The Research Of Liu-xiang's 《Lie-nv Zhuan》

Liu xiang's whole life experienced ups and downs in Han dynasty. He witnessed the calamities caused by eunuch and empress's relatives and can't contribute to his country as he expected through a normal channel , so he selected writing books as a special way to reach his ambition as a decedent of emperor. In his masterpiece, Biographies of Exemplary Women, Liu xiang described two types of women in positive ways. One is ancient women's basic behavior ordinance which should be followed by all the women, including women's images indicated by the books, Matronly Models, The Chaste and Obedient and The Principled and Righteous. In these books, they propagandized good virtues of women. Another type is the laud of women. Liu xiang argued that if women have discreetness, intelligence, and philosophy, which can be used to help their husbands and educate their sons to get achievements, those women should be given honors. A biography of Exemplary Women is the first biographical literature about women in the history. For a long time, it attracted many eyes from different scholars. It has highly influences for the following women literatures.