<P> Apart from the passing of noble titles or ranks, inheritance practices did not involve primogeniture; each son received an equal share of the family property . Unlike the practice in later dynasties, the father usually sent his adult married sons away with their portions of the family fortune . Daughters received a portion of the family fortune through their marriage dowries, though this was usually much less than the shares of sons . A different distribution of the remainder could be specified in a will, but it is unclear how common this was . </P> <P> According to Confucian teachings, upper - class men honored their ancestors through rituals carried out over the course of their lives . These rituals were passed down through generations from father to son . Official family lists were inscribed, with women only acknowledged on that of their marital families . Women who did not produce sons were not inscribed and were thus forgotten from family memory . </P> <P> Women were expected to obey the will of their father, then their husband, and then their adult son in old age . However, it is known from contemporary sources that there were many deviations to this rule, especially in regard to mothers over their sons, and empresses who ordered around and openly humiliated their fathers and brothers . Women were exempt from the annual corvée labor duties, but often engaged in a range of income - earning occupations aside from their domestic chores of cooking and cleaning . </P> <P> The most common occupation for women was weaving clothes for the family, sale at market or for large textile enterprises that employed hundreds of women . Other women helped on their brothers' farms or became singers, dancers, sorceresses, respected medical physicians, and successful merchants who could afford their own silk clothes . Some women formed spinning collectives, aggregating the resources of several different families . </P>

When did the han dynasty reach its peak