| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
This research discusses feminine independence from the aspects of “parental teaching” and “marriage” which are described from the two representative biographical novels of Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and Six dynasties (265-420 AD) respectively: Chronicles of Huayang (Huayang Guo Zhi) and A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu). Chang Qu and Liu Yiqing are the authors of the two novels respectively, they recorded the behavior and conversation of the people in those days. Although women did not adopt major roles in the two novels, it is uncommon that the two male authors can stand for women who are inferior of that time and express their true feelings. Chang and Liu’s deeds are related with their own life experience and objective historical backgrounds. Due to the political unrests in the late Han dynasty, people are highly influenced by metaphysics and Confucianism. Within the unstable environment, how feminine individuals get along with the malicious environment would be a valuable issue in academics. Therefore, marriage, parental teaching and the historical backgrounds of the two novelists are the main factors about how women fighting for their independence in marriage.
The analysis of female characters and ways of thinking is based on not only Chronicles of Huayang (Huayang Guo Zhi) and A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu) but other related research of female in family and marriage. From Chronicles of Huayang (Huayang Guo Zhi), the situation and behavior of women in Han dynasty can be summarized as being as a mother (emphasizes on teaching and raising), a wife (depends on her duty and comradeship) and daughter (has restriction and responsibilities). In contrast, in A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu), women in Six dynasties presented differently when being as a wife and a daughter. Wives showed their talents, morals, loyalty, and some negative images as imperiousness, capriciousness and jealousy. Daughters were emphasized on their cleverness in their childhood, but they also performed better in selecting their own husbands later.
Women were more independent in Six dynasties due to the formation of parental teaching and the influence of women in last dynasty. Women are affected by their parental teaching, and they would continuously influence their own families based on what they learned. In Han dynasty, the trend of parental teaching was resulted from political needs, which indirectly influence how women learn and continue the system of education. Parental teaching on women focused on building good characters and knowledge. In Six dynasties, the popularity of parental teaching is that Confucianism is useful on gaining reputation for both families and individuals as well as acquiring government jobs. The practice of parental teaching for women is how to do house chores, assisting their husbands and educating their children from parental teaching. Apart from that, women are allowed to write and read, which enabled them expressing themselves and creating literary works. During late Han dynasty, three Kingdoms and Jin dynasties, many famous feminine literary works were published, which presented the achievements of feminine education and self-expression as well as proving women independence.
From the perspective of how marriage system influence women, the concept of chastity and pedigree are the main factors influencing on feminine independence. In Chronicles of Huayang (Huayang Guo Zhi), the difference of positions and chastity between sexes shows great influence of females’ life. The standards of selecting marriage partners changed: from the amount of wealth to the level of integrity. However, some women still choose their partners based on household livelihood or gaining better powers, which commonly happened between families with different level of income in the same prefectures as well as respected families between different prefectures. Women’s efforts to earn independence are shown on their expression of marriage negotiation, divorce and the firm attitude of not getting remarried. These action also revealed the awareness of women’s rights. At the time of A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu), pedigree became more important in marriage. The position of women was along with their family status. Families of higher classes were prone to connect other similarly respected families by marriage, which affects their parental teaching. Women from families with higher income were better educated. Besides the influence of parental teaching, metaphysics also gave center stage to these well-educated women. They presented positive parts as: talents, knowledge, loyalty; negative parts as jealousy, anger and greed as well as divorce and suicide in marriage within the relationship of both sexes.
In conclusion, feminine independence in marriage is influenced by the popularity of parental teaching and the idea of maintaining reputation and integrity in marriage. They were more able and brave to express themselves which is shown in their own literary works and from others’ comments. The progress of pursuing feminine independence in marriage is recorded in the history. Looking forward to the future that more works and perspectives can enrich this issue of how “parental teaching” and “marriage” influences feminine independence.
Keywords: parental teaching, marriage, feminine independence, Chronicles of Huayang (Huayang Guo Zhi), A New Account of the Tales of the World (Shishuo Xinyu)
| en_US |