The ''Biographies of Exemplary Women'' () is a book compiled by the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

scholar Liu Xiang . It includes 125 biographical accounts of exemplary women in ancient China, taken from early Chinese histories including '' Chunqiu'', ''

Zuozhuan The ''Zuo Zhuan'' ( zh, t=左傳, w=Tso Chuan; ), often translated as ''The Zuo Tradition'' or as ''The Commentary of Zuo'', is an ancient Chinese narrative history traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient Chinese chronicle the '' ...

'', and the ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

''. The book served as a standard

Confucianist Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

textbook for the

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

of women in traditional China for two millennia.

Description

The idealized biographies are divided into eight scrolls, including the eighth addendum from an unknown editor, as shown below. This book follows the ''lièzhuàn'' (列傳 "arrayed biographies") biographical format established by the Chinese historian

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

. The word ''liènǚ'' (列女 "famous women in history") is sometimes understood as ''liènǚ'' (烈女 "women martyrs"), which Neo-Confucianists used to mean a "woman who commits suicide after her husband's death rather than remarry; woman who dies defending her honor." The online Chinese Text Initiative at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

provides an e-text edition of the ''Lienü Zhuan'', including both digitized Chinese content and images of a

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

woodblock edition with illustrations by

Gu Kaizhi Gu Kaizhi (; c. 344–406), courtesy name Changkang (), was a Chinese painter and politician during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420). He was a celebrated painter of ancient China.Cihai: Page 1846. He was born in Wuxi and first painted at Nan ...

(-405 CE) of the

Jin dynasty Jin may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) ...

Biographies included

In the first chapter, titled 母儀傳 (''mǔ yí zhuàn)'', translated to mean Matronly Models are the following biographies: # 卷一之一有虞二妃, translated to mean The Two Consorts of

Youyu Youyu may refer to: *Emperor Shun Emperor Shun ( zh, c=帝舜, p=Dì Shùn) was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds ...

. In this story, Ehuang and Nüying, both daughters of Yao, were married to a man named Shun (another name for Youyu). The sisters served their husband and worked in the fields even though they were daughters of the emperor. Shun's family disliked him and made many attempts to kill him, but he survived due to his own strength and the aid of his wives. He bore his family no resentment. Later, he was promoted to General Regulator and hosted people from all over. Yao tested Shun multiple times, and each time he consulted his wives who continued to serve and aid him. Shun ended up succeeding Yao and became the

Son of Heaven Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty ...

. In this story, Ehuang and Nüying were seen as intelligent, perceptive, chaste and benevolent.Xiang, L. (18AD). The Two Consorts of Youyu. In ''Lienü zhuan''. essay. Retrieved from http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/saxon/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=xwomen/texts/lienuzhuan.xml&style=xwomen/xsl/dynaxml.xsl&chunk.id=d2.1&toc.depth=1&toc.id=0&doc.lang=english . *Meng Mu, the mother of

Mencius Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...

(孟子), a single mother who raised her son carefully despite poverty * Zheng Mao (鄭瞀), advised her husband, who lost power shortly after she killed herself *

Consort Ban Consort Ban (), or Ban Jieyu (), also known as Lady Ban (Pan), was a imperial consort, Chinese scholar and Classical Chinese poetry, poet during the Western Han dynasty (206 BCE – 23 CE). Imperial Chinese harem system#Western Han, '' Jieyu'' (� ...

(班婕妤), (48 BCE – 6 BCE), scholar and poet, pleaded legal cases *

Empress Zhao Feiyan Zhao Feiyan (, ? – September or October 1 BC),Peterson, Barbara Bennett & He Hong Fei & Han Tie & Wang Jiyu & Zhang Guangyu. (1999) ''Notable Women of China'' "M.E. Sharpe". pp. 87–90. . formally Empress Xiaocheng (孝成皇后), was a Chine ...

(趙飛燕) ( – 1 BCE), empress from 16 BCE until 7 BCE, a powerful courtier * Empress Wang (王皇后) (8 BCE – 23 CE), last empress of the

Western Han The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...

, refused to remarry after a coup * Empress Ma (馬皇后) (40–79 CE), empress from 60 CE until her death in 79 CE, a political advisor known for her modesty and frugality * Bo Ying (伯嬴), mother to

King Zhao of Chu King Zhao of Chu (), personal name Xiong Zhen, was from 515 BC to 489 BC the king of the Chu state. King Zhao succeeded his father, King Ping, and was in turn succeeded to the throne by his son, King Hui. Life In 506 BCE, King Helü of the S ...

, fought her would-be rapist with a knife and lectured him on morality By the coauthor

Huangfu Mi Huangfu Mi (c. 215 – 282), courtesy name Shi'an (), was a Chinese physician, essayist, historian, poet, and writer who lived through the late Eastern Han dynasty, Three Kingdoms period and early Western Jin dynasty. He was born in a poor farmi ...

: * Zhao E (趙娥), noble of the state of

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

during the Three Kingdoms period, decapitated her father's killer and turned herself in * Xiahou Lingnu (夏侯令女), aristocrat of the state of

during the Three Kingdoms period, refused to remarry after her husband's family were executed for treason * Wang Yi (王異), wife of

Zhao Ang Zhao Ang ( 210s), courtesy name Weizhang, was a Chinese politician who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and was aligned with the faction that would later become the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. He is best known for resisti ...

References

*Carlitz, Katherine. (1991). "The Social Uses of Female Virtue in Late Ming Editions of ''Lienu Zhuan''". ''Late Imperial China'' 12.2: 117-48. *Raphals, Lisa. (1998). ''Sharing the Light: Representations of Women and Virtue in Early China''. SUNY Press. *O'Hara, Albert Richard, tr. (1945). ''The position of woman in early China: according to the'' Lieh nu chuan, ''"The biographies of Chinese women"''. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press. 1955 reprint. Hong Kong: Orient Publishing Co. 1980 reprint. Westport, CT: Hyperion Press.

External links

''Lienü Zhuan''
University of Virginia E-text

ChinaKnowledge
列女傳

Chinese Text Project The Chinese Text Project (CTP; ) is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Chinese Philosophical Book Digitization Project", showing its focus on books ...

Traditions of Exemplary Women: Liu Xiang's ''Lienü Zhuan''
, Anne Behnke Kinney

Gregory Smits, Topics in Premodern Chinese History {{Confucian texts Chinese classic texts Han dynasty texts Han dynasty literature 1st-century BC books Women in China Biographical dictionaries of women Social history of China

Description

Biographies included

See also

References

External links