If a stepson gives birth to a parent, where will the heir go
Li Hongzhang, an important minister in the late Qing Dynasty, once succeeded Li Jingfang, the son of his younger brother, as his heir, and had a biological son after that. But he still regards Li Jingfang as his eldest son, and his attitude towards Li Jingfang has also been praised as benevolence and righteousness in his ** article, saying that he did not treat Li Jingfang coldly, nor did he treat him as an outsider.
However, the authors of these articles may not have been aware of the fact that the Qing Dynasty law clearly stipulated: "If an heir is born after the birth of another son, the family property shall be divided equally among the original son." ”
Therefore, Li Hongzhang's kindness to Li Jingfang and the division of his family property were only in accordance with the law, because with Li Hongzhang's social status, life experience, and character quality, he would not send Li Jingfang back to his original family, which would leave a handle for political opponents to attack him.
In addition, Li Hongzhang's social status, even if there is no adoptive behavior, his nephew will get his help and support, let alone adoptive!
What was the status of an heir in an ancient society who had no children and then gave birth to a son, and how should this situation be handled? The answer needs to be analyzed according to the specific historical background, and the legal provisions of the Qing Dynasty cannot be simply applied to deal with the historical issues of the upper and lower 5,000 years.
Before the Tang Dynasty, due to the lack of clear laws and regulations, heirs were usually sent back to their original families when they gave birth to their own sons after their succession. The way to deal with this situation mainly depends on traditional etiquette and social constraints.
In ancient China, Huangfu Mi, He Xun and others had the experience of succeeding others. The actions of these people were widely accepted in the society of the time and became role models for society.
For example, Xiao Zixiang was passed on to his uncle, but after his uncle gave birth to his own son, he returned to his own sect. And Xiao Zixiang was adopted by Xiao Wei, but after Xiao Wei gave birth to his own son, he still took Xiao Zixiang as his son.
The ministers believed that this was not in line with the social conditions, and that there were sons who did not allow their heirs to return to the sect, and they also took the heirs as the queen "the religion of the real loss", so they asked the emperor to allow Xiao Zixiang to return to the sect, and Emperor Qi Wu allowed it, and Xiao Zixiang returned to the sect and became the emperor's son again.
There is also Zheng Yi, who was also passed on to his grandfather, but after Zheng Wenkuan gave birth to two sons, he also returned to his family. These stories reflect the recognition of the return of heirs to the ancestors in ancient China, and also reflect the importance that ancient Chinese society attached to the primogeniture system.
The laws of the Tang Dynasty provided for the act of establishing an heir by birth and the birth of a parent after a step. The "Tang Law Discussion" stipulates that an adopted son who abandons his parents at will will be sentenced to two years in prison. However, if the heir parents have children or the original parents have no children and no heirs, the heirs have the right to return to the family.
If neither family has a son, the opinion of whether or not the heir should be returned to the sect is his own. This law was obviously enacted from the perspective of patriarchy, and the rights of heirs were not adequately protected, resulting in a high probability that the heirs would be returned to their own sect after their parents gave birth to their children.
Although there are also cases where the parents of the heirs specialize in passing the older heirs to establish a household, this does not mean that the heirs of the Tang Dynasty must return to the family after the heirs have children.
The Song Dynasty inherited the Tang Dynasty's law of establishing an heir, but in practice, the mainstream trend in society is still to let the heir return to the family after giving birth to a parent. For example, Song Zhenzong raised Zhao Yunrang, and let him return to the sect after the birth of his parents; Zhenzong's son Renzong also raised Yunrang's son Zhao Zongshi, and even let Zongshi return to the sect before the birth of his parent.
A similar example is the son of the clan, Zhao Shuguo, who was the second son of Zhao Kezhong and was ordered to succeed to Zhao Ketong. Zhao Ketong later had a biological son, and Zhao Shujun's brother Zhao Shujian wrote to the emperor, asking for his brother to return to the sect, and this request was approved by Shenzong.
These examples all show that during the Song Dynasty, once there were parents and children, it was a socially recognized phenomenon for the heirs to return to their ancestors.
Both the Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty enacted legislation on the heirs of Guizong to protect the legal status of the weaker heirs. Among them, the "Song Criminal Code" stipulates that the heirs who are repatriated to the sect enjoy the rights, and after the adopted son has reached ten years, the government will give a certain amount of property as compensation.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, the law further protected the status of raising the heirs of the same clan, stipulating that as long as the heirs were not wrong, the adoptive family could not be repatriated at will. These provisions are designed to protect the rights and interests of heirs against unfair treatment.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, people began to generally accept the practice of giving birth to parents and children without repatriating heirs, which became the mainstream cognition of society. Changhua has a Zhang brother, neither brother has a son, Zhang Daxian raised the son of his stepfamily as an heir.
Soon after, Zhang's wife became pregnant and gave birth to her own child. Zhang Er proposed that Zhang Da give his heir to himself, and Zhang Da went home to discuss it with his wife after thinking about it. Zhang's wife resolutely objected, thinking that they had no son to raise an heir, and now they abandoned the heir when they had a son, how would others think of them?
In addition, their son is still very young, and the future is unpredictable. Despite Zhang Er's repeated requests, Zhang's wife still insisted on her position, saying that she would rather pass on her own son to her brother-in-law than abandon her heir.
Zhang Er was embarrassed to ask for the eldest brother's son at first, but in the end, Zhang's wife passed on his son to his brother-in-law, leaving an heir for herself. Later, the two children were healthy**, the eldest was called Zhang Hong, the word Jinghan; The small one is called Zhang Xu, and the word Jingyu is Jingyu.
Zhang Hong and his two sons Zhang Qiao and Zhang Yi, as well as Zhang Xu's grandsons Zhang Zhu and Zhang Jian, all ascended one after another, and the Zhang family became famous, and the world praised Zhang's wife for her foresight and wisdom, which made the family so prosperous.
In ancient China, the right of heirs to inherit property was protected by law. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, the "Da Ming Law" clearly stipulated that even if the heir later gave birth to a parent, his family property should be divided equally with the original heir.
In addition, in the case of parent-child children, if the heir is willing to return to the sect, it can also be allowed. However, if the person who is the same clan is a son, and the adoptive parents have no children and give it up, they will be punished by law.
The Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming system, and the "Great Qing Law" continued to follow the provisions of the "Great Ming Law", so after Li Jingfang's heir Li Hongzhang gave birth to a parent, as long as he was unwilling to return to the sect, Li Hongzhang could not repatriate him, and he had to divide the family property equally among Li Jingfang.
Therefore, the rights and interests of heirs were protected by law in ancient China.