Study On The Legal System Of Female Property Inheritance In The Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty is a very special dynasty in ancient Chinese history,and has always been a hot topic of academic research.The Song dynasty put an end to the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms,and established a unified state.The Song dynasty paid great attention to strengthening centralized rule and using the imperial examination system to select talents,and a class of scholars and scholars composed of humble disciples began to take the stage in history.At the same time,the Song dynasty relaxed the restrictions on commerce and took a series of measures to encourage the development of commerce,which also promoted the formation of many large cities.The development of the economy led to a change in people’s concept of righteousness and profit,and the concept of private property became more and more popular.Women also began to appear in economic activities,and their labor was no longer confined to the family,but was increasingly involved in social activities,and the status of women was much higher than before.However,in the Song Dynasty,the connection between ancestral succession and property inheritance was no longer strong,and not only could concubine sons share the family property equally with the first sons,but women also appeared in property inheritance situations.During the feudal society,women were always in a subordinate position,and the three virtues of obedience and the idea of male superiority over women confined all aspects of women’s lives.During the Song Dynasty,the economic prosperity promoted the improvement and progress of the civil system.At the same time,due to economic development and changes in social class structure,women’s rights in terms of property inheritance began to rise gradually.Unlike the general rules of previous generations,the Song Dynasty had different rules for different female roles.During the Song Dynasty,the female group could be divided into three categories,i.e.,unmarried women,married women,and divorced women.The female in the family refers to women who are not yet married,the female married refers to women who have been married and whose marriage relationship is still in progress,and the female returned to the clan refers to women who have now ended their marriage and returned to their parents’ home.Therefore,in this paper,we also consider the status of women as a separate category of women who have not entered into marriage,and the married women who have entered into marriage and the divorced women as a separate category,and arrange this paper along the following lines.First,the background of this property inheritance system is studied,and the political.economic,legal,and ideological and cultural aspects are elaborated separately.Then,we analyze the property inheritance rights of the women in the family.The situation of the women in the family is special because the presence or absence of male heirs in the family has a great influence on their share of property inheritance,so we discuss the inheritance situation with and without male heirs.Then,the inheritance of property of married women and patriarchal women is discussed.For married women,the inheritance of maternal property and the inheritance of husband’s property are discussed,among which the main aspect is the inheritance of husband’s property.This is because in ancient times,a woman’s connection with her maternal family weakened once she got married,and the kinship relationship shifted more to her husband’s family.The discussion of the inheritance of the property of the divorced woman focuses more on her inheritance of her maternal family’s property and the process of changing her share of inheritance.This is followed by an analysis of the causes and characteristics of the system,and a clarification of the process of its changes during the two Song dynasties.Finally,we summarize and reflect on the system and look for positive practices that can contribute to the construction of the rule of law in modern society.