Description
Book SynopsisThis study of the regulation of sexuality in the Qing dynasty explores the social context for sexual behavior criminalized by the state, showing how regulation shifted away from status to a new regime of gender that mandated a uniform standard of sexual morality and criminal liability for all people, regardless of their social status.
Trade Review"This book will be indispensible reading for China scholars studying late imperial law, traditional gender norms, the social life of the non-elite, and the history of the reach of the state. It is simultaneously a primer on traditional Chiense law and a study of law as 18th-century social engineering."—
Journal of Asian Studies"This is a valuable book which places the study of sexuality in late imperial China on a much firmer footing than heretofore."—
Eighteenth-Century Studies"The book is meticulously referential and bibliographic, a foundation and primer for further studies in related areas of law and society."–
Journal of Asian History"In this fascinating book, Matthew H. Sommer . . . discusses legislation regulating sexuality in China during the Qing dynast (1644-1912), with looks back into previous dynasties. . . . His work fits with recent interest among history and gender history, but Sommer brings these together in a particularly fruitful manner to give new insights into late imperial society. . . . Sommer's careful theorizing makes
Sex, Law, and Society important reading for specialists in all periods. At the same time, with its wealth of illustrative details and contextual explanations, the book is accessible to general readers."—
History: Reviews of New Books"This path-breaking book describes how the Qing state dealth with
jian, a Chinese term which the author translates as "illicit sexual intercourse". . . . Sommer's work provides an unparalleled view of order and disorder in early modern China. It will become a classic of non-Western legal history and required reading for anyone interested in the history of gender and human rights in Asia."—
Comparative Studies in Society & History"Matt Sommer's study of sex and law in late imperial China is a vivid and well-written portrayal of how law worked in several key situations involving the regulation of sexuality: marriage, adultery, prostitution, and sex between men."—
NAN NÜ"It will become a classic of non-Western legal history and required reading for anyone interested in the history of gender and human rights in Asia."—
Comparative Studies in Society and HistoryTable of Contents1. Introduction 2. A vision of sexual order 3. The evolution of rape law: female chastity and the threat of the outside male 4. The problem of the penetrated male: Qing sodomy legislation and the fixing of male gender 5. Widows in the Qing chastity cult the nexus of sex and property in law and in women's lives 6. Sexual behavior as status performance: the regulation of prostitution before 1723 7. The extension of commoner standards: Yongzheng reforms and the criminalization of prostitution 8. Conclusion Appendices.
