The Sung Dynasty (960-1279) was a paradoxical era for Chinese women. This was a time when footbinding spread; and Confucian scholars began to insist that it was better for a widow to starve than to remarry. Yet there were also improvements in women's status in marriage and property rights. In this thoroughly original work; one of the most respected scholars of premodern China brings to life what it was like to be a woman in Sung times; from having a marriage arranged; serving parents-in-law; rearing children; and coping with concubines; to deciding what to do if widowed.Focusing on marriage; Patricia Buckley Ebrey views family life from the perspective of women. She argues that the ideas; attitudes; and practices that constituted marriage shaped women's lives; providing the context in which they could interpret the opportunities open to them; negotiate their relationships with others; and accommodate or resist those around them.Ebrey questions whether women's situations actually deteriorated in the Sung; linking their experiences to widespread social; political; economic; and cultural changes of this period. She draws from advice books; biographies; government documents; and medical treatises to show that although the family continued to be patrilineal and patriarchal; women found ways to exert their power and authority. No other book explores the history of women in pre-twentieth-century China with such energy and depth.
#1077224 in Books 1983-03-23 1983-03-23Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.95 x 1.36 x 5.51l; 1.37 #File Name: 0520049551540 pages
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