Personification Of Ancient Chinese Women Analysis

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Recommended: Chapter 4 ancient chinese civilization

Max Reiff
Confucian Classics

“The Personification of Ancient Chinese Women by the Shijing”
The Shijing or Book of Odes is a collection of poems from ancient China, dating back to the tenth century BC. The Odes served many purposes: refining culture, providing a shared store of knowledge and commenting on legendary history. The Odes were also used as the coin for official discourse, the guide for ethical training and as a didactic instrument for schooling. The Book of Odes is the richest and most authentic source of social life in ancient China, which serves as a common thread that ties all men together. In Analects VIII.8, Confucius refers to the Shijing as the foundation for all education; it is only after being awakened by the Songs that one can advance to ritual and music. Again, in Analects XVII.9 Confucius praises the Songs for their social, educational and political usefulness. (Samia, 44) The Book of Odes served as the educational foundation, from which an individual’s social disposition was developed.
Despite the Odes beneficial contribution to ancient Chinese society, they served as a detrimental force that stripped women of their rights and freedoms in ancient China, providing a repressive and deprecating stereotype of women. Several poems from the Book of Odes vividly depict females as an inferior sub-human race by disclosing the turmoil that ensued, when women acquired sufficient knowledge or influence in ancient Chinese society. A few of the Odes go beyond story telling and provide vindictive guidelines for the treatment and handling of women. Despite many of the Odes’ dehumanizing projection of women, a few in particular illustrate ancient Chinese women as highly emotional beings who possessed feelings and emot...

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...ing regard for women, which almost appears as a dehumanization of the female gender.
An amazing aspect of the Shijing is its ability to capture all dimensions of society. It does not just contain the thoughts of noble men and kings. It holds the thoughts, beliefs and desires of all men and women. “Boat of Cypress” is a powerful Ode which confirms the multi-faceted nature of the Shijing. “Boat of Cypress” shows a woman’s response to oppressive Chinese culture. It emphasizes that ancient Chinese women possessed feelings and were in fact human beings, who resented the way they were treated by society and often wanted to evade their lives. The Shijing is a multi faceted historic text, which offers insight on all aspects of ancient Chinese society. The Shijing is an invaluable text that presents ancient China for what it really was, a society dominated by patriarchy.

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