To celebrate Women’s History Month, a lecture and discussion of the lives and responsibilities of educated women in late imperial China was held in Crestview, room 203, on March 17.

Yuxin Ma, professor of East Asian history at the University of Louisville, spoke to a group of around 20 students and faculty about the domestic, social and creative roles of Chinese gentry, high-class women from 1400 to 1900. She also talked about the impact literacy made upon these women.

“Literacy expanded women’s world beyond the domestic realm,” Ma said, as she explained by becoming literate, gentry women were able to express themselves through poetry and journaling, which were often published and gave them exposure to the outside world.

“Through education and literacy, gentry women where able to mold to the ideal of women being a combination of beauty, virtue and talent and the educated woman became a source of admiration and local pride in the community,” Ma said.

She said the better education a woman received, the greater influence she received along with the power to obtain a more ideal or advantageous match in a husband.
“The educated woman was a hot commodity in the marriage market,” Ma said.
“An educated woman could make the best match for herself,” she said, “and would have the educational background to become a proper instructress for her children, a household manager and intellectual companion to her husband.”

By being literate and educated in many levels, Ma said, many gentry women were able to connect with their husbands on an intellectual level that strengthened their romantic bond.

As an example, Ma told the story of 16th century gentry wife Shen Yixiu, who corresponded with her husband for many years when he was away pursuing his education.

The bond created by Yixiu’s letters, expressing feelings and loneliness for her husband, along with providing comfort for him, led him to reflect soon after her death “By propriety we were man and wife; in intimacy we were also friends.”

Education paved the road for these women to venture from their homes and into the broader world, Ma said, through careers as teachers, providing legitimate means to travel through religious pilgrimages and forming their own poetic clubs and societies.

“Education gave women means to having a career life, and also allowed them to bond together for in sisterhoods for mutual intellectual support,” Ma said.

Ma said the poetry and writings generated by the literate, gentry women of this era offer a unique view of women’s history and perspectives, and demonstrates the lasting influence the written word can bestow upon the writer.

“The poetry and writings published through these societies provide a glimpse into the very dynamic social lives Chinese women had, and their poetry reveals how women perceived themselves and their duties,” she said.

“Through their writing these women were able to create a legacy and posthumous self,” Ma said.

The importance of exploring Women’s History Month, Ma said, is the struggle for women’s equal place in the world endures.

“I feel that the dilemmas of equality in history still exist,” Ma said.

“Whether through the persistence of patriarchy, the ‘glass ceiling’ women face in the workforce, or how even successful women are still robbed in some ways,” she said. “By turning to history, we can see what has improved for women, and pinpoint what issues can be improved.”

The event was organized by Kelly Ryan, assistant professor of history, who said the significance of the event and Women’s History Month is the value of people being able to place themselves in history.

“It’s important for everyone to be able to see themselves in recorded history, and when we see the stories of people like us, it can bring light to history for each and every one of us,” Kelly said.

James Beeby, assistant professor of history, attended the event and said since in many occasions students are only exposed to events in women’s history in the west, the Eastern perspective was very interesting.

“It was very informative, and the different perspective was fascinating,” Beeby said.

“I think that in America, when it comes to women’s history, we are mostly exposed to the suffragette movement, and it was very interesting to get an international look at the issues,” Beeby said.
By AMY FAULHABER
Staff Writer
amfaulha@ius.edu