A Study Of Female In Jin Dynasty

The female occupy half of the total population in Jin Dynasty. In-depth study offemale’s political status, economic remuneration, marriage and family, education andliterature achievement, social life and custom，etc, has significance and importantvalue, either as respect on study for the whole society of Jin Dynasty, or as a part ofresearch on Chinese female history, Following the order of writing, the maincontents of chapters and conclusive viewpoints are elaborated as follows.The introduction is mainly about the significance of topic selection, andprovides a comprehensive review from academic circles of present research on thistopic, also analyzes and summarizes the subsistent deficiencies、research method andresearch approach in this study, simultaneously, defines the possible fuzzy conceptsin this paper, and clarifies the scope of this dissertation.ChapterⅠ,a study on political status of female in Jin Dynasty. The status offemale is clearly classified in Jin court，the relation of hierarchy is impassable.Empress and imperial concubine, princess groups deserve the treatment of etiquettecorresponding with their titles and grades. The maid as humble class in the court,burdens heavy work, and has less possibility of promotion，also their rights andinterests are difficultly protected. The political status of female in courtier family aremainly reflected through granted title by emperor，which relies on the extend grace，and the peerage as reference of courtier in the family. When the courtier matches thestandard for grant, the wife and second wife can be granted by virtue of theirspouse，the concubine can be granted since the spouse is with the rank as a king orthe grade as vice first at least. For the generation of courtier’s mother, the mother canbe granted relying on the son； the concubine of courtier’s father and stepmother canbe granted when the courtier is with the rank as a king or grade as vice third at least.The female can be granted relying on their grandson and grand grandson in the JinDynasty, but the courtier need to be with the rank as a king or grade as vice third atleast. Certainly, a few female can be granted by their own merits、achievements andhonor。The civilian female have large number in Jin Dynasty，with inferior socialstatus, mostly engaged in hard labor for living. Further more，the maidservant slave is treated by the owner arbitrarily as goods for trade、reward, marking and evenslaughter, not only having personal freedom, also being difficult to obtain the basicprotection for the right to live.ChapterⅡ, a study on economic remuneration of female in Jin Dynasty. Thesalary of female is in accordance with their official rank and grade in Jin court，besides，their unconventional income include the reward granted by the emperor andillegal earnings，etc. The economic resources of female in courtier family are mainlythe dowry、inheritance and the emperor rewarding，which of the civilian mainlyinclude labor income, government relief and pension，and recognition.ChapterⅢ, a study on the marriage and family of female in Jin Dynasty. Fromthe view of law, the relation of spouses, the wife and concubine bear the unilateralobligation relative to husband, if the wife, concubine and her husband committed thesame crime, the sentence of wife and concubine would be heavier than husband; nomatter rape and adultery, those are severely punished by Jin Court in custom；theenforcement and effect of law are significantly superior in the upper-middle classesthan lower civilian of society，the basic legal rights of which are difficultly protected.In family, the basic relation is proud and honor of husband for spouses，themainstream of society advocates the harmonious relation between wife andconcubine. The most divorce cases are about the female to be abandoned，remarriagefemale do not have much pressure from public opinion and family discrimination.Due to their own sense of responsibility, some female are not re-married in order tofoster the members of family and educate the children after death of the spouse. Therelation between the female and family-in-law，this kind of married female is basicsilhouette with respect、filial piety、diligency and self-abnegation in Jin Dynasty. Thelevirate custom, prevail before the founding of Jin，decline to the period of XiZongand Hailing. This chapter also explores the relationship between female and herfamily in detail. The relation between empress、imperial concubine and their familyis very complicated, the general grade of the empress can grant three generations ofher family, namely, great grandfather, grandfather and father, with the rank as threemain ducal minister，and the grade as state duke. If great grandfather is granted，grandfather granted one grade lower, father granted one further grade lower. Greatgrandmother, grandmother, mother of three generation is granted with the title ofstate lady. The brothers are granted by practical official position, and have moreopportunities over average for grant with grade and official position，acquisition most importantly depends on personal talent. In addition, if granted during lifetime，the grade is generally granted from the lower, and gradually rises; if granted afterdeath, the grade is normally higher as the first. The imperial concubines with the firstand second grade, the generation of their father are granted from one generation tothree generation，the rank from the first to the third，and the grade as the first，thegeneration of their mother are granted as state lady. Higher grade imperialconcubines are， the number of their brothers and sisters granted are more. At thesame time, the grant of imperial concubine will benefit the brother, also talentedbrothers can bring associate grant to the concubine. In the part of relation betweenfemale in courtier family、civilian female and their family，this chapter focus on theanalysis about the problems of general contact of married female and her family,mothering after divorce, returning to parents and brothers family after the death ofspouse，etc. The routine and regular visitation of married female is normal to theparent family. After the divorce is effective, most female return to their family forlife. When the fading of levirate custom, the female after the death of spouse，mostlychoose to return to their family rather than stay in the family-in-law for life, thefamily not only refers to the parent family, more expands to the family of marriedbrothers, even the nephew’s family.Chapter Ⅳ, education and literary achievements of female in Jin Dynasty. Thischapter firstly from the perspective of female education，entirely analyze theeducation status of female in court、courtier family、civilian family，includingcultural education and ideological education，through the combining method ofutilizing the historical materials by written and carved in the stone, and summarizesthe literature achievements of female in all grades. In addition, this chapter，alsofrom the view of female as educators, researches on family education except theofficial education of Jin Dynasty. Up to empress and imperial concubine，down tocivilian female, the way and content of family education and admonition to offspringfrom the female，with achieved results，this chapter，through the research on thoseproblems above, then explore and analyze the relation between female and offspringin Jin Dynasty.ChapterⅤ, social life and custom of female in Jin Dynasty. This chapterdiscusses the marriage custom of the Jin Dynasty, including the characteristics ofcustom、dowry、procedure and etiquette. Moreover, discusses the funeral custom ofempress and imperial concubine、female of courtier family and civilian family. Among which, in the part of funeral custom for the female in courtier family，aspecific study is made of female spouse after death buried with wives、ex-wife、second wife，and the problem of identity for the person，who hosted the funeral.Meanwhile，this chapter researches on the custom for seasons and social femaleactivities, especially on social activities relevant with assistance and religion thefemale participating in. Finally, analysis is on the female custom of living，includingdiet and residential habits, entertainment and dance with music，etc.The last part is the conclusion, which comprehensively summarizes andillustrates the political status, economic status, marriage and family, education andliterature achievements, social life and custom of female in Jin Dynasty.