Seeing The Female Inheritance System In The Early Han Dynasty From The "Law Of The Second Year"

Judging from past historical documents,the Han Dynasty is a patriarchal society where women have lower social status.However,from the Two-year Laws and Decrees in Zhangjiashan Bamboo Slips of Han Dynasty,we can find that the information about the female inheritance system shows that women are not completely subordinate to men and have their own independent rights and interests in the early Han Dynasty.The female inheritance system in the early Han Dynasty mainly involved three aspects:the inheritance of the title,the inheritance of the household head,and the inheritance of the property.In order to compensate and protect the descendants and relatives of the "dead",the Han government legislated that women can inherit the title,including not only the treatment of the title,but also title of nobility,but was limited by the principle of male as the later.Compared with the inheritance of the title,women are less restricted in the inheritance of the household head.Because the title inheritance focuses on blood relations.Although the inheritance of household head is also related to the blood relationship,the ability of the successor should be considered first,so the order and condition of inheritance of household head are different from that of title.Property inheritance is attached to the title inheritance and the inheritance of household head,so being the heir to the title or the head of the household naturally acquired the right to inherit the property.In addition,the handmaid in the family could also inherit the property,which enabled the family to continue,and played a role in the continuation of the society and system in the early Han Dynasty.The protection of female inheritance rights by the Two-Year Laws affects later generations.Compared with the female inheritance system in Tang and Song Dynasties,we have a more intuitive and profound understanding of the ancient women inheritance system.