Study On The Juridical Status Of Stepmother In Song Dynasty

In ancient family life,stepmother has special status.Confucianism is based on the institution of mourning apparel,and constructs a family order of that stepmother is just as mother,which is reflected in the legal system.However,stepmother do not have a direct relationship with other family members.The conflicts of interest between stepmother and other family members always exist.First of all,this article describes the meaning of the term “stepmother” and its status in law and discipline rite.Stepmother means the woman who is married to your father but who is not your real mother,and has alternative names in different historical documents,like “jia mu”?“hou mu”.Her status in the family depends on the identity of the second wife and has changes and developments in history.In the Spring and Autumn Period,the status of stepmother is much like concubine.After Qing and Han Dynasties,its family position was the same as lawful principal wife.The process showed the promotion of her home status.From the Tang and Song Dynasties,the relevant provisions of the law bring clear boundary between lawful principal wife and concubine,and guarantee the position of stepmother in family.Therefore,the conflict of interests between stepmother and family members,especially the son of former wife,is obvious.The status of stepmother in social institutions is much like mother in Song Dynasty.But under careful observation,we can still see the meaning that stepmotheris not just as mother implied in the Confucian-classics argumentation.The law of Song Dynasty is obeyed the Confucian-classics argumentation and has a principle that stepmother is just like mother.Because of differences between two of this,the exceptions appear in some legal issues.Affected by social practice,the law-executor in Song Dynasty enforces more severe punishments to stepmothers than the legal provisions when they solve family disputes involving stepmother.This is the main cause that stepmother's status changes in Song Dynasty.The turning point that stepmother's status changes is the emergence of typical cases.Government and officials make judgment according to the social value,and in a certain period of time the judgment definitely settled by rescripts.Stepmother's status changes reflect in three aspects: First is the relaxation of the restriction that the son of ex-wife can initiate legal proceedings to stepmother in certain cases.Second is when stepmother remarried,her property right has something special.Third is to give a severe punishment to stepmother comparing with mother.The law-executor take three factors into consideration.The stepmother's legal status and the direct blood relationship between mother and child will affect the discretion,but patriarchal family interests is the most important factor.Through comparison and analysis of the cases,we can see that the law of stepmother in Song Dynasty has not change,but there is a biased change in juridical practice.So that the principle which stepmother is just as mother was no longer strictly used in some specific cases,and reflected the impact of ritual system and social life on the transformation of the law in Song Dynasty.