Chinese Women and the Song Dynasty: Domesticated Freedom
Within this paper, I begin by explaining the difficulties associated with any attempt at discovering a definitive categorization of women within Chinese history due to the sparse remaining records of that history. I then proceed to attempt to discover such a categorization by examining the role for women within Confucius' five relationships, a general history of the Song which outlines the historical threads that are often associated with its dynasty, and the poet Li Qingzhao. I examine 2 of Li's poems and offer an alternative interpretation of her poems to the ones that are commonly found in the Confucianism tradition. My interpretation implicitly critiques the historical attitudes regarding women from the Song dynasty, for such attitudes were created largely by men who read Li's poetry from a male perspective. In my conclusion, I attempt to offer a new road on which historical studies can travel.
Pages: 10
Bibliography: 8 source(s) listed
Filename: 23010 Chinese Women During the Song Dynasty.doc
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