A Study Of The Family Roles Of Women In The Literati-official Class In The Ming Dynasty From The Perspective Of "Supporting Husband"

The Ming Dynasty witnessed that the Imperial Examination reached its heyday and a lot of literati took part in this career to gain fame and honor. The scholars tried their best studying hard day and night to won in the Imperial Examination and become the officials. History attributed their success to their own efforts but ignored their wives' support. Researchers seldom paid close attention to the women in the Literati-official class in the Ming Dynasty from the perspective of "supporting husband". Actually, the wives helped their husband a lot, so to reveal the true history and change the traditional concept turn to be with especial importance. This paper discusses that the wives helps their scholar husbands to take part in the Imperial Examination materially and spiritually by doing all kinds of housework and dealing with domestic affairs to eliminate men's domestic worries. If their husbands become officials, the wives aid as an assistant to make men's career more favorably. So it is safe to say that the success of men's Imperial Examination and official career can not go without their wives unknown contribution. And this paper provides a new angle to observe and research the Ming Dynasty by looking into Imperial Examination and society from the perspective of wives' "supporting husband". It can be summarized from this phase of histories that the scholars and officials' high evaluation of the wife's supporting the husband, which demonstrates their comparatively advanced views on women, is on the one hand; and the wives' casting themselves on the husbands entirely and further, which reveals the autarchy's specific impact on real life, is on the other hand. And Ming Dynasty progresses in the interweaving of that advance and tradition. The reason why the wives can constantly help and support their husbands lays in the role of women prescribed by the traditional ancient society, the education they receives and the impact of the idea which goes as "if their husbands become distinguished ,the wives will be proud."This paper consists of five parts. The first part is an introduction. The author gives a literature review and the reason for this topic as well as explains some professional concept, such as why Ming Dynasty and scholar-official class chosen as far as wives' "supporting husband" is concerned and what is scholar-official.The second part is focused on the family roles of the wives and their supporting husband as well as the relationships between multiple domestic roles.The third part is about the wives of scholar-official class and their supporting husbands. When men prepares for the Imperial Examination, the wives help them materially and spiritually to eliminate their domestic worries. The wives even have to comfort and encourage who failed. When men become the officials, wives should always advise and remind their husbands to amend, to help the poor and orphaned and to reject bribery. They also have to rescue their husbands in difficulties.In the fourth part, the writer analyses the reasons of the wives in the Literati-official class in Ming Dynasty supporting husbands, which lays in the education and idea "husbands distinguished, wives proud".The last part is the conclusion.