Analysis: "Lessons for Women"

Date: c. 80 CE

Geographic Region/Country: China

Author: Pan Chao/Ban Zhao

Translator: Nancy Lee Swann

Summary Overview

Ban Zhao was a prominent female intellectual during the Han dynasty in China, a time when Confucian doctrine—a social and ethical philosophy that instituted traditional Chinese values, such as obedience—provided instructions for behavior for men, but spoke little to the role of women. The role of women during the Han dynasty was assumed to be one of subservience to men, but their places as wives and mothers also meant that they earned honor and respect by serving the family. Aristocratic families during the Han dynasty were complex and included multiple generations, in-laws, and concubines, who cohabitated with men without the legality of marriage. Ban's “Lessons for Women” was intended to help women avoid conflict in these relationships and provided guidance for proper behavior. She emphasized humility and service, but also argued for women to be educated and for husbands to respect their wives. This work served as a handbook for women for centuries, and Ban herself represented a model of an educated, intellectual woman, even as she advocated for women to live lives of service to men.

Defining Moment

Ban Zhao lived during the Later or Eastern Han dynasty. This period in Chinese history was notable for its devotion to Confucianism as the foundation for rules of conduct and education. Scholars were essential to the government's understanding of how to apply Confucian doctrine to practical matters, and intellectuals were held in high esteem at court. Civil servants were selected based on merit as well as family connections, and a university was set up to train administrators. Despite this emphasis on merit, conduct, and honor, the period was also marked by court intrigues and purges. The imperial courts were the heart of the Han empire, and the imperial city of Luoyang, in present-day Henan Province, contained two massive palace complexes, each over one hundred acres.

Ban's family was closely connected to this court and reaped the costs and benefits of this relationship. Ban's great-aunt was a concubine in the court of Emperor Cheng, and many of her female relatives, including her mother, were educated and literate. Her father, Ban Biao, was a well-respected scholar who had been appointed by the imperial court to write a comprehensive history of the Han dynasty, known as the Han shu. Ban Biao died while writing the Han shu, and the project was taken over by his son, Ban Gu, who rose to the rank of gentlemen in the imperial court and was put in charge of the collection of books for the court library. He continued the work until he was imprisoned in 92 CE in connection with his association with a brother-in-law of the emperor accused of plotting to overthrow him. Ban Gu died in prison that year, with the Han shu far from complete. After the death of her brother, Ban Zhao completed the work—thought by many to be the greatest history of ancient China in existence. This project took her nineteen years.

The Han shu covered the early years of the Han dynasty, from 206 BCE to 23 CE. It offered sequential biographies of the emperors, along with a chronology of major events during their reigns. Treatises on a variety of topics, chronological lists of notable people, and biographies of other exemplary people were also included. In all, the Han shu contained over one hundred sections, including treatises on geography, law, and music.

Author Biography and Document Information

Ban Zhao was born around 45 CE in Anling, near modern Xianyang, in the Shaanxi Province. Her father was the noted scholar Ban Biao, and she had two older brothers. Her family was well connected with the Chinese imperial court, and her great-aunt had been a concubine of the Emperor Cheng. Ban was educated at home by tutors and her parents, but her childhood was conventional for the time. When she married at age fourteen, she left her home to live with her in-laws. After her husband died, she lived the rest of her life as a widow, which enabled her to devote more of her attention to intellectual pursuits. Ban was best known for her treatise on women's roles and behavior, the “Nüjie” (“Lessons for Women”), but she also edited and completed the Han shu, a massive work of history begun by her father and brother. Additionally, she was the author of numerous poems and essays, and she was a favorite of the Empress Deng at court. At the empress's request, she composed poems of tribute presented to royal guests and had free use of the massive imperial library. Ban died around 120 CE and was officially mourned by the empress at court, a great honor for someone born a commoner.

Document Analysis

In the opening words of her treatise offering advice to women, Ban explains her reasons for writing. She fears that her “daughters,” referring to all of the young women of China, have no clear instructions on how to be proper wives. Ban herself had a “cultured mother and instructresses,” who taught her good manners as a child. Without such instruction, she fears that young women would bring shame on their families and ancestors, a distressing prospect in a culture that so heavily revered family honor. At the time that she composed this work, Ban was advancing in age and unwell. She wished to impart the knowledge she had gained in her life to other young women and asks that they copy and study her instructions.

First, Ban emphasizes that women should humbly accept and know their place. The ritual of announcing the birth of a daughter demonstrates to her what her place should be in society and her family, Ban continues. Women are subservient, responsible for hard work and tending to the household, and they are also in charge of worship in the home. These lessons are key to women's happiness. A woman must put the needs of the family before her own, work hard in the house, and honor the ancestors. If she follows these instructions, Ban stresses, she would be honored by her family in return.

According to Ban, the secret of a harmonious marriage is to understand the fundamental differences between the natural character of men and women, a concept exemplified by the philosophy of yin and yang, the dual forces of the universe that work together to create harmony. Women are soft and yielding, while men are firm and in control. This is not to say that men are exempted from responsibility in this balance—they must be worthy of respect. Ban decries the lack of education for women, arguing that this upsets the harmony between the sexes. The principle of yin and yang requires that women counterbalance the inherent hardness of men with service to their families, for “nothing equals respect for others.” She also cautions against becoming overly familiar with one's spouse, as this leads to carelessness of thought and behavior. If wives become scolds, husbands will become angry, and Ban argues that men driven to anger will most likely abuse their wives. This will destroy the harmony and intimacy of their marriage. Perhaps based on her own experience, Ban urges young women to respect their in-laws and obey commands—whether right or wrong—at a time when brides went to live with their husband's family, and the new wife was often at the bottom of the family hierarchy. To fulfill these instructions, Ban highlights four qualifications for virtuous womanhood that women must possess, including modesty, cautious speech, cleanliness, and devotion to womanly duties, such as sewing and serving guests.

Bibliography and Additional Reading

Gilmartin, Christina K, et al., eds. Engendering China: Women, Culture, and the State. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1994. Print.

Hinsch, Bret. Women in Early Imperial China. 2nd ed. Lanham: Rowman, 2011. Print.

Wang, Robin R., ed. Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2003. Print.