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Family Member or Maidservant? Adopted Daughters-in-Law in Modern China

  • Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • 2024, 81(2), pp.43-78
  • DOI : 10.17326/jhsnu.81.2.202405.43
  • Publisher : Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
  • Research Area : Humanities > Other Humanities
  • Received : April 10, 2024
  • Accepted : May 10, 2024
  • Published : May 31, 2024

Sunglim Chun 1

1한국과학기술원

Accredited

ABSTRACT

An adopted daughter-in-law (童養媳) refers to someone who was sent to her future in-laws’ home when she was a baby or girl and then married into the family when she became an adult. As a marriage custom, the prototype of an adopted daughter-in-law can be found in Dongokje (東 沃沮) of ancient Korea. In China, adopted daughters-in-law appeared in the Sung Dynasty and this custom flourished during the Late Qing and Republican periods of China. This custom came about through a combination of poverty and the notion that daughters could be treated as worthless. In particular, it was popular among the lower classes, because men could reduce the betrothal gifts for the establishment of marriage and women could be exempted from having a dowry. This article compares the history and background of adopted daughters-in-law with the marriage customs of Dongokje and Joseon, and re-evaluates the importance and value of women’s labor in domestic and agricultural production during the Late Qing and Republican periods. In both Joseon and China, in general, adopted daughters-in-law were at least 10 years older than their husbands. This is due to the purpose of bringing in a daughter-in-law to acquire free labor. In this way, poor families that could not afford a servant could take in an adopted daughter-in-law who would work like a maidservant. Most adopted daughters-in-law had a low status at home. There were also many cases of being mistreated by the mother-in-law or being sexually assaulted by the father-in-law. However, most of these hardships came to light through criminal cases. In some cases, on the other hand, the relationship with the mother-in-law was as close as the relationship of the birth mother and daughter, and when the son died first, there were many cases where the daughter-in-law was adopted as a daughter or a son-in-law was brought in to live with them. It is difficult to generalize the status of adopted daughters-in-law because it varies from person to person who experienced it. However, their situation, as depicted in literary works and media articles, was inevitably miserable. The reason is likely that the daughter-in-law is a symbol of old China.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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