Introduction:
Women have been an oppressed group in almost all societies around the world, not least of all was imperial China. Among many factors, gender bias that leads to human rights violations are largely caused by cultural traditions. Thus, in this paper, I would like to discuss the evolution of traditional gender concepts in China and how that is reflected in our book: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.
Traditional Gender Concept before the Republic of China:
Traditional Chinese society was constituted by an essential masculine value system developed over thousands of years, in which there was a rigid hierarchy of authority based on so called “wu lun”(五伦)：the emperor over the subject, the father over the son, the husband over the wife, the elder brother over the younger one, and relationships between friends being equal. The patriarchal system was dominated by the older generations and power was held by the male head of the …show more content…
The denial of women’s rights to divorce and remarriage was advocated. A wife could be divorced if she committed one of seven “wrongs”(七出之条 Qi Chu Zhi Tiao), such as failure to serve well or disobeying parents-in-law, failure to give birth to a son, and jealousy. Women submerge their individuality to her family, following the orders of their fathers when young, their husbands when married, and their sons when widowed (三从四德 San Cong Si De). The virtues to be followed as a woman are defined clearly in her function as wife and mother. As an old Chinese proverb says, " if you are married to a chicken, follow the chicken; if you are married to a dog, follow the dog; if you are married to a monkey, you have to follow the monkey, running all over the mountain". 嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗，嫁给猴子满山走。Chang (1993:45) gave an interesting description of the relationship between a wife and a
Women have been an oppressed group in almost all societies around the world, not least of all was imperial China. Among many factors, gender bias that leads to human rights violations are largely caused by cultural traditions. Thus, in this paper, I would like to discuss the evolution of traditional gender concepts in China and how that is reflected in our book: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China.
Traditional Gender Concept before the Republic of China:
Traditional Chinese society was constituted by an essential masculine value system developed over thousands of years, in which there was a rigid hierarchy of authority based on so called “wu lun”(五伦)：the emperor over the subject, the father over the son, the husband over the wife, the elder brother over the younger one, and relationships between friends being equal. The patriarchal system was dominated by the older generations and power was held by the male head of the …show more content…
The denial of women’s rights to divorce and remarriage was advocated. A wife could be divorced if she committed one of seven “wrongs”(七出之条 Qi Chu Zhi Tiao), such as failure to serve well or disobeying parents-in-law, failure to give birth to a son, and jealousy. Women submerge their individuality to her family, following the orders of their fathers when young, their husbands when married, and their sons when widowed (三从四德 San Cong Si De). The virtues to be followed as a woman are defined clearly in her function as wife and mother. As an old Chinese proverb says, " if you are married to a chicken, follow the chicken; if you are married to a dog, follow the dog; if you are married to a monkey, you have to follow the monkey, running all over the mountain". 嫁鸡随鸡，嫁狗随狗，嫁给猴子满山走。Chang (1993:45) gave an interesting description of the relationship between a wife and a