Women were subordinated in most ancient societies and still are in some communities. They live in a male-dominated society and under the philosophical and religious norms that men had created in their favor. Everyone in Chinese societies knew it was advantageous to be born a man instead of a woman. However, a few women did break the barrier they faced and rose to live extraordinary lives and even ruled in their societies. The cases were the same in the Chinese dynasties of Song and Tang. Also though the lived in male-dominated societies that limited their roles to fidelity, cautious speech, graceful manners, and industriousness, a few women did break the barriers in the two Chinese Dynasties to become rulers, artists, and poets.
In the two dynasties, women were regarded as property. The men had one wife but could invite concubines to live with them permanently in their homes. Prostitution was an open part of the lives of women. When the wife of such a family only gave birth to daughters, the concubines could provide a male child who became an heir (Cartwright, 2017). However, by the 960-1279 CE, women in the Song dynasty had more freedom and ran inns, acted as midwives, and had a few other professions.
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Some women broke the barriers. In the Tang dynasty, Wu Zetian, who lived between 625 to 705 CE and had been a concubine to emperors Taizong and Gaozong, officially became the empress and later resigned after her son became of age. Then, she took back the throne and ruled for several years (Cartwright, 2017). Tang dynasty revived the role of women in China. There was an open relationship between husbands and their wives (Ta-li, 2001). Men begin to respect their wives, thereby improving their status in society, which led to changes in their roles from the previous ones.
References
Ta-li, D. U. A. N. (2001). Research on Women's Status in the Family from the Relations between Husband and Wife in the Tang Dynasty [J]. Journal of Lanzhou University, 6.
Cartwright, M. (2017, October 19). Women in Ancient China. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/article/1136/
