Subsistence Needs, Social Pressure And Virtuous Ideas Of Women In Ming Dynasty

Focusing on women in Shangdong province, the article tries to explore the virtue of women in Ming dynasties from aspects of subsistence needs, social pressure and virtuous ideas.The actual condition of sticking to virtue is quite complicated in Shandong province in Ming dynasty. Pressure from subsistence needs has little influence on women from rich and noble families. To the opposite, the pressure from subsistence needs is the fundamental factor that determines whether poor women in low levels of the society can stick to the concept of virtue when their husbands are dead. Even though, some women in low levels could adhere to virtuous ideas by doing some work with the prerequisite of meeting their subsistence needs. Social pressure on women in Shandong includes three parts. First is the national system.Second are scholar-bureaucrats whose virtual ideas form public opinion. The third group is the family education instructions from noble families, which are direct pressure for women in these families. The above three factors influence the virtuous ideas of women in Ming dynasty together, which makes the virtuous behavior of women becomes popular. However, the requirement for the virtuous behavior of women in Ming dynasties is only at the level of moral advocating but not compulsory system.Women with great virtue in Shandong practiced the concept of virtue in different ways. The concept of virtue had become their moral criteria, which were adhered to by most unmarried women. Virtuous ideas mean not only the loyalty to their husbands but also their faith to marriage and the sense of responsibility to carry on their dead husbands'will.