Research On Women's Crime In Ming Dynasty Based On Pandu

Crime was the extreme embodiment of women's violation of social ethics and legal order in the Ming Dynasty.Women encountered various problems in their lives.Crime was one of the means to solve these problems,deal with family relations and social relations,and obtain emotional and financial satisfaction.The laws of the Ming Dynasty clearly stated the crimes of women,such as marriage,human life,fighting,cursing and adultery which mention women explicitly,and false accusation,abduction which have no difference between male and female criminals.Also,women offenders could enjoy the benefits of atonement,substitution for punishment and immunity from imprisonment.The law aimed at preserving the hierarchical order.The thought of male superiority was also evident in the provisions of women's crimes.There were some cases of women's crimes recorded in Pandu(??).According to their criminal objects,women's crimes could be divided into two types:the crime against relatives and non-relatives.Adultery and false accusation were two main types.The judges were the writers of these cases.They showed their thoughts on women in the cases.The main types and trial result were similar though the judges were at different administrative levels.In actual judgments,the legal provisions were the basis.But the judges used to take reasonable care for the purpose of maintaining the ethics.They thought women should be loyal to their husband.Women were ignorant and commit suicide in the face of a small matter.Based on these understandings,the judges mitigated punishment for women.However,it meant that women were not considered as independent individuals.In short,women's status was not high,either in terms of the provisions of the law itself or from specific judicial practices.