Concubines in Court: Marriage and Monogamy in Twentieth-Century China
Book information
Description
This groundbreaking book analyzes marriage and family reform in twentieth-century China. Lisa Tran’s examination of changes in the perception of concubinage explores the subtle, yet very meaningful, shifts in the construction of monogamy in contemporary China. Equally important is her use of court cases to assess how these shifts affected legal and social practice. Tran argues that this dramatic story has often been overlooked, leading to the mistaken conclusion that concubinage remained largely unchanged or quietly disappeared in “modern” China. Customarily viewed as a minor wife because her “husband” was already married, a concubine found her legal status in question under a political order that came to be based on the principles of monogamy and equality. Yet although the custom of concubinage came under attack in the early twentieth century, the image of the concubine stirred public sympathy. How did lawmakers attack the practice without jeopardizing the interests of concubines? Conversely, how did jurists protect the interests of women without appearing to sanction concubinage? How law and society negotiated these conflicting interests dramatically altered existing views of monogamy and marriage and restructured gender and family relations. As the first in-depth study of the meaning and practice of monogamy and concubinage in modern China, this book makes an important contribution to our understanding of Chinese society and legal norms. In addition, by crossing the “1949 divide,” it compares the Guomindang’s designation of concubinage as adultery with the Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of it as bigamy, and draws out the legal implications for the practice of concubinage as well as for women who were concubines. Poised at the intersection of Chinese history, women’s history, and legal history, this book makes a unique and significant contribution to the scholarship in all three fields. Acknowledgments Chapter One: Concubinage as Legal and Social History Chapter Two: Concubinage under Early Republican Law Chapter Three: Concubinage under GMD Law Chapter Four: The Benefits of Household Membership under Early Republican and GMD Law Chapter Five: Severance and Support under Early Republican and GMD Law Chapter Six: The Line between Marriage and Concubinage in Early Republican and GMD Law Chapter Seven: The Unintended Recognition of Concubinage as Bigamy under GMD Law Chapter Eight: Concubinage under CCP Law Chapter Nine: The Handling of Concubinage Cases under CCP Law Chapter Ten: Conclusion Character List References Index
Similar books
MySQL® Notes for Professionals book
2018 · PDF
MrExcel 2022: Boosting Excel
2022 · PDF
MrExcel 2022: Boosting Excel
2022 · PDF
Session C11: Ancient Cultural Landscapes in South Europe – their Ecological Setting and Evolution, Session C22: Gardeners from South America, Session S04: Agro-Pastoralism and Early Metallurgy Sessions, Session WS29: The Idea of Enclosure in Recent Iberian Prehistory, Session C88: Rhytmes et causalites des dynamiques de l'anthropisation en Europe entre 6500 ET 500 BC: Hypotheses socio-culturelles et/ou climatiques: Proceedings of the XV UISPP World Congress (Lisbon 4-9 September 2006) / Actes du XV Congrès Mondial (Lisbonne 4-9 Septembre 2006) Vol.36
2010 · PDF
THE BRITISH ARMY IN INDIA: ITS PRESERVATION BY AN APPROPRIATE CLOTHING, HOUSING, LOCATING, RECREATIVE EMPLOYMENT, AND HOPEFUL ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE TROOPS. with AN APPENDIX ON INDIA : THE CLIMATE OP ITS HILLS ; THE DEVELOPMENT OF ITS RESODRCBS, INDUSTRY, AND ARTS ; THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ; THE BLACK ACT ; THE PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY ; THE TRAFFIC IN OPIUM ; THE VALUE OF INDIA ; PERMANENT CAUSES OF DISAFFECTION, AND OF THE RECENT REBELLION ; THE TRADITIONARY POLICY; MISGOVERNMENT BY NATIVE RULERS ; ANNEXATIONS OF THEIR TERRITORY, ETC.
1858 · PDF
Idries Shah 27 Books Collection : A Perfumed Scorpion, A Veiled Gazelle, Caravan of Dreams, Darkest England, Destination Mecca, Evenings with Idries Shah, Knowing How to Know, Learning How to Learn, Letters and Lectures of Idries Shah, Neglected aspects of Sufi study, Observations, Oriental Magic, Reflections, Seeker after Truth, Special Illumination, Special Problems in the study of Sufi ideas, Sufi thought and action, Tales of the Dervishes, The Dermis Probe, The Elephant in the Dark, The Englishman Handbook, Idries Shah Antology, The Magic Monastery, The natives are restless, wisdom of the Idiots PDF.
2022 · PDF
The travels of Capts. Lewis and Clarke from St. Louis, by way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to the Pacific ocean; performed in the years 1804, 1805 & 1806, by order of the government of the United States. Containing delineations of the manners, customs, religion, &c. of the Indians, comp. from various authentic sources, and original documents, and a summary of the Statistical view of the Indian nations, from the official communication of Meriwether Lewis. Illustrated with a map of the country, inhabited by the western tribes of Indians
1809 · PDF
Professional Linux kernel architecture ''Wrox programmer to programmer''--Cover. - ''What you are reading right now is the result of an evolution over more than seven years: After two years of writing, the first edition was published in German by Carl Hanser Verlag in 2003. It then described kernel 2.6.0. The test was used as a basis for the low-level design documentation for the EAL4+ security evaluation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, requiring to update it to kernel 2.6.18 (if the EAL acronym does not mean anything to you, then Wikipedia is once more your friend). Hewlett-Packard sponsored the translation into English and has, thankfully, granted the rights to publish the result. Updates to kernel 2.6.24 were then performed specifically for this book''--P. ix
2008 · PDF