Family life and work
Marriage and having children was the natural life cycle of adults, the men who did not marry are the only men who could not afford to marry. For example, during the Han era, an additional tax was imposed on unmarried women in the family, while women with children were given three years of tax exemption and their husbands received a year of exemption regardless of the gender of the fetus. And male children were more desirable than females, as it is mentioned in the old saying: “Boys are born with their faces forward, while boys are born with their faces toward the back,” which means that a girl in the ravages will leave her family home to go to live with a new family. Therefore, the provision of a male child was easier to live and made the new wife accepted in her husband's family.
As for women in the upper class, their lives were probably controlled more than any other social class. They had to stay in the inner rooms of the family, and their freedom of movement was limited. The woman in the house had several responsibilities, including managing household expenses and educating her children, but this does not mean that they were the foundation of the family.
Low-class women, such as the wives of peasants, had to work in the fields, especially those in the areas where rice was growing. Since many farmers did not own their land but worked as tenants, their wives were sometimes subject to abuse from the landlords. Many women were forced into prostitution when the crops were drying up. The women who worked at home were weaving silk and tending the silkworm that produced the silk. And some women had to be taught in physical work as men, and this work was considered as tax during some ages. Women in the Song era (960-1279) had more freedom, as they could manage rest homes, midwives, or even other jobs.
Courtesans and prostitutes
Although the Chinese had only one wife, they were open to having a concubine and living with them in the same family home. Prostitutes were an integral part of the life of the small and big city, where officials and merchants frequented the brothels for trade sometimes and for entertainment at other times. While the concubine was far from her responsibility to entertain her husband, her importance was also to bear a male heir when the wife could only bear females. Concubines did not have a legal status as an official wife when their status was as a maidservant, and the children of concubines were not equal to the children of a legal wife, not in social status, not even in heirs.
And the wife should not show any jealousy over her marriage to concubines, as it was believed that there was a special place for jealous wives in the afterlife.
The concubines were usually of a lower class and went to a richer and more prestigious family. Whereas she would not have given a girl from a rich family as a concubine unless it was a richer family or the royal palace. It was not uncommon for the younger sister to accompany the bride's sister to the matrimonial home as a concubine. This Eastern Han funerary stela provides an interesting record as it contains the duties of a concubine:
"When she entered the family, she was diligent in care and according to the orders of our family, she treated our ancestors in a noble manner. She pursued happily without vagrancy, and did not neglect her duties. She kept herself frugal, spun yarn, and planted crops in the orchards and gardens where she brought profit. She respected the lawful wife And she instructed the children, she refused arrogance and did not boast of her kindness. The three boys and two girls remain silent while the woman accompanies them. She teaches the girls to submit to rituals while giving strength to the boys. Her chastity transcends antiquity and her guidance was not unjust. All our relatives were harmonious and compatible, like leaves trees tied to a twig"
famous chinese women
Regardless of the limitations and social norms established by men at the time, there are many women (some real, others fiction) who defied tradition to become well-known poets, artists, calligraphers, historians and even rulers. Here are some details of two such women, one of whom is a model of virtue, and the other is more mysterious and controversial.
Ban Zhao (41 - c. 115 CE): was one of the most famous female writers and historians in early China. She wrote commentaries on the classics of Confucius and the most prominent of her works is "Nuje or "Instructions for Women" where the book includes four virtues that a woman must possess and they are (speech, virtue, conduct and action) the work was called first the classics of Liji ritual. She emphasized that women should remain submissive to their husbands, but she also emphasized women's education for themselves (to improve the business of their husbands).Her work The Nuje had a huge impact and was studied by several generations of women, and was recited to those who could not read.
Wu Zetian, known as "Wu Zetian" (AD 623-705), was a concubine of Emperor Taizong of the Altan and Gaozong era. She was crowned Empress in 655AD, after the death of Emperor Gaozong, she became the official regent for her son zhongzhong in 684AD and for his successor and elder brother Ruizong (684-690AD). In 690AD, Wuztian took one step forward and declared itself emperor and even established a royal court for itself In Luoyang she said that this was the era of a new dynasty, the Zhao, its era..at least that's what is known in Chinese tradition, it was considered a terrifying, tyrannical era punctuated by family assassinations and political intrigue.However, its ruthless approach led to the expansion of government bureaucracy, and it was A great patron of Buddhist art, she was especially seen in the Longman Grottoes.At the end of her reign, she was forced to re-accept the Tang dynasty and choose Zhongzong as her heir.
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January 21, 2022