Investigation On Problems Of Cases Involving Female Victims In Mid-Qing Dynasty

This article collects 655 cases involving female victims provided in Criminal Cases Overview. It reveals the juridical status of the females in Mid-Qing Dynasty by analyzing the cases involving female victims in this dynasty, their characteristics and the reasons for committing the crimes from a female angle. From these cases, we can obtain lots of valuable information helpful to our studies on the history of our legal system.Chapter 1 introduces the living background of females in Mid-Qing Dynasty. Comparing to the previous dynasties, the characteristics of the family live of these females mainly focus on strengthening the implementation of the Chinese influence in Qing Dynasty, the concept of chastity and the aspects of female widows remarry values. Based on these various factors, the females in Mid-Qing Dynasty have a different status in marriage and the family from other dynasties.Chapter 2 conducts classified study on cases involving female victims in Mid-Qing Dynasty by the case nature and the nature of the crowd according to the cases collected in Criminal Cases Overview, combined with Qing Dynasty Laws. Among all these cases, there are 13 types of case outnumbering 10: occupying decent wife and daughter, snatching and selling people, murdering parents and grandparents, killing adulterers, coercion of people to death, enslaving and beating parents, wives beating husbands, beating parents and grandparents, false accusation, sons and grandsons violating the decrees, committing adultery, raping relatives, enslaving a hired man and raping his wife, etc. Apart from several crimes violating the family ethics with special emphasis, other cases among these are mostly related to the family, thus it can be inferred what the subordinate status of the females in their families in Mid-Qing Dynasty have effect on themselves and their families.Chapter 3 analyzes the common problems with the female victimization at that time based on the classified studies of Chapter 2. Among them, the universality of the adultery, the larger number of the married females, and the conversion between the offender and the victim are particularly worthy of attention.Chapter 4 explains from three aspects of the social, personal and making a fortune, based on the studies of the first three chapters, and reveals the close relationship between female victimization and the society and family to a certain extent. Besides, the laws and policies on female victimization also have a role in fueling.By understanding the cases involving female victims in Mid-Qing Dynasty, we are deeply impressed and are touched by their misery and sufferings. Although we can only try to explore their reasons for being victims from the currently existing historical documents, it is certain that considering from the cultural tradition could make us gain more information.