The Status And Image Of Virtuous Mothers In The Historical Records Of Ming Dynasty

There are more and more epitaphs and biographies written for women in Ming Dynasty scholar bureaucrat anthologies.One important group of these women is mothers,especially virtuous mothers.The anthology records their life and activities in detail,from which we can analyze the power and status of mothers in Ming Dynasty.The research on women in Ming and Qing Dynasties has been very rich,but there is a lack of attention on women who are mothers.Careful excavation of the activities and images of mothers can further analyze the position of women in the power structure of traditional society.Focusing on the identity of mother can also effectively observe the gender relations and order in Ming Dynasty.Moreover,the mother is also the elder in the family.The study of the role of mother not only deepens the study of women in Ming Dynasty,but also helps the family ethics and filial piety in Ming Dynasty.It is not difficult to find that the contributions of a virtuous mother to her husband’s family are various,such as educating children and engaging in production.Through the first chapter of this paper,we can find that educational activities are one of the main responsibilities of virtuous mothers,especially after the death of male elders in the family,mothers should take the initiative to undertake this responsibility.From the educational activities,we can find that the literati class women in Ming Dynasty have certain cultural literacy,they can be competent as the enlightening teachers of their children,and the "virtuous" of the virtuous mother is more reflected in the moral cultivation of their children.As for the education of female offspring,the role of mother’s education is more prominent.Many virtuous mothers were influenced by their mothers when they were young and accepted Confucian ethics,which laid the foundation for becoming virtuous mothers later.It can also be seen that women are very important in the process of maintaining Confucian ethics and promoting women’s education.In the widowed family,the economic contribution of the mother is more obvious,which is one of the criteria to evaluate the virtuous mother.In order to make a living,the widowed mother often has to undertake more production tasks,and engaged in this kind of hard work will also be praised by the literati.It can be seen that women’s power will have a certain extension in the society.Facts have proved that in a widowed family,it is very difficult for a mother not to go out of the boudoir in order to live a normal life.Moreover,through the analysis of different types of virtuous mothers,it can be found that the criteria for the literati to evaluate virtuous mothers are whether they are responsible for their husband’s family.There are many jealous and vicious "evil mothers" in the novel.By comparing two different images,we can sort out the life differences of different social classes in Ming Dynasty.The novel and the story itself also have a certain significance of persuading the world.As a contrast,the evil mother can also reflect the promotion and flaunt of the virtuous mother by the literati.The virtuous mother also has a strong sense of morality and self-identity.They have been educated in Confucianism since childhood,and they are also active defenders of Confucian order.In order to improve the image of scholar bureaucrats,we can focus on the role of literary mother through the evaluation of literary mother.Therefore,the image of the virtuous mother was endowed with moral significance,so the power and status of the virtuous mother at that time were improved to a certain extent.However,influenced by the deliberate propaganda and flaunt of the elite,the attachment of the virtuous mother in personality gradually increased.