Female Power in Submission: Deciphering Ban Zhao's Admonitions for Women and Men's Manupulation of Women's Writings (thesis)

Abstract

This thesis revisits Ban Zhao's Admonitions for Women and seeks to provide a fresh, more complete perspective into Ban Zhao's work in relation to the edited version by Wang Xiang in Four Books for Women. Particularly, I argue that Ban Zhao's Admonitions for Women responds to the Confucian society in the Eastern Han period and serves women's interests by providing practical guideline to help women avoid troubles and survive the traditional society. On the other hand, Wang Xiang interprets and manipulates the text to fortify Confucian ideals of "women's virtues." My thesis will explore such tension between women's writing and men's manipulation to shed light on the development of gender structure from Eastern Han to late Ming dynasty.