A Study Of Female Dowry Ownership In The Southern Song Dynasty

In the late Song dynasty,the custom of giving a large dowry was very popular.The custom of giving a large dowry made a woman have a large amount of dowry when she got married.Is a woman’s dowry for herself or for her husband?There is no unified conclusion on the ownership of female dowry in Song dynasty,and many scholars have different opinions,which still have some disputes.Based on the "Minggong Book Qingming Collection",(the following is called "Qingming Collection"),this paper focuses on the real dowry lawsuit in the Southern Song dynasty,and draws on the research results of previous scholars,this paper combs the problem of the dowry property right of women in Southern Song dynasty according to the Legislative Texts and women’s daily control of dowry,so as to enrich the research on the property right of women in ancient times.The first part of this article focuses on the main sources of the female dowry,which is different from the amount of the female dowry in the case of no household and no household,they are all entitled to a dowry from their families and this right is widely recognized.It can be said that dowry is the most important content of the property rights of Southern Song Women,a family in normal circumstances,must have a sum of money to daughter as dowry,to prepare for marriage.Secondly,this paper analyzes the actual control of a woman’s dowry after marriage.Although Confucian ethics advocated "Women’s property,and the husband-oriented",but in real life,regardless of the existence of marriage,it is women’s dowry for their greater control.The contents include:the dowry of the wife is independent of the husband’s property when the marriage relationship exists,the woman can take the dowry freely and remarry,the widow can take the dowry away from the deceased husband’s family.At last,this paper analyzes the types of dowry litigation that women with different identities may encounter,focusing on the three most important identities of women in the Southern Song dynasty---daughter,wife and mother,it can be learned that women are brave to defend their dowry rights,in the judicial decision will often be supported by the judge.Finally,it comes to the conclusion that the Southern Song women have a great right to speak about their dowry and dowry ownership.