A Study On The Economic Activities Of The Lower Class Women In The Song Dynasty

Family laws in feudal society had many rules and restrictions on women,but many women of the lower class had to work out to make a living,they participated in economic activities actively,in order to achieve more income sources.Women’s participation in economic activities existed since ancient times.In the Song Dynasty,more women of the lower class participated in economic activities,which related to very wide field.Their participation which was in a wide range of economic activities was inseparable from the internal and external environment,but also limitated and restricted by a number of factors.Analyzing the social role of the lower class women who participated in the economic activities can help us to look at this social phenomenon comprehensively and to grasp their impact deeply.The field of the lower class women in Song Dynasty participated in related to agriculture,handicraft,business,services and other industries and fields,and also different from the previous generation in the number of participants, methods, scope,and even the nature.They not only operated as mobile vendors,but also set up shops to fix the operating,some even formed a certain scale,got rid of the agricultural production activities totally,and the participation of the lower class women became a beautiful landscape in the development of Song.The participation of the lower class women in the Song Dynasty is the result of a variety of internal and external factors working together.Such as the permition and the protection of the businsswomen in the policies,the development of the commodity economy in the Song Dynasty,the change of the attitude of the scholars to the business,the change of people’s ideas and the atmosphere of doing business in the Song Dynasty all provided a good environment and opportunity for the lower class women in Song Dynasty.The improvement of the legal status of women in Song Dynasty, enjoying some of the inherit rights and management rights in family property are important internal conditions for women to participate in economic activities.But during the business,because of the limitations of their own factors and the exploitation of the goverment,many women were in difficult situation.The participation in the economic activities of the lower class women in the Song Dynasty made a great difference.Through participating in economic activities,the lower class women improved the economic situation of the family,romoted the socio-economic development of the Song Dynasty,and also awakened some women’s sense of independence, which had an effect on the pursuit of women independent thought and personality and had taken an important step on the road of the pursuit of women’s liberation.But it is undeniable,the participation in economic activities of the lower class women in the Song Dynasty also had some limitations,for example,most of them were put into the market passively,they were also restricted in all aspects,the scope and the mode of the operation in business is also very limited.Unfair business also exited in the operation of the lower class women in Song Dynasty,some women even broke the law and constituted a crime.