Evolvement Of The Standards For Recorded Women In Official History

Biography for Women is an important part in che Chinese official history.But which standards for women who can be recorded in official history have an changing process which was from many standards to unique standard.Ancient Confucian classics provided lots of rules for women's mind and action,which were inheritted by Liuxiang and Fanye.It is seems that standards for women who can be recorded in official history was diversification,such as wisdom,kind,chastity,gift.This phenomenon was till used during Wei and Jin dynasties.But on the other hand,standards for women who can be recorded in Wei and Jin dynasties turned out two different trends that the chaste was much more and quantity of women who were good at political and military has increased,which was effected by the social atmosphere.To the style biographies for concubines disappeared in Biographies for Women,only leaving the the middle and bottom.The purposes of Biography for Woman that suggests the king was disappeared.In Tang dynasty,the standards of kind and chastity turned to the main standards because the writers pay more attention to Enlightenment.It was different that loyalty play an impartant role in Tang dynasty.Many women would devoted their lives to country if it needed.The quantity of recorded women had increased a lot,especially,the chaste,other standards were deleted,in Song(Jin and Liao)dynasty.Public opinion,not love,made more and more women have to potacted their chastity and the ways were cruel.The whole socialty liked women to protacted their deteriorate chastity.What is more,the words used to discribed drcorded women were rigid in the form.And the activities of the minority were lacked of their national standard.The main reason for this phenomenon was that the purpose of recording women had changed.It did not need to suggested the king manage his concubines well and public opinion effected deedly by Zhuxi which emphsized the chastity to insist ethics only.As a result,the diversified standards had to be unitary,which was called chastity.