Women in China were subjected to gender discrimination and expected to conform to social stereotypes. Women have made great strides in the struggle for their freedom and rights. The main issues that these women faced as a result of their societies are discussed in Chinese writing. They show that inhumane cultural practices like forced marriages, no access to the ballot box, and foot binding only devalued their standing in society. They also discuss how feminism and changes in social standing for Chinese women led to their elevation to the status of heroic figures in society. Traditional stereotypes in China have for a long time worked towards dehumanizing the female gender and made them be seen as inferior in the society.
How Women are portrayed in the Chinese Society
The Ballard of Mulan portrays women to be substandard, and that woman are expected to be loyal to the traditional stereotypes. When the story begins, the reader sees that Fa Mulan is forced into the societal ways that define the feminine gender. However, she fails to fulfill this and thus comes out as being a heroine. Her firm actions make her suffer from humiliation and self-reproaches as the society constantly criticizes her. Mulan says that “The heroes are male because that has been the unconsidered choice, the norm, the American selfhood. The woman is the exception; man is the default setting” (Minford and Lau 28). Mulan is an exceptional character which denotes to be a heroine of in the Chinese culture. The actions she undertakes communicates to the reader that women can become heroes in a patriarchal society through standing out from the traditional stereotypes.
When Mulan first appears as the protagonist of the story, she notes down the characters that make up perfect Chinese women during matchmaking and in marriage. These qualities include being quite, graceful, poised, refined and dedicated. Besides, a woman is expected to be polite and not question the ways of the society, demure, and punctual. She is told that for her to “please her future in-laws, she must demonstrate a sense of dignity and refinement…..poised and silent” (Minford and Lau 20). Evidently, the book illustrates that these features are strongly inculcated in the minds of girls, and they grow up knowing that they are expected to be submissive to their husbands. Women are supposed to keep themselves beautiful in order to impress their husbands. During a matchmaking session, Mula views that she will fail to bring her family honor as her outer appearance after putting on makeup does not reflect her inner thoughts. Therefore, she developed inner conflict which denotes her true self and the inability to fulfill the social expectations.
The book of Songs contains a collection of ancient Chinese poetry that alludes to Confucian classical society. The "Hymns" and the “Eulogies" sections show the position of a woman in the society and portray the sacrificial rites and songs that worked towards dehumanizing women. Men in the society were viewed to be significant in a family and accorded a higher status compared to women. The loyalty of women was to be exercised on their fathers, their husbands, and their sons. Women were expected to be loyal and not to question the social ways. The traditional stereotypes subjected the female gender to segregation and depicted them to be inferior.
The story of Yingying also depicts women to be inferior creatures. The story denotes to be a tragedy about union, love and separation and women are also looked down upon in the society. The author used his unique style of writing to showcase to the readers how a true Chinese woman was viewed by the society. She also awakens a feeling of feminism in that was evident in time of Tang Dynasty (Yu 2). The story reflects a social background in the Tang cultural community that represented women to be inferior and thus opened an atmosphere of feminist consciousness. The status of women in the society was incredibly low. Notably, Yingying is a classical story that is vitally outstanding and a masterpiece of Chinese cultural literature. Tang was characterized by feminism and women developed self-confidence and beauty. Also, women were educated and were able to compose poems. This displays that women had equal social, political, love, sexual and intellectual rights together with economic rights similar to men. Yingying is a woman who is bold and paints to be different from the women in the previous traditional Chinese literature.
The story portrays that Yingying has self-awareness and she does not blindly follow the obedience defined by the society. The Confucian ways emphasized that women have to obey their fathers before getting married, be obedient to her husband after marriage and eventually obey her sons when in widowhood. It is manifested that the Confucian thinking significantly impacted on the traditional Chinese women. The story portrays that women did not only fail to have the right to participate in politics but also failed to hold a dignity place in a family. This implies that women were to solely rely on men for a living and when their youthful beauty goes away, they were to face the hard reality of being abandoned by their husbands. Confucian served to be a patriarchal authority and feudalistic and thus makes the story to result in a love tragedy.
How Love is portrayed in Chinese Literature
The book of songs, the section named The "Airs of the States" consist of short lyrical samples of people's voices that speak about love and courtship as well as the frustrations that come due to the absence of a lover. These folk songs describe love, its aspirations and the frustrations that come along with not being loved. Again, the societal differences depict to be an impediment to love. The heroes and heroines in this section contribute to the literary value of love and give the poems the diversity of Chinese civilization that had a profound impact on the idea of love. Love is portrayed to be passionate. The verse like “Of your hands, I take hold: /I’ll stay with you till old,” demonstrates how important love in Chinese literature (Minford and Lau 19). Perhaps, the artistic impact evidence in the Airs of the States goes beyond the Chinese culture and is mirrored in the modern social spectrum.
Still, The Tale of Genji gives a fascinating glimpse of classical Japanese literature that centers on the theme of love, lust as well as the interaction of people from opposite sex. It epitomizes love and makes an exploration into the theme of affection. Indeed, its richness and complexity of love are manifested from the language of love that is heavily used. Unmistakably, Genji’s love is poetic and romantic. Also, love in Heian is portrayed to be an elaborative code of courtship and an adventure that does not compromise on the bondage of morality. The book shows that Genji’s love along with other heroes in the book is aesthetic of poetic production and a metaphorical transformation. The book creates an atmosphere of romance in relationships of men and women. Notably, love and desires in this book are accompanied by a ritual of elegance, a refined poetic beauty, and grace. Certainly, The tale of Genji is pervaded by the aspect of love. More interestingly, the book also shows that love could result into detrimental outcomes for parties involved. It illustrates how Chinese emperor Xuan Zong had a passionate love for Yaang Guifei and later endangered the state by causing a rebellion that resulted in Guifei’s execution. Also, Murasaki alludes that “in China, just such unreasoning passion had been the undoing of an emperor that spread the turmoil throughout the land” (Shikibu 29). In Genji’s case, the lover’s communication is built on the practices of poetic creation, and his sensitivity to love depicts a transformation to drama beyond the societal moral codes. The glimmering surface of love evokes moments that signify love to be an art and poetry. Genji’s pursuit for Murasaki who is a young girl provides a highlighting feature of romance and lust. It is highly evident that through the conveyance of desires of affection and love by using the symbolic understanding and metaphorical pictures Shikibu manages to transform the romantic pursuit of lovers into an elegant episode.
Yingying is a love story describing the love tragedy between Zhang and Yingying characters. The awakening feminism made women go for the men they loved and not simply what the society dictated them to love. For example, Yingying decides to follow Zhang who is the man she loves. Notably, the bold act evidenced by these women gestures a strong idea of feminism. Yingying evidence a unique contradiction to the traditional women as her modesty and enthusiasm nature makes her rebel the outdated ways concerning love. Confucian thinking that was practiced in the Chinese society limited the freedom of women to love and pursue their happiness. Notably, the courage that Yingying showcases is an encouragement to the Chinese female gender that they should follow their heart and go for men they love. Indeed, the story comes out to be an inspiration to people as it communicates that one has to swallow his or her pride and follow the heart.
Works Cited
Minford, John, and Joseph S. M Lau. Classical Chinese Literature. New York, Columbia University Press, 2000,.
Shikibu, Murasaki et al. The Tale Of Genji. New York, Tuttle Pub., 2011,.
Yu, Pauline. The Story Of Yingying. New York, Tuttle Pub., 2002.
