Under Confucian Eyes: Writings on Gender in Chinese History - Paperback

by Susan Mann (Editor), Yu-Yin Cheng (Editor)

These translations of eighteen classical Chinese texts from the mid-ninth century (Tang dynasty) through the late nineteenth century (Qing dynasty) offer a comprehensive collection of primary sources focusing on gender issues in medieval and late imperial China. The book's title reflects the sometimes ironic relationship between Confucian viewpoints and women's visibility in Chinese historical documents. The texts, written by both men and women, show that Confucian values and scholarly practices produced a rich documentary record of women's lives.

Includes a brief guide for use by students and teachers

Front Jacket

This important volume adds a significant number of new and unique materials for teachers at all levels of higher education to use in classroom and seminar discussion about the issues of gender, society, and religion in imperial China.--Benjamin Elman, author of A Cultural History of Civil Examinations in Late Imperial China

"The eighteen primary documents in this anthology, all of them translated for the first time, provide a rich array of sources on the lives of women in China's past. The anthology is important not only for the selection of documents but for the ways it suggests we can think about, and find sources about, women in China. It is must reading for scholars and students alike."--Ann Waltner, author of The World of a Late Ming Visionary: T'an-Yang-Tzu and Her Followers

Author Biography

Susan Mann is Professor of History at the University of California, Davis, and author of Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century (1997). Yu-Yin Cheng is Assistant Professor of History at Marymount Manhattan College and author of A Chronological Biography of Lo Ju-fang (1515-1588): Poet, Philosopher, Activist (1995).