Women in ancient China

Source 1: Poem, Woman, by Fu Xuan, 3rd century CE

How sad it is to be a woman

Nothing on earth is held so cheap
No one is glad when a girl is born
By her the family sets no store (considers to be of any value)
No one cries when she leaves her home (to get married)
Sudden as clouds when rain stops

Fu Xuan 3rd century CE

‘Woman’ in A hundred and seventy Chinese poems 1919, Arthur Waley, trans., Alfred A. Knopf,
London

Source 2: Ban Zhao female writer from the Han Dynasty

On the third day after the birth of a girl, the ancients observed three customs: for three days to place
the baby below the bed; to give her a spindle with which to play; and to fast and announce her birth
to ancestors by an offering. Now to lay the baby below the bed plainly indicated that she was lowly
and humble and should regard it as a prime duty to submit to others. To give her a spindle… was to
signify that she should accustom herself to labour and consider it a prime duty to be industrious. To
announce her birth before her ancestors clearly meant that she ought to consider it a prime duty to
see the continuation of the ancestral sacrifices.

Ban Zhao female writer from the Han Dynasty (c.45-116 CE). Admonition for Women.
Cited in WM Theodore de Bary. (1999). Sources of Chinese Tradition. New York: Columbia Press p. 822

Source 3: Words of the mother of Mencius (a follower of Confucius)

A woman’s duties are to cook the five grains, heat the wine, look after her parents-in-law, make
clothes, and that is all! Therefore, she cultivates the skills required in the women’s quarters and has
no ambition to manage affairs outside the house… she must follow the ‘three submissions’. When
she is young, she must submit to her parents. After her marriage, she must submit to her husband.
When she is widowed, she must submit to her son. These are the rules of propriety.

Mother of Mencius (a follower of Confucius).

Nancy Gibbs trans. in Ebrey, P. B. (ed.) 1993, Chinese civilization: A sourcebook, The Free Press, New York.

Source 4: Quotations from Confucius, Analects

A woman’s business is simply the preparation and supplying of wine and food. She may take no step
of her own motion and she may come to no conclusion of her own mind. Beyond the threshold of her
apartment, she should not be known for evil or for good.

When the coat upon your back is old, worn or no longer in fashion, do you not take another?
Source: Confucius, Analects, The Chinese Classics tr. James Legge 1869 The Online Library of Liberty
http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2270&chapter=213615&layout=html&Itemid=27

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Source 5: Song Ruozhao a female writer of Analects for Women

Your father-in-law and your mother-in-law are the heads of your husband’s family… You must care
for them as your own father and mother. If he (father-in-law) has an order for you, listen and obey.
Song Ruozhao a female writer of Analects for Women. Cited in de Bary, Wm. T & Bloom, I 1999, Sources of Chinese Tradition: From Earliest
Times to 1600, Vol.1, Columbia University Press, New York, p. 829

Source 6: Mencius, a follower of Confucius

There are three unfilial1 acts: the greatest of these is the failure to produce sons.
1. Unfilial: Not respecting one’s parents or husband
Source: Mencius, cited in http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/lesson3plus.html

Source 7: Ban Zhao Admonition for Women

Yet only to teach men and not to teach women — is this not ignoring the reciprocal1 relation between
them? According to the rites, book learning begins at the age of eight and at the age of fifteen one
goes off to school. Why, however, should this principle apply to boys and not to girls?
Ban Zhao female writer from the Han Dynasty (c.45-116 CE). Admonitions for Women.
Cited in de Bary, Wm. T & Bloom, I 1999, Sources of Chinese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600, Vol.1, Columbia University Press, New
York p. 823
1. Reciprocal: What they contribute to each other

Source 8: Women processing silk, 12th century

Source: Master Chang Hsuan, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Meister_nach_Chang_Hs%C3%BCan_001.jpg

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Source 9: Song Dynasty scroll by Li Gonglin, remake of an 8th century version from the
Tang Dynasty artist, Zhang Xuan

Source: National Palace Museum http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Li_Kung-lin_001.jpg

Source 10: Woman sitting in a garden Source 11: Foot binding

reading with a cat at her feet, 10th century

Source: Zhou Wenjiu Source : Woman’s shoe for a bound foot, Vassil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zhou_Wenjiu._Woman_with_Cat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chaussure_chinoise_Saverne_02
_National_Palace_Museum,_Taipei..jpg _05_2012_1.jpg

Source: Woman with bound feet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_HIGH_CASTE_LADYS_DAINT
Y_LILY_FEET.jpg

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 Source 12: Empress Wu

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_Tang_Dynasty_Empress_Wu_Zetian.JPG

Foot binding
The origins of foot binding are contested, some suggesting it dates back to the Shang Dynasty,
and others suggesting it was introduced during a later dynasty. By the Song Dynasty it seems
to have become more widespread. It was thought that small, dainty feet were particularly
attractive, and the only way women could retain the dainty feet of their childhood was to
contort their feet by breaking the bones in their toes and folding them under the soles of the
foot. The feet were kept tightly bound and were unbound and rebound regularly, as often as
every day for wealthy women. It was a very painful procedure and it was difficult for women to
walk any distance on bound feet. This tended to prevent them leaving their households without
assistance and kept them under the control of their families.

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