Social Status Of Chinese Women In Zhou Period-A Study Based On Nei Ze In The Book Of Rites

Many researches have been done on the Book of Rites (Li Ji in Chinese).Among them, some are the researches of the specific chapter(s); sentences from theBook of Rites have been quoted as materials in the study of the social status of Chinesewomen. But not many of these researches have been done based on the chapter of Nei Zi(or, Domestic Principles in English). On realizing this, the research in this paper iscentered on the chapter of Nei Zi in the perspective of women studies. The methods ofcomparison and contrast were employed in the research.This paper is composed of four parts. The introduction part is a statement of thesignificance and validity of the research of women's social status from the content ofNei Ze. At least four reasons were given out. In addition, the definition of "li" (or, rite)is also strongly proofed that the ritual system in The Book of Rites can be regarded as arecord of Chinese women's social status in Zhou period (c. 11th century- 256 B.C).The first chapter is divided into three parts. They are the formation period and thepossible author(s) of the book of The Book of Rites, the researches that have been doneon the chapter of Nei Ze, and the comparison of women's social status in Shang(c.16th-11th century) period and in Zhou period, respectively. It paved the way for thefurther research in the following chapters. The comparisons of women's social status inShang and Zhou periods verified that from the Zhou period on the social status ofChinese women has been greatly changed.From the title we can see that the second chapter is the main body of the whole paper.It is subdivided into three parts which surveyed women's social status from differentangles. Firstly, the custom that regarding man is superior to women is discussed. Thecontents of Nei Ze proofed this custom from its different descriptions of the situation ofbirth and education of both girls and boys. The second part is a research of the roles ofwomen in family. Women acquired different rights and responsibilities in these roles,but whatever their roles were they were not highly respected in the whole society. Thethird part reverts to the discussion of women's role as wife in family. The time as a wifewas the longest for any woman and it was also the humblest time for a woman in afamily until she gave birth to a male heir, or until the death of her husband and the mother-in-law.The third chapter is a study of women's social status in NeiZe from the perspective ofwomen studies. In this chapter the author firstly gave out the definition of women'ssocial status in the field of women studies. And then it studied women's powers, socialrelationships and functions from two aspects, the first is the role of women in societyand in family; the second is the constraint of the society and family on women. Some ofthe prestige of women in a certain period may be the result of their efforts, but theywere mainly bestowed by men, actually. And the prestige that a woman got was onlyupon the members of the same family. The third part summarized the two forms of thewomen's inferiority in a man-centered society: the absolute conforming of theConfucian ethics, such as 'the three obediences and four virtues', and the passive statueof women in marriage.The fourth part is a conclusion of the paper. It once more stated the influences of thechapter of Nei Ze on Chinese women's social status in ancient China. The first part ofthis chapter is a study of Nei ze's influences on three Chinese female readings, theBiographies of Women, the Commandments for Women, and Lunyu for Women(namely, Lie Nv Zhuan, Nv Jie, and Nv Lunyu in Chinese, respectively). The secondpart presents the roles of Chinese women in society and in family in Zhou period. And itclarified the four influences of the ritual system that formed in Zhou period on ancientChina.