Women in Ancient China History Essay Example

“Then the agents took her into a special interrogation room equipped with an intensely bright spotlight, which they shone into her eyes at close range, making it impossible for her to keep her eyes open and causing tears to stream down her face.” This was the Chinese police’s response to one of the many young Chinese feminists, Li Maizi, who had simply been handing out stickers to spread awareness for sexual harassment in light of international Women's day. By supporting women and bringing a spotlight to both the past and present issues involving them, feminism threatens the norms of China. Going back to the early teachings of Confucianism, women have been seen as less capable than men and treated as tools for reproduction instead of human beings. Confucianism was one of China’s early belief systems and was created by Confucius around the 6th-5th century BCE. An early female historian, Ban Zou, who was inspired by Confucius and his teachings, wrote “Lessons for Women” from 45-116 CE in which she described the “Three Obediences.” In addition, she explained the “Four Virtues” for women to follow–moral conduct, proper speech, modesty, and diligent work. These attitudes continue today where women are told they do not belong in places of power because they are too “emotional.” 

From the 2nd to the 21st century in China, the way society perceives and treats women has remained constant forcing them to obey the set boundaries and needs of others before their own. From the 2nd century to the 2000s in China, society’s view has been influenced by the ideals of Confucianism and led to the mistreatment of women, as evidenced by both events and texts. One way women’s repression has been fostered is through Ban Zhou’s (45-116 CE) “Lessons for Women” booklet that encouraged specific behavior in women including the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues. In the Three Obediences, a woman must obey her father before marriage, husband after marriage, and son after death. This shows that from the moment she is born to her death, she lives to obey a man, putting all her value in his hands. Furthermore, one of the Four Virtues is a woman’s diligent work. This is described in “Lessons for Women” where Ban Zhou writes, “With wholehearted devotion to sew and to weave; to love not gossip and silly laughter; in cleanliness and order to prepare the wine and food for serving guests, may be called the characteristics of womanly work.” Here it is seen that women are expected to not only serve guests but also behave passionately for sewing and weaving. Moreover, women in the 21’st century who have succeeded in obtaining high positions of political power have been prosecuted and questioned by the public. For example, shortly after the May 2016 inauguration of Taiwan’s first female President, Tsai Ing-Wen’s integrity to lead was questioned by Wang Weixing, a Senior Scholar who wrote for “People’s Liberation Army”, when he described her "As a single female politician, [who] does not have the emotional burden of love, the restraints of 'family' or concerns of children. Her political style and strategy often grow emotional, individualized, and extreme.” This is an example of the yin and yang concept, created in the 3rd century BCE in China, where women are represented as the “yin” and told to yield to the “yang” or men with their rigid characteristics, resulting in harsh and rude behavior towards women. This embedded sexism in China's societal structure allows the communal disrespect of women to continue. 

From the 2nd to the 21st century in China, women have been treated and perceived the same way in society forcing them to obey the set boundaries and needs of others before their own. This is seen in both texts and events from China’s history and modern times including Ban Zhou’s “Lessons for Women” in the 2nd century and the persecution of Tsai Ing-Wen in 2016 because of her gender. However China is not the only place discrimination against women has existed, for example, women did not have voting rights in America until 1920, because they were expected to attend to the house and children. This is quite similar to the way women have been taught in China from the 2nd century to modern days that they are not worthy of responsibilities men have like voting and are clearly pressured to obey this idea. This shows both the yin and yang concept, from 3rd century BCE China, and Diligent work of the Four Virtues, from Ban Zhou’s (45-116 CE) “Lessons for Women”. In closing, society's norms, influenced by Confucius’s teachings, have caused the mistreatment of women to continue.