https://www.ancient.

eu/article/1136/women-in-ancient-china/

https://www.toptenz.net/10-remarkable-women-in-chinese-history.php

https://keatschinese.com/china-culture-resources/general-standards-of-ancient-chinese-marriage-age/

1. Theories on Women

-Women in ancient China did not enjoy the status, either social or political, afforded to men.
Women were subordinate to first their fathers, then their husbands, and finally, in the case
of being left a widow, their sons in a system known as the “three followings”.

“xuất giá tòng phu, phu tử tòng tử”

-Often physically ill-treated, socially segregated, and forced to compete for their husband's
affections with concubines

- In China everyone knew it was better to be born a male, and even female characters in
traditional literature sometimes stated that they had been a man in a previous life but had
reappeared as a woman in this one as a punishment for past deeds. Another common
introduction to a female character in such stories was the line “unfortunately she was born a
woman”.

- A male child would grow up to contribute financially to the family, perform rituals such as
those in ancestor worship, and perpetuate the family name. In contrast, a woman could not
earn money and one day would leave the family and join her husband’s. Consequently,
many baby girls were abandoned shortly after birth.

- Women were expected to excel in four areas: fidelity, cautious speech, industriousness,
and graceful manners. A woman’s virtue was a particularly valued attribute in Chinese
society.

- Women deemed especially virtuous such as chaste widows were sometimes given the
honor of a shrine, monument, or commemorative tablet after death or had their names
published in honorific obituaries.

2. Marriage

- Marriages in ancient China were usually arranged by both sets of parents. Not love but
economic and social considerations were upmost in everybody’s minds.

- Neither did some parents wait until their children were of age as many marriages had been
arranged when the couple were still young children or even babies.
- Neither did some parents wait until their children were of age as many marriages had been
arranged when the couple were still young children or even babies

- A man’s marriageable age ranged from 20 to 30 and a woman’s from 15 to 20 before the
Qin Dynasty (the 3rd century BC). After the Warring States Period (475-221BC), the
marriageable age for girls was lowered due to the shortage of workforce caused by frequent
wars. Later saw a gradual rise in marriageable age in the following dynasties.

- If a marriage had been arranged but the groom died close to the ceremony, the wedding
might go ahead anyway and the bride joined her new family as a widow. If a marriage had
been arranged but the groom died close to the ceremony, the wedding might go ahead
anyway and the bride joined her new family as a widow.

- The bride went to live with the groom in his house or that of his parents, keeping her
family surname. Her transferal of abode became a great procession when she was carried on
a red bridal chair and her feet never touched the ground between the homes in order to ward
off evil spirits.

- That a wife was not much more than a physical piece of her husband’s property is further
illustrated in the ancient practice of foot-binding. Girls from aged three upwards had their
feet crushed in bindings for years in the belief that the resulting small feet would appeal to
her future husband. (hủ tục bó chân)

- In Chinese law, a man could divorce his wife but she had no such right except if the
husband particularly mistreated his wife’s family.

- The accepted grounds for divorce were failure to bear a son, evidence of being unfaithful,
lack of filial piety to the husband’s parents, theft, suffering a virulent or infectious disease,
jealousy, and talking too much.

3. Education

- In Ancient China, a new-born baby girl did not bring bring joy to a family because a son
was more valuable than a daughter. Women were seen as inferior to men and families did
not feel the need to invest much in their daughters. Therefore, they were also unworthy of
receiving an education.

- Most women were not literate and did not know how to write any words. Some daughters,
especially those of scholars and teachers, were educated. They learnt at home from their
parents or the family scholar. Women could never become a leader or part of the Ancient
Chinese Government because they were not permitted to talk or act freely in front of men.

4. Some famous women in ancient China

-Despite being restricted by the men and the male-created social conventions of the time,
there were cases of Chinese women (both real and fictional) who defied convention to
become celebrated poets, artists, calligraphers, historians, and even rulers. Below are some
details of two such women, one the paradigm of virtue, the other more ambiguous and
controversial.

- Ban Zhao (41 - c. 115 CE) was one of the most famous female writers and scholars in
early China. She wrote commentaries on Confucian classics, and her most famous work
remains her Nuje or “Instructions for Women” which expanded on the four virtues expected
of women (speech, virtue, behaviour, and work) first outlined in the classic Liji ritual text.
Although Zhao stressed that women should remain subservient to their husbands she did
express a belief in the benefits of women educating themselves (to better help their
husband’s work). The Nuje text was hugely influential, studied by countless generations of
women and even recited to those unable to read.

- Empress Consort Wu Zetian lived from 623 or 625 to 705 CE. The concubine of Tang
dynasty emperors Taizong (626-649 CE) and Gaozong (r. 649-683 CE), she was officially
made empress by the latter in 655 CE. On the death of Gaozong, she reigned as regent for
her son Zhongzong (684 CE) and his successor and elder brother Ruizong (r. 684-690 CE).
In 690 CE Wu Zetian went one step further and took the throne by declaring herself
emperor, set up her court at Luoyang and declared the beginning of a new dynasty, the
Zhou. Her reign, at least in Chinese tradition, was one of despotic terror punctuated by
family assassinations and beset by political intrigues. Nevertheless, her ruthless approach
did lead to the expansion of the state bureaucracy, and she was a great patron of Buddhist
art, seen notably at the Longmen caves. At the end of her reign, she was forced to reaccept
the Tang dynasty line and select Zhongzong as her heir apparent.