On Women Of Qi State In The Eastern Zhou Period

Influenced by unique cultural tradition and geographical environment, Females in Qi State were considered as one of the most open and active Pre-Qin Period female group. The highly developed culture of Qi endowed local females with excellent humanistic quality and cultural connotation, three-side costal environment branded the Qi females of marine culture with imperceptibly influence. Therefore, Qi females had more independence and less restraint compared to females in other states, meanwhile, their thought and behavior tended to freedom. The collapse of the Eastern Zhou Period ritual system provided Qi females with a special opportunity to step onto the stage of history. This opportunity encouraged them to express their desires and demands, or even for part of them to smash the bonds of gender to involve into the forbidden zone that is politics. Some of them participated in political affairs and gave counsels for man, while some of them expostulated sovereign and take the rise and fall of the nation on themselves. What they did and what they said influenced the political situation at that time. This paper will focus on the research of Qi females. Five different profiles of female lives are further studied to reflect the true roles and status of Qi females in the Eastern Zhou Period society.There are three parts of this paper, including introduction, main body and conclusion.The introduction mainly clarifies the research purpose, search value and Significance.Chapter I starts from the gender role construction for Qi females, then emphatically analyses the purpose, contents and methods of female education in Qi State; furthermore, the reasons of forming the Qi females'unique characteristic features are deeply explored.Chapter II focuses on the production work. The comprehensive and systematic study of Qi female weaving work exposed the change of the nature for their work and the promotion of status as labor force.Chapter III focuses on their marriages and families. The study emphasizes on several unique marriage systems in Qi State, and discusses various social and cultural factors when they get married to reveal the vulnerability of political marriage as well as the cruelty and inequity for females.Chapter IV focuses on political participation. The discussion of how Qi females participated in administration affairs reveals the real reasons for frequent participation, that were the unbalance of male and female power structure, special time opportunity, the openness of Qi culture and the excellent personal quality of Qi females for participating in administration affairs.Chapter V focuses on religious worship and the role and status of Qi female in these activities. There were plenty faiths and customs of East Yi Clan culture preserved in Qi religious worship. Wuer were the typical representation. They weren't married for the whole life and this is the exchange price for religious power to share the dominant worship power.The conclusion comes in the last part which summarizes the historical changes of Qi females'role and status, and reveals the practical significance of this study.