Han Women's Legal Status Inquiry

The Han dynasty is a transitional period of inheriting and initiating . Its rules and regulations, especially its law system has a great influence on the later ages.As we all know, the Confucianism become the guiding principle for the feudal ruling class to administer the country. The ethical code proposed by the Confucian school began to combine with law, which was bound to have influence on the status of women in law within Han dynasty. Also some legal stipulations concerning women were the origin of legislation for women in later ages. So the research on the legal status of women in Han dynasty appears very important.The present paper makes an investigation into the legal status of women in Han dynasty by dividing women' s life into 3 stages: being a daughter, a wife and a mother. Under thethought of Confucian school-men are noble and women arehumble, this paper analyses the different grader of women' s legal status caused by their different roles in the 3 stages.The unmarried women in Han dynasty had certain rights to inherit the title of nobility and property. As for married women , the law in Han, on the hand, protected their right to inherit their husbands' title of nobility and property; on the other hand, it stipulates their rights and obligations in marriage, duty in law and mourning etc. The mothers in Han dynasty, under the feudal ethical code "filial piety" and "order of old and young ages" , had superior rights in domestic affairs, marriage of sons and daughters, inheritance of title of nobility and property. So a phenomenon, we could call it "matriarchal" , appeared.The different grades of women' s legal status in Handynasty not only reflect in that the status of women who were from the ruling class were higher than those of woman who were from the ruled class, but also in that in ordinary family the status of mother or mother-in-law were higher than daughter or daughter-in-law; the status of remarried men' s wives were higher than those of their former wives.In legislation, Han dynasty followed the principle of "men are noble; women are humble" . while in implementation of penalty, it gave some lenience to the humble and the weak. He whose title of nobility was above "Shangzao" , His wife could get corresponding mitigation when was under penalty.The status of women in law are apparently higher than those of Tang, Song dynasty and thereafter. Then as the combination of ethical code and law went further, the status of women in law got lower day by day.