Ideal Womanhood in Chinese Thought and Culture

[David Ojeda]

The beginning of Robin R. Wang's essay discusses the ideal Confucian woman and the three womanly standards she should have: virtue, talent, and beauty. These standards are "exercised within three social roles: the filial daughter, the virtuous wife, and the good mother" (636). The latter female roles were taught, I believe, via stories, like that of Mencius' mother: Mengmu. Knowing the latter story would influence a mother, informing her that she, like Mengmu, needs to educate her children through personal example and sacrifice (move from place to place to find the best area to raise her son; cut the work she had woven an entire day to teach her son that it is self-destructive for him to give up hardwork; etc). There is also the story of a daughter saving her drunk, boatman father. The daughter uses guile and reasoning to convince a military general to let her father live. At one point, the daughter offers her own life. This story might teach women to sacrifice themselves for their fathers or men in general whenever they are unable to escape a situation, or that it is their duty to be intelligent and cunning enough to help others out of a situation. I appreciate that the stories, on some level, present powerful women in the sense that they are powerful and intelligent enough to save others. However, I wonder what these stories are teaching men. Do they teach men to care for females who will do anythhing for them or to do as they please since there will be a female around to help pick up the pieces?

These tales teach lessons and provide societal commentary; I believe my 6th graders would enjoy dissecting them and teaching their interpretation to the class (1st part), explaining its relevance to our current society (does the tale still apply today?), and discussing how they would modernize it to reflect current societal changes.