddhism in Xixia.However,the political status of upper-class women in Xixia is determined by men such as their fathers,husbands,or sons.Several concubines with great political power participated in politics as empress dowagers,reflecting the idea of "male superior to female inferior" under the background of patriarchal society and the Central Plains Confucianism.The influence of "filial piety" culture on Xixia.Women’s property rights play an important role in women’s family and social status,and the majority of civilian women in Xixia have the right to inherit family property in the form of dowry and when they are "exhausted".The Western Xia law’s provisions on marriage price and dowry are essentially a kind of intra-class marriage,which limits the possibility of common women and their families to achieve class rise through marriage,and further solidifies the class status of the majority of ordinary women.The Xixia "hujue" inheritance law also pays more attention to the collective power of the family,and women’s property inheritance rights have been reduced compared with the Tang and Song Dynasties,making it more difficult for Xixia women to achieve social class status through individual efforts.The ruling class that masters cultural power tries to build a gender division of "male dominates outside and female dominates" and a gender inequality order of "male superiority to female inferiority" through writing texts,books and other knowledge education.However,the fact that women participate in economic activities and Buddhist activities It reflects that they are both the shapers and creators of this ideal gender order,and they unconsciously challenge the structure of gender inequality.The bottom women in Xixia have lost part or all of their personal ownership and freedom,and have been materialized as government or private assets,and their social status is not recognized.This low level of status is also reflected in the legal status.Xixia law clearly stipulates that women who are not free citizens and free citizens have the same crime and different punishments,and their children cannot be separated from the status of dependent people for generations.It can be seen that the ruling class of Xixia strictly maintains the hierarchy of superiority and inferiority through the law,and fixes the social stratification structure to become an unequal social system.It is difficult for people to break through this innate restriction,and it is difficult to surpass the ranks to achieve maintenance and continuity.The purpose of social hierarchy and order.Through the analysis of the gender differences and gender systems of Xixia women,we can understand what kind of social stratification structure the Xixia women present and how they are formed and maintained,and how the gender roles of Xixia women are constructed.It is difficult for us to judge the level of Xixia women’s social status through a certain legal provision,social concept or social system.More importantly,we must see Xixia’s inheritance of the Central Plains Confucian traditional thinking that men are inferior to women and that they are superior to women.Attention should be paid to women’s overstepping of the gender order in real life;it is necessary to see women’s subordinate status as well as women’s individual initiative.