The Uses of Chastity: Sex, Law, and the Property of Widows in Qing China
Author(s)
Sommer, Matthew Harvey
Abstract
For widows in late imperial China, sex and property were linked in multiple ways. This statement applies to both official discourse and social practice, which influenced each other to such a degree that it is difficult (and perhaps inappropriate) to separate them completely. Qing legal cases involving widows allow us to explore this zone of interplay: between interest and emotion, between official priorities and popular strategies, and between outward representations and closeted lives.
