Traditionally, the Chinese assume that those whom lightning strikes dead are being punished by heaven, which smites them with thunderbolts. A large number of Qing dynasty legends record such incidents. These allegedly true stories portray heaven as punishing the failure to live up to an obligation: specifically avarice, the violation of family obligations, or a sexual transgression. A large proportion of the legends present women as victims, suggesting such sanctions were invoked as a means of social control, to protect women. Indeed, they present heaven as vindicating complaints of injustice, sometimes even reviving those unjustly killed. However, the legends generally uphold the ethical system rather than oppose it, and the unintended implication is that the odds of being treated justly in traditional China are no greater than the probability of being struck by lightning.