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Search - Exemplary Women of Early China: The Lienü zhuan of Liu Xiang (Translations from the Asian Classics)

Exemplary Women of Early China: The <i>Lienü zhuan </i>of Liu Xiang (Translations from the Asian Classics)

Exemplary Women of Early China The iLien zhuan /iof Liu Xiang - Translations from the Asian Classics
Author: Anne Behnke Kinney

In early China, was it appropriate for a woman to disobey her father, contradict her husband, or shape the public policy of a son who ruled over a dynasty or state? According to the Lienü zhuan, or Categorized Biographies of Women, it was not only appropriate but necessary for women to step in with wise counsel whenever fathers, husbands, or r... more »ulers strayed unchecked from the path of virtue. A large number of the biographies found in the Lienü zhuan describe the strategic and rhetorical skills of women who successfully battled various forms of injustice, ignorance, and ineptitude.Compiled toward the end of the Former Han dynasty (202 BCE-9 CE) by Liu Xiang (79-8 BCE), the Lienü zhuan is the earliest extant book in the Chinese tradition solely devoted to the education of women. While it consists primarily of biographical accounts of women in early China who were noted for various virtues, the final chapter concerns exemplars of feminine wickedness. The Lienü zhuan inspired generations of Chinese women to cultivate traditional virtues such as filial piety and maternal kindness, but it also lauded a diverse range of practices. Thus, at one extreme we see exemplars who resort to suicide and self-mutilation as a means to preserve chastity and ritual orthodoxy and at the other, bold and outspoken women whose mastery of rhetoric allows them to correct rulers, sons, and husbands who stray from the path of virtue. The collection therefore draws on not one point of view but on the wide range of positions on women's roles that were current in early China. The Lienü zhuan encompasses a large array of textual sources including early legends, formal speeches on statecraft, and highly fictionalized historical accounts. Yet it is also an important source of information about an aspect of early China that is often overlooked: the daily life, ritual activities, and concerns of the domestic realm. Illustrated from its inception, the text also inspired artists across the millennia who depicted its stories on screens, paintings, lacquer ware, murals, and stone relief sculpture. Collected biographies of women became a regular feature of dynastic and local histories, serving as an important vehicle for expressing and transmitting concerns about women's social, political, and domestic roles. Considering the innovative nature of this book in Han times and its ongoing influence, this edition will garner extensive scholarly attention and wide readership.

ISBN-13: 9780231163088
ISBN-10: 0231163088
Publication Date: 2/18/2014
Pages: 384
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Columbia University Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Biographies & Memoirs >> Specific Groups >> Women
History >> Ancient Civilizations >> China
History >> Asia >> China
LGBTQ+ Books >> Biographies & Memoirs
LGBTQ+ Books >> History
LGBTQ+ Books >> Nonfiction >> Philosophy
Nonfiction >> Philosophy >> Ethics & Morality
Nonfiction >> Social Sciences >> Customs & Traditions
Nonfiction >> Women's Studies

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