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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <h-rev...@lists.h-net.org> > Date: June 30, 2020 at 8:56:25 PM EDT > To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > Cc: H-Net Staff <revh...@mail.h-net.org> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Asia]: Gadkar-Wilcox on Tran, 'Familial Properties: > Gender, State, and Society in Early Modern Vietnam, 1463-1778' > Reply-To: h-rev...@lists.h-net.org > > Nhung Tuyet Tran. Familial Properties: Gender, State, and Society in > Early Modern Vietnam, 1463-1778. Honolulu University of Hawaii > Press, 2018. 280 pp. $68.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8248-7482-7. > > Reviewed by Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox (Western Connecticut State University) > Published on H-Asia (June, 2020) > Commissioned by Bradley C. Davis > > In _Familial Properties, _Nhung Tuyet Tran presents us with the story > of gender relations in early modern Vietnam during the Lê, Mạc, > and Trịnh/Nguyễn periods (1428-1789). Tran is particularly > interested in revising the notion that Vietnamese laws afforded women > greater status than other East Asian societies. In her book, Tran > tries to recover the agency of local women through an examination of > marriage customs, lineage, and inheritance. She argues, most > centrally, that the state attempted to impose neo-Confucian orthodoxy > through law in order to protect individual patrilines and maintain > political order. Therefore, law codes in early modern Vietnam were > not egalitarian, and women were able to claim rights in spite of, > rather than because of, the dictates of Vietnamese property law. This > view significantly revises the standard view of women's property > rights, found in the work of scholars such as Tạ Văn Tài and > Insun Yu, who have argued that the Lê code was a manifestation and > expression of primordial tendencies in Vietnamese culture toward > women's equality. > > Tran demonstrates these claims through an examination of dynastic > histories, legal sources such as the Lê Code and the Mạc era > compilation of judicial precedents, which she translates as the _Book > of Good Government_, and lexical sources such as the Chỉ Nam > dictionary. She uses these sources to establish and articulate a > "gender system" that she says the state was attempting to produce and > impose. She then examines popular folklore, stele inscriptions, and > reports from foreign and indigenous witnesses to demonstrate how > women--who were increasingly responsible for the economic functioning > of local communities in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries due > to men's being conscripted for war or forced to do _corvée > _labor--used informal mechanisms in their communities to secure their > own property and ensure their spirits and those of their ancestors > would continue to be venerated after their deaths. It is this > fascinating investigation into local practices, through the use of > diverse sources in a number of different languages, that is the most > valuable part of this book. > > After a brief introduction that lays out her arguments and provides a > basic framework for the political events of the sixteenth through > eighteenth centuries, Tran proceeds to a description of the "gender > system" in chapter 1. This chapter recounts the morality manuals that > described how women could make themselves dutiful, industrious, > chaste, and subservient, as well as the historical circumstances > under which, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, women were > often forced to face "the triple burden of agricultural labor, > household maintenance, and marketing alone" (p. 36). In chapter 2, > Tran focuses on marriage, explaining the function of marriage in > sustaining the patriline. Two particularly interesting elements of > this chapter are its description of uxorilocal marriage customs, in > which a marriage is carried on for a trial period, and its analysis > of all-female Catholic religious houses as a means to avoid marriage. > Chapter 3 focuses on sexual activity and the maintenance of social > order. Tran points out that the overarching concern of laws about sex > was the maintenance of a clear patriline. Because of this, the > infidelity of married women was subject to strict punishment, while > in general unfaithful men were treated more leniently. > > Chapter 4 is perhaps the most significant of the book, as it presents > the cornerstone of Tran's arguments on property rights and > inheritance. Challenging the notion that "daughters enjoyed the same > rights as sons in the inheritance of property" under the Lê code (p. > 136), she demonstrates that the situation was in fact far less clear. > In both _de jure _and _de facto _senses, women inherited property > under exceptional rather than normal circumstances, and usually they > did so through their own efforts, in spite of rather than because of > the law. As Tran's view of property rights is this book's most > notable deviation from prevailing interpretations, it has generated > the most controversy, with Insun Yu, Sun Laichen, and Miyazawa > Chihiro all arguing that Tran reads some sources incorrectly or > neglects additional sources that would at least qualify her view if > not contradict it outright.[1] As someone not specifically familiar > with the primary sources being debated, I do not feel qualified to > evaluate this debate--though I do agree with Insun Yu that Tran seems > to translate certain terms (such as those specified in the five > relationships) as specifically referring to men when they could be > seen as gender-neutral. What is clear is that the debate over women's > legal and economic power in early modern Vietnam is an important one > that touches on some of the most significant discussions in > Vietnamese historiography, such as the relative influence of Chinese > and Southeast Asian culture on Vietnam. Tran's book has spurred this > important debate, and for that she should be given a great deal of > credit. > > Inheritance was significant to ensure not only the patriline and thus > the stability of the state, but also that one would be remembered and > venerated by future generations. In chapter 5, Tran uses hundreds of > local stele inscriptions to show that women without male heirs often > donated money to local communities in exchange for an assurance that > their spirits, or those of their parents and ancestors, would be > honored and recognized on local holidays. In this way, women could > circumvent existing laws to make sure that the duties of carrying on > ancestral rights were still performed. This suggests that these laws > were fungible at the local level, and that particular women had the > necessary agency in the village to carry out these agreements that > would secure their futures. In chapter 6 and her brief conclusion, > Tran returns to the major themes of the book, examining the role of > women in modern and contemporary historiography and her revision of > those views, and articulating some limitations of her study, such as > the relative lack of sources from the south and the perils of > attempting to read agency and motive into women's acts of donating to > the village community. > > While it is an important study, Tran's book is not without some > shortcomings. For example, there seems to be a contradiction between > her initial definition of Confucianism and the way she actually > describes Confucianism in practice. In her introduction, Tran defines > Confucianism not as "a delineated set of values" but rather as "a > constantly changing system signifying beliefs and practices that > educated Vietnamese convinced themselves that they were maintaining, > even as they shaped it to fit the needs of their time" (p. 5). She > goes on to say that what was most important in building a stable > early modern state was the implementation of neo-Confucian ideology, > which she identifies in the Vietnamese context almost exclusively > with Zhu Xi. She then concentrates on an interpretation of Vietnamese > neo-Confucianism focused on "morality texts" that "teach the > population how to behave" (p. 5). > > This view is problematic for two reasons. First, Alexander Woodside > has convincingly shown that despite paying lip service to Zhu Xi, in > practice regimes were much more ideologically devoted to the > classical texts than the neo-Confucian commentaries, and much more > concerned with the practical application of policy than with morality > texts.[2] Second, references to Confucianism in this book seem to > describe a "gender system" of laws and morals that are very much > static and one-dimensional, in opposition to her original, much more > flexible definition. Tran tells us repeatedly that the "neo-Confucian > morality of the state" (p. 27) exists for the purpose of > "establishing order under heaven" through "regulating the family > system" (p. 52), and that there is "a clear link between the state, > social order, and the maintenance of the family system" (p. 54). She > also conflates classical Confucianism and neo-Confucianism, arguing > in a somewhat odd passage that "the neo-Confucius [_sic_] philosopher > Mencius" articulates the family system in a way that "echoes the > central features of neo-Confucian thought" (p. 55). I would not deny > that both Mencius and Zhu Xi discuss the maintenance of proper > relationships within the family, but Tran's use of these ideas in > practice seems to oversimplify the role of Confucian thought in > Vietnam. There is a difference between Ngô Sĩ Liên's adherence to > the Mencian conception of "the way of the King" at the beginning of > Tran's "early modern" time period, and Lê Quý Đôn's extensive > comments on Zhu Xi's metaphysics at the end of that time period.[3] > Tran's relatively simplistic narrative of the state's efforts to > impose a family system to protect patrilines significantly underplays > the complexity and historical contingency of Vietnamese notions of > Confucianism in the early modern period, and contradicts her earlier > (correct) acknowledgement that Confucianism refers to a malleable set > of practices that cannot be easily defined outside of the particular > contexts of their implementation. > > Similarly, Tran's book presents an overly static view of how the > state makes and enforces laws, a view that is insufficiently > sensitive to the different political circumstances of the Lê, Mạc, > Trịnh, and Nguyễn states. Though to her credit Tran does make > occasional reference to the war between the Mạc and Lê forces > (1533-92), to the fifty-year war between the Trịnh and Nguyễn > clans (1627-72), to the introduction of Christianity, to the > militarism of early Nguyễn governance, and to the economic > privations of the eighteenth century, there are portions of the book > in which the details of time period, regime, and region seem to fade. > For example, in the discussion of "the exchange of women's bodies," > Tran states that "state law permitted parents to sell their children > into servitude," without specifying either in the text or in a > footnote which regime's state law, or which specific law, did so (p. > 111). In the following pages, Tran jumps from an official annal's > account of the fate of Lê Sát's wives and concubines in 1437 to > English Captain William Dampier's 1688 account of women being offered > to foreigners for temporary marriages to a 1714 judicial manual's > advice on punishing the sale of women. While the variety of source > material that Tran uses is to be appreciated, it would have been > beneficial for her to attend more closely to the fact that the > political circumstances and conditions of production of these texts, > and therefore the motivations for their accounts, are very different. > > That being said, Tran's book is a significant accomplishment. It is > one of a very small set of studies examining gender relations in > precolonial Vietnam, and that is a major contribution in itself. > Moreover, this book has already spurred a productive debate about the > extent of women's property rights and women's equality and autonomy > in Vietnam. This debate, which touches on many of the issues most > critical in Vietnamese historiography, is worth having. Because > Tran's book is the catalyst for that debate, it is therefore > indispensable reading for those with an interest in law and gender in > early modern Vietnamese history. > > Notes > > [1]. Insun Yu, "The Equal Division of Inheritance Among Sons and > Daughters in Lê Society: A Revisit," _VNU Journal of Social Sciences > and Humanities _5, no. 5 (2019): 531-38; Miyazawa Chihiro, > "Re-Thinking Vietnamese Women's Property Rights and the Role of > Ancestor Worship in Pre-Modern Society: Beyond Dichotomies of > Equality versus Non-Equality and Bilateral and Non-Bilateral," in > _Weaving Women's Spheres in Vietnam: The Agency of Women in Family, > Religion, and Community_,_ _ed. Atsufumi Kato and Kristen W. Endres > (Leiden: Brill, 2016): 57-80; Miyazawa Chihiro, review of _Familial > Properties_ by Nhung Tuyet Tran, _Southeast Asian Studies_ 8, no. 3 > (December 2019): 448-53; and Sun Laichen, review of _Familial > Properties_ by Nhung Tuyet Tran, _Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues > in Southeast Asia_ 34, no. 33 (November 2019): 622-27. > > [2]. Alexander Woodside, "Classical Primordialism and the Historical > Agendas of Vietnamese Confucianism," in _Rethinking Confucianism: > Past and Present in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam_, ed. Benjamin > Elman et al. (Los Angeles: UCLA Asian Pacific Monograph Series, > 2002), 116-43. > > [3]. O. W. Wolters, "What Else May Ngo Si Lien Mean? A Matter of > Distinctions in the Fifteenth Century," in _Sojourners and Settlers: > Histories of Southeast Asia and the_ Chinese,_ _ed. Anthony Reid > (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2001), 95-96; and Yueh-hui > Lin, "Lê Quý Đôn's Theory of Li-qi," _Asian Studies_ 8, no. 2 > (2020): 51-77. > > Citation: Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox. Review of Tran, Nhung Tuyet, _Familial > Properties: Gender, State, and Society in Early Modern Vietnam, > 1463-1778_. H-Asia, H-Net Reviews. June, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54870 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
