Chinese Women and Their Problems during the High Qing Era - Term Paper Example

Chinese women and their problems during the High Qing era You have perhaps never come across a discussion or symposium on the subject, “Men-their role in the society!” The discussion is always about women throughout the human history! Men have, perhaps no role! The never-ending talk of giving equal rights to women has been going on unabated, in all parts of the words, since ages, in different cultural set-ups, when the kings ruled, or when the democracies were established. The conditions of the women, more or less, remained the same, and she continued to play the second fiddle to men in one form or the other. All the Acts of the Parliaments in the world and granting of the constitutional rights will not bring equality for women. The change has to be achieved within, both by men and women! How can one give equal rights to women? God has given her the status of more-equal. Nobody can take that right away. It is the mother, who gives protection for the initial nine months to the divine creative force of the future-male or female! In the book Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century, author Susan Mann, Professor of History at the University of California, Davis, does the churning process of the roles, rights and achievements of Chinese women and their problems during the High Qing era (1683-1839). She contends the assertions that women during in that era were oppressed and subjugated. Rather she emphasizes how gender relations shaped the economic, social, political and cultural change of the age. She provides us the correct picture about the feelings of women, their beliefs, and performance in domestic and various other fields. Unanimous agreement exists that education to women has always acted as a great vehicle of social change, though some fundamental outfits which are bent upon keeping the girl-child backward may not agree with this observation. Nobody need provide the traditional home-based education for girls—it comes to them automatically through the mother and other senior women-folk in the family and through the social circle of the women. The establishment of girls’ schools during the late Qing period was the turning point and a new dimension to her advancement got the kick-start. The process of social change began. It brought her out of the four walls of the domestic life to the open public forums. The notion of “gendered” division of society into male and female bastions, howsoever cleverly formulated, gives scope for the subjugation of women by men. Sharing of power and social relations can never be fair when walls are created between male and female sexes. All scholars of Chinese history agree with this conclusion—that a strict division of social domains between the sexes is unrealistic and questionable and gives rise to different types of social ills. Susan Mann makes the reader listen and understand the voice of the Chinese Women of the Qing Period (1644-1911), though she crosses the boundaries of time, quite often, when it suits the narration and when she wishes to throw proper light on this contentious issue. Her sources are women themselves and male writers, mostly court officials. Her concern for feminine issues is genuine, but she makes a fair assessment of the overall picture of the Chinese society, without any bias against the male. Writing of the elite dominated the analysis of gender in High Qing times. Sitting on the ivory towers, the intellectuals recorded their scholarly observations. Susan extends the scope to the grassroots level. She deals with her contribution in the farm, household, entertainment by the courtesan, and the participation of women in rituals and domestic religious festivities; and above all, the important issue of women’s poetry. The sensibilities expressed by various women poets are great historical documents to the time during which these poems were written. They provide valuable information about the emotions of women, moral values, and social relations and to an extent, political judgments. Yuan Mei’s recollections of the women poets with whom he was acquainted with, were full of catkin images, especially the stories of child intellectuals who were brilliant poets. So also, Xie Daoyun of willow catkin fame was known for upstaging their male friends and relatives in verbal combat and poetry contests. That was a strange position, which Mann noticed and elaborated in her book, about the elite Chinese women. The patrilineal family demanded that elite women demonstrate family prestige by remaining secluded and restrict their activities. But they enjoyed a new type of freedom in the Qing constellation. They could write and reinterpret their own history. The elite women had a pragmatic approach to their role in the society. They did not challenge the familial traditions or the social structure and the question of “women’s identity” that in a way challenged men, was of no consequence to them. They exploited and enjoyed the possibilities of autonomy that was prevalent within their society. Mann provides the correct picture and structure of elite men and women, how both the entities are different, responsibility-wise! By mid-life, when the man has normally reached the zenith of his career, woman as she matures earlier, her reproductive years come to a close. She has grown-up children. In the grand family structure depicted by Mann, women had to be wives or concubines. The in-house responsibilities of women were tremendous and they included managing the household and business, taking care of children education, and looking after the aged and infirm. Only after taking care of all these mandatory duties, the women could think of creative pursuits, if time permitted. Mann cites the example of Wanyan Yun Zhu, who wrote poems under such conditions. The life of the courtesans’ quartets is described from primary sources and description is given the minutest detail, touching all aspects of the life there. Even the courtesan’s female lineages are detailed to provide the correct picture of the filial relationships from outside. The book gives the prominent place to women’s writing, and through that it has been possible for Mann to show the life and activities in detail about the elite women. The life-stories of some such women mirror the social life of the time. Here social means the domestic life as well. Women began to use biographies for talent hunt amongst them and to get their ideas about statecraft. Mann shows that women did not lack in any areas, and fully exploited the opportunities provided to them in their assigned range. But all these explanations do not mean that everything was going perfect for the Chinese women in the period under examination by Mann. There was no movement as such that fought for the increased rights for women; between 13th and 18th centuries, women lost right to property and children. They used to enjoy these rights earlier. One has to comprehend the Chinese perspective on such issues, the special perplexities of the Chinese culture, to understand the position. Women were powerless to cross the barriers like “the traditional family.” No one can condemn that system, least the Chinese people themselves. If Qing dynasty intellectuals could welcome statements from the inner quarters on such matters as the civilizing projects of the court, their perception of the issue was entirely different. The stern moral instructress shows her mettle here. The Chinese people have a history of showing utmost respect to their tradition, culture, language and crafts and would go to any extent to protect them. References: Mann, Susan: Book: Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century (Paperback) Paperback: 340 pages Publisher: Stanford University Press; 1 edition (May 1, 1997) Language: English ISBN-10: 0804727449 ISBN-13: 978-0804727440 Read More