China has been the origin of various inventions in the world such as paper, silk cloth, and the pottery known as porcelain. Making silk was a very profitable industry and it was one of the first successful textile industries. When considering the successes of ancient products from China, one should consider the role that women played in the creation of the products and the success of the entire Chinese dynasties as a whole. The study of the role of women in ancient China will provide a better understanding regarding how the Chinese communities worked. While women in ancient China did not enjoy a similar social and political status like that which was afforded to men, women that lived in some dynasties enjoyed more privileges compared to those that lived in other dynasties. The analysis of the Song and Tang Dynasties shows there were changes in the roles of women where women in the Song Dynasty had lesser political and social roles compared to women that lived in the Tang dynasty.
The Roles of Women in the Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty was a Chinese empire that was between the years 960 and 1279. The Song dynasty adopted the neo-Confucianism belief system, such a belief system was observed to have resulted in the decline of the status of women (Bernhardt, 2014). The observation was that women were to primarily remain indoors and were not accepted to go out after the age of 10. The dynasty primarily had a decline in the status of women where they were regarded inferior to men and were not to discuss the matters of men in the outside world.
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With the decline in the status of women, most women would undertake passive roles and duties in their societies. Most of the women that lived in the elite families would predominantly participate in roles such as being concubines, prostitutes, entertainers, and courtesans. There was a significant rise in women undertaking prostitution. While the remarriage of women during this time was legal, it was a practice that became increasingly condemned (Si, 2016). Most of the women that were divorced or widowed were condemned to remarry and would mostly remain lonely.
The rapidly commercializing economy also meant that the position of women within the textile industry declined. However, the roles of women in the city was not quite limited as most operated restaurants, vegetables and sold fish. Women that lived rural regions primarily participated in agriculture and they had an increased skill in their work (Tao and Huibo, 2014). The limiting of women from having an active outside and active lifestyle led to the emergence of many women that were poets. Peterson (2016) observes that most of the prominent women that lived in the Song dynasty were poets.
The practice of foot binding was a practice that became increasingly practiced. The practice encouraged women to wrap their feet in order to shape them to become unnaturally small and sharp (Jiaqin & Liang, 2018). The practice was associated with images of female beauty as it would emphasize a sense of delicacy and reticence. Mothers would thus impose foot binding practices upon their daughters in order to enhance their ability to get marriage partners.
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty was an imperial empire of China that ruled between 618 and 907. Women had a greater degree of freedom during this time. Yi (2015) observed that there was an increasing tolerance of women that was unprecedented. This would have been caused by the introduction of the western culture and the influence of the Han people. Yao (2011) further observes that the Tang dynasty can be adequately described as a golden age for women as they engaged multiple roles and had a higher social position.
The role of women was also apparent in various political duties. Princess Pingyang became the military commander in Taiyuan and had several key military positions. She was the daughter of the first emperor of Tang and was critical for the founding of the Tang dynasty and was able to have an army of 70,000 soldiers that would assist her father’s campaign (Peterson, 2016). Women were also recorded to be involved in the handling of legal disputes and warfare. The princesses were expected to act as ambassadors and diplomats (Hinsch, 2019).
Women also had an active role in the economy. Women that lived in the urban regions engaged in activities such as singing, acrobatics, storytelling, street performance, and being secretaries to military officials. Joining of religious institutions was also a career choice for the women. While women had an active role in the economy, they did not participate in the payment of taxes. The government presumed that women were represented by a male guardian (Lai and Chou, 2016). Most women also had a career choice where they would participate in a religious institution. Women thus actively in various religious practices and had religious authority. The Daoist priestesses had a religious authority in the dynasty and engaged in religious practices such as prolonged fasting (Lo et al., 2012).
In conclusion, the analysis of the Song and Tang dynasties shows that the status and roles of women changed significantly. The Tang dynasty had a greater freedom of women and women had an active role in various economic activities. They participated actively in political, social, economic, and religious roles. The Song dynasty saw the status of women decline and women were regarded as inferior. Women were expected not to move out and were mostly prostitutes, concubines, and entertainers.
References
Bernhardt, K. (2014). 1 A Ming-Qing Transition in Chinese Women’s History? The Perspective from Law. In The History and Theory of Legal Practice in China (pp. 27-50). BRILL.
Hinsch, B. (2019). Women in Tang China . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Jiaqin, Z., & Liang, H. (2018). Porcelain-made lotus shoes in the Qing Dynasty of China. Ceramics Art and Perception , (110), 80.
Lai, K. L., & Chou, H. M. (2016, November). The economic and trade development in central and Southern Asia during the early period of the Tang Dynasty. In 2016 International Conference on Advanced Materials for Science and Engineering (ICAMSE) (pp. 333-334). IEEE.
Lo, A. L., Hsu, L. G., & Vandereycken, W. (2012). Extreme fasting among Daoist priestesses of the Tang Dynasty: an old Chinese variant of anorexia nervosa?. History of Psychiatry , 23 (3), 342-348.
Peterson, B. B. (2016). Notable women of China: Shang dynasty to the early twentieth century . Routledge.
Si, Z. H. A. N. G. (2018). Remarried Women and Their Social Status in Song Dynasty. Journal of Huaihua University , (3), 15.
Tao, X., & Huibo, W. (2014). The Role of Women in the Agriculture in Song Dynasty of China. Reformation & Strategy , (12), 21.
Yao, P. (2011). Women’s Epitaphs in Tang China (618-907). Beyond Exemplar Tales: Women’s Biography in Chinese History , 139-57.
Yi, J. I. A. (2015). Transformations of Woman’s Social Status in China. Xingyi Normal University for Nationalities 25, 2015, 2 , 317.
