About

Kathryn Bernhardt is a Professor Emeritus at UCLA in the Department of History. Her research focuses on China, specifically late Imperial and Modern China, with particular interest in women and property rights in China from 960 to 1949. She has authored significant publications including 'Women and Property in China, 960-1949' and contributed to scholarly works such as 'Remapping China: Fissures in Historical Terrain.' Her work also explores legal history, including divorce and inheritance rights, and examines social resistance in rural regions during critical historical periods. Bernhardt's academic contributions have provided in-depth insights into Chinese legal and social history, emphasizing gender, law, and peasant resistance.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Social Science
• Political Science
• Law
• Economic history
• History

Selected publications

• Fifty Years of <i>Modern China</i> : An International Journal of History and Social Science

  Modern China · 2024 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Social Science
  • Sociology

  Looking back at the past half-century since the founding of the journal Modern China in 1975, we can see that in the beginning non–Chinese American scholars accounted for fully 73 percent of all articles. That figure remained at a fairly high 64 percent at the end of the century, but has declined greatly since, first down to 26 percent by 2005-2009, and further to just 11 percent in 2020-2022. That decline has been partly countered by the increasing numbers of Chinese-origin scholars (US citizens or not) based in the United States. At the same time, the proportion of articles published by mainland China–based scholars has steadily increased in the past two decades, reaching the present 28 percent. If we add to that articles by Chinese-origin scholars both inside and outside the United States, citizens or not, the total proportion rises to 65 percent, nearly two-thirds of all our articles, a sea change for the journal. Alongside that change, there has been the rise and expansion also of non–Chinese-origin scholars in the rest of the English–language world outside the United States, who now account for 24 percent of all our articles. Together these changes tell about the dramatic transnationalization of English language–based China studies as a whole, from mainly non–Chinese-origin American scholars to an ever-increasing proportion of Chinese-origin scholars, and from mainly a US endeavor to an ever more transnational one.

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• 1 A Ming-Qing Transition in Chinese Women’s History? The Perspective from Law

  2014-01-01 · 2 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter challenges Western scholarship that sees the period of the Ming-Qing transition as a significant turning point in Chinese women's history, a time during which gender norms and relations underwent significant changes that were of benefit to women. Through an examination of changing laws on betrothal, marriage, divorce, and property, it demonstrates how codified law gradually absorbed ongoing peasant practices and expectations and the economic calculus on which those were based. From the perspective of law, the big transition in Chinese women's history occurred not between the Ming and the Qing, but between the Tang- Song and the Ming-Qing. And the process at work was not any bourgeoisification of gender norms and gender relations, as the proponents of the early modern approach would have it, but rather the peasantization of law that more firmly fixed a woman legally as the possession of her marital family. Keywords: Chinese women; Ming-Qing; Tang- Song

  PublisherDOI

• 2 Women and Property in China, 960–1949, Introduction and Conclusion

  2014-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  Women's rights to property changed substantially from the Song through the Qing and even more dramatically in the twentieth century under the Republican Civil Code. Women and Property in China, 960-1949 presents a study of women's rights to property specifically and a study of property rights in general. This understanding of household division ( fenjia ) and patrilineal succession ( chengtiao ) has given rise to a static picture of the inheritance regime of late imperial China. Of the two, although household division was the much more common form of inheritance in imperial China, patrilineal succession was by no means insignificant. The modern law of the Guomindang had mixed consequences for women. The focus on women led to an entirely different understanding not only of women's inheritance, but of the very logics and consequences of the two conceptual complexes governing inheritance. Keywords: China; household division; inheritance regime; patrilineal succession; property rights; Republican Civil Code; women's rights

  PublisherDOI

• The history and theory of legal practice in China : toward a historical-social jurisprudence

  2014-01-01 · 5 citations

  bookSenior author

  Author Biographies Series Foreword Editor's Introduction Philip C. C. Huang Part One: Women and the 1. A Ming-Qing Transition in Chinese Women's History? Perspective from Kathryn Bernhardt Scholarship on Women in the Late Ming and Qing Ming-Qing Present Past Future Perspective from Betrothal Marriage Divorce Property Peasantization of 2. Women's Choices under the Marriage, Divorce, and Illicit Sex in the Qing and the Republic Philip C. C. Huang Part 1: Qing Categories and Pertinent Laws Qing Constructions Variant Concepts in and Social Women as Victims Burdens of Passive Agency Part 2: Republic Women's Agency in Guomindang Women's Agency in 3. Marriage, Law, and Revolution: Divorce in the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region Liu Yang Evolution of Marriage Legislation Divorce Suits in the Context of Revolution Women in Divorce Litigation Kangshu Gongjiaren Peasant Women Peasant Husbands in Divorce Litigation Tiaobo and Peimi A Peasant Husband Battles to Save His Marriage Conclusion 4. (From De Facto Separation to Separation: Rights and Obligations in Husband-Wife Separations from the Qing to the Republic) (Hongying Li) ( ) ( ) ( ) 5. Representation and in Privately Settling Illicit Sex Offenses, with Attention to the from the Late Imperial Period to the Present Fenghua Jing Research from Contemporary Case Records of Privately Settling Illicit Sex Offenses Privately Settling Illicit Sex Offenses in the Qing Code Privately Settling Illicit Sex Offenses in Qing Private Settlement before the State Was Aware of the Matter Private Settlement after the State Was Aware of the Matter Changes in the Modern Conception of Illicit Sex Crimes A Split in Privately Settling Illicit Sex Offenses Rape Cases and Public Prosecution Private Settlement of Rape Cases under the Public Prosecution System Private Settlement in the Absence of Prosecution Withdrawing a Complaint Rape and Complaint by the Victim Herself Part Two: Custom, Mediation, and 6. Between Informal Mediation and Formal Adjudication: Third Realm of Qing Civil Justice Philip C. C. Huang Three Stages in a Qing Lawsuit Initial Stage Middle Stage Resolution in the Middle Stage Final Stage: Court Session Justice in the Third Realm Court as Catalyst Prompting a Settlement Role of Court Opinion Xiangbao Sources of Abuse in the Third Realm Xiangbao Power and Abuse Runner Power and Abuse Formal, Informal, and Third-Realm Justice State and Seen through the Judicial Process 7. (Customary Law as the Source of Law in Modern China) (Shengfeng Yu) , ? : 8. (Extralegal Origins of the Dangers of a Corpse: An Analysis of Case Examples of Protesting with a Corpse in Contemporary China) (Chenjun You) ( ) 1980 ( ) / ( ) ( ) ( ) Part Three: System of Oneself in Criminal Justice 9. System of Oneself in Qing and Contemporary China: Some Reflections on Modernism Zhengyang Jiang Indigenous Characteristics and Continuity Changes in the System Changes in the Conception of Subject Changes in the Evaluation of Motive Changes in Terms of to Whom One Could Turn Oneself In Changes in the Outcome of Turning Oneself In Reflections on Modernism Rational Formalism Instrumental Individualism Part Four: Administration and 10. Centralized-Minimalist Government: Lake Weishan Issue and the Chinese Mediatory System of Government Lei Tian Lake Weishan Issue: Background How the Policy of the Central Government Was Thwarted A Working Group is Sent to the Lake Area Inter-Ministerial Report and Its Plan Xuzhou Meeting A Review How the Central Government Worked Out a Decision Cui Naifu's Little Solution Plan Wherever There's Trouble, Give It to Shandong Central Government Drops the Gavel Why THREE Documents? Centralized-Minimalist Government Structure of Centralized Authority Daily Model of Minimalist Governance Part Five: 11. Sovereignty and Civilization: and East Asia in the Nineteenth Century Junnan Lai International Society in Nineteenth-Century Civilization Positivism Different Responses of China and Japan China: The Just of All Nations Japan: Bunmei kaika First Sino-Japanese War: Civilization and Barbarism Japan: A Warpath toward Civilization Japan: A Big Show China: A Feeble Voice West: Evaluating Students Japan: Earning a High Score China: Flunking Out Conclusion Part Six: Theoretical Explorations 12. - (Using the Logic of Practice to Explicate Capital - Based on the Multiple Faces and Uses of Symbolic Capital) (Haixia Wang) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 13. Reconstructing Max Weber's Sociology of Law: Power of Idealism and the Limits of Objectivity Junnan Lai Reconstructing Concepts: Form/Substance Categories of Legal Thinking Substantive Power of Dualism: Form/Materie The Anti-Formal Tendencies in Modern Development Reconstructing the Theses: and Capitalism Weber's Hypotheses Weber's Anxiety and Decision A Reconstruction of the Relation between Law, Capitalism, and Rationality Conclusion

  Publisher

• Research from archival case records : law, society, and culture in China

  2014-01-01 · 5 citations

  bookSenior author

  Introduction Philip C. C. Huang Part One Analytical Approaches: of Practice*Women's History*Local Administration*Discourse Analysis*Case Records as Ethnographic Evidence 1. The History-of-Practice Approach to Studying Chinese Law (Introduction to Chinese Civil Justice, Past and Present) Philip C. C. Huang Practice as Opposed to Theory: Legal Formalism and the of Practice of American Law Practice as Opposed to Representation: Qing Law Practice as Opposed to Institutions: Male and Female Inheritance Rights and Their Actual Operation The of Practice vs. Formalist Theory Practical Moralism Divorce Law Practices and the System of Court Mediation The Third Realm and Centralized Minimalism Community Mediation under Minimalist 2. Women and Property in China, 960-1949, Introduction and Conclusion Kathryn Bernhardt Introduction Conclusion 3. Illicit Bureaucrats Bradly W. Reed Preface The Issues Past Scholarship 4. From Oral Testimony to Written Records in Qing Legal Cases Yasuhiko Karasawa Introduction The Status of Depositions in Qing Legal Procedure Writing Legal Testimony in the Context of Literary Culture Records of Oral Testimony Written in the Vernacular Composing Testimony at the Local Level: A Directly Examined Case from Beijing Conclusion 5. Abortion in Late Imperial China: Routine Birth Control or Crisis Intervention? Matthew H. Sommer Introduction Past Scholarship Abortion in Qing Legal Records Unsafe Abortion in Modern China Conclusion Part Two Buying and Selling of Land*Homicides 6. Customary and Judicial Practices and the Criminal Sale of Land in Qing Manchuria Christopher Isett Sources and Methods The Criminalization of Customary Practice in Manchuria The Sale of Qing Land to Commoners Rural Agents, Peasant Defiance, and the Politics of Local Compromise Adjudication in the Face of Criminal Customary Acts 7. Guoshi Killing: The Continuum of Criminal Intent in Qing and Republican China Jennifer M. Neighbors Guoshi Killing in the Qing Dynasty The Republican Codes Conclusion Part Three Tax*Education*Local 8. Between the State and the Village: Land taxation and Substantive Governance in Traditional China Huaiyin Li Introduction The County Government and the Xiangdi Village Regulations on Taxation in the Late Qing Village Regulations on Taxation in the Republican Period The Collection of Enclave Taxes Conclusion 9. Village-State Cooperation: Modern Community Schools and Their Funding, Haicheng County, Fengtian, 1905-1931 Elizabeth VanderVen The Setting: Fengtian Province and Haicheng County Funding the Community Primary Schools Multi-Village Relationships: Creativity, Cooperation, and Conflict 10. Power Networks and State-Society Relations in Republican China Danny Hsu Local in Late Imperial China Xinmin County in Early Republican China Power Networks in Xinmin County Sub-County Administration in the Early Republic Sichuan and the National Government Conclusion Part Four Concubinage*Spousal Abuse *Transnational Families 11. Ceremony and the Definition of Marriage under Republican Law Lisa Tran Ceremony in Social Practice Ceremony in Early Republican Law The Legal Space for Concubinage in the Early Republic Ceremony in the 1929-30 Civil Code From Consent to Complicity under GMD Law 12. Spousal Abuse: Divorce Litigation and the Emergence of Rights Consciousness in Republican China Margaret Kuo The Prevalence of Intolerable Cruelty Divorce Litigation From Grievance to Injustice: Naming, Blaming, and Claiming Please protect women's rights: Cao Xiuzhen's Pleas Intolerable Cruelty Defenses: Marriage Finance, Economic Hardship, and Socioeconomic Interpretations of Rights State Approaches to Intolerable Cruelty Cases: Judicial Outcomes Affirm a Modern Conjugal Patriarchy Individual Rights and the Ironic Affirmation of Modern Conjugal Patriarchy 13. Law, Gongqin and Transnational Polygamy: Family Matters in Fujian and British Malaya, 1855-1942 Huey Bin Teng Between Two Worlds: The Making of Chinese Customary Law in Malaya Exceptions to the Common Law: The Making of Chinese Customary Law Mediation and Enforcement: The Gongqin in Cross-Border Conflicts Part Five Past and Present: Local Administration* Court Mediation 14. Centralized Minimalism: Semiformal by Quasi-Officials and Dispute Resolution in China Philip C. C. Huang The Evidence Centralized Minimalism Confucianized Legalism Bureaucratization and Minimalism in Contemporary China 15. Court Mediation in China, Past and Present Philip C. C. Huang The Ideology of Mediation in the Qing The Actual Practice of Qing Courts Mediation in the Republic The Ideology of Mediation in Post-1949 China The Practice of Court Mediation in Post-1949 China Between Mediation and Adjudication The Nature of Contemporary Chinese Judicial Mediation The Qing, the Republic, and Post-1949 China The Logic of Chinese Court Mediation Postscript 16. How a New Legal History Might Be Possible: Recent Trends in Chinese Legal Studies in the United States and Its Implications Chenjun You Introduction: An Intellectual Earthquake? Westerners' Misunderstandings of and Reflections on Traditional Chinese Law Judicial Archives and Research on Chinese Legal Chinese Legal Studies and the Social Sciences Discovering a Historical Sense in the Meeting of Empiricism and Theory Stones from Other Hills May Serve to Polish the Jade of This One , : The UCLA Research Group's Achievements and Chinese Introspection Conclusion

  Publisher

• Women and Property in China, 960-1949

  Pacific Affairs · 2001-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Index

  Stanford University Press eBooks · 1999-11-01

  paratext1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Women and Property in China, 960-1949

  Stanford University Press eBooks · 1999-11-01 · 44 citations

  book1st authorCorresponding

  Previous scholarship has presented a static picture of property inheritance in China, mainly because it has focused primarily on men, whose rights changed little throughout the Imperial and Republican periods. However, when our focus shifts to women, a very different and dynamic picture emerges. Drawing on newly available archival case records, this book demonstrates that women’s rights to property changed substantially from the Song through the Qing dynasties, and even more dramatically under the Republican Civil Code of 1929-30. The consolidation in law of patrilineal succession in the Ming and Qing dynasties curtailed women’s claims, but the adoption of the Civil Code and the gradual dismantling of patrilineal succession in the twentieth century greatly strengthened women’s rights to inherit property. Through an examination of the changes in women’s claims, the author argues that we can discern larger changes in property rights in general. Previous scholarship assumed that patrilineal succession and household division were but different sides of the same coin—sons divided their father’s property equally as his patrilineal heirs. The focus on women, however, reveals that patrilineal succession and household division were, in fact, two separate processual and conceptual complexes with their own distinct histories. While household division changed little, patrilineal succession changed greatly. Imperial and Republican laws of inheritance, finally, were based on two radically different property logics, the full implications of which cannot be truly appreciated unless the two are examined in tandem.

  PublisherDOI

• Law, Society, and Culture in China

  Stanford University Press eBooks · 1998-12-01

  book-chapterOpen accessSenior author

  T HE oPENING oF archives on legal case records and judi- cial administration in China has made possible a new examination of past assumptions about the Chinese justice system. Scholars can now ask where actual legal practice deviated from official and popular conceptualizations and depictions. In the process, they can arrive at a new understanding not only of the legal system, but of state-society relations and the nature of the Chinese socialpolitical system as a whole.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 中国史上の女子財産権--宋代法は「例外」か (小特集「後期帝政中国における法・社会・文化」)

  中国 · 1997-06-01

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Philip C. C. Huang

  University of California, Los Angeles

  21 shared

• Mark Allee

  Stanford University

  10 shared

• Alison Conner

  Stanford University

  9 shared

• W.A. Rowe

  5 shared

• Hugh Scogin

  Stanford University

  5 shared

• W. J. Alford

  Atrium Medical (Australia)

  5 shared

• Graham Johnson

  4 shared

• Michael Ng‐Quinn

  4 shared