When her husband had died, she transferred ownership of the farm to her daughter and son-in-law, but continued to live there.
The water radical, as a case in point, appears in the character for decide, and the female radical is incorporated in the character for son-in-law.
The parents could retire and hand over the responsibility of running the farm to a ' marriage-keen ' son or son-in-law.
Women were eventually to lose even this tenuous hold, when an adopted son-in-law was formally permitted to succeed as the head of the household.
She was probably elderly in 1536, when she surrendered a two-acre holding to her daughter and son-in-law in return for a lifelong maintenance agreement.
Over several months, the son-in-law who still lived with them became increasingly detached, often spending the night in the nearby town where he worked.
He had no difficulty in getting along with his son-in-law, who shared the same cultural framework.
People would just say to the woman's family, 'well, that's it, your family has gained a son-in-law'.
