Research On Women's Etiquette Education In Han, Wei And Six Dynasties

The traditional concept holds that ancient Chinese women have been oppressed and imprisoned for a long time.Therefore,most of the women's etiquette education is based on the ideas of “the three obedience and four virtues” and “men were regarded as the god” and formulating a set of norms about sitting and acting.Is it true that it is so monolithic? By means of literature analysis,combination of literature and history,and historical research,this paper finds that even in the critical period of the formation of traditional rituals-Han,Wei and Six Dynasties,women's etiquette education is not as harsh and repressive as generally recognized,but full of relaxation,freedom and even resistance to the restraint of etiquette.The following is discussed in six parts:Part one is the background of women's etiquette education in the Han,Wei and Six Dynasties.In the pre-Qin period,people thought that men and women were different,and they had requirements for women's etiquette of all ages.But in fact,etiquette education had little binding force on women.Women were widely involved in political,economic,and social production and life,and franker in the communication between men and women,which laid the foundation for the etiquette education of ancient Chinese women.Part two is about the etiquette education of women in the Western Han Dynasty.Based on the course of Ban Jieyu's etiquette education,Ban received a good family etiquette education,forming a perseverance and courageous character.Ban Jieyu rebutted fiercely when she was framed,and she took the initiative to serve the empress after she fell out of favor,and expressed her sadness by “two poems and one ode”,grief but no hatred,politeness and propriety.In addition,there were also some females who were independent and struggled against the etiquette,such like Zhuo Wenjun who was daring to pursue love and sell wine in public,and also Wang Qiang who was making peace with ruler of ethnic group in the border area by marriage firmly and sacrificing herself to protect her country.Part three is the education of women's etiquette in the Eastern Han Dynasty.Ban Zhao replaced her brother and continued to write "Han Book" and carried out education in the palace.Her masterpiece “Lessons for Women” reflected the requirements of etiquette education on the one hand,and also expressed the survival wisdom of women on the other hand.Meanwhile,her etiquette education activities also enabled more women to know etiquette and observe etiquette,promote the development of etiquette education.Cai Yan,a talented and persistent woman,paid attention to the shaping of the spiritual world under the education of Cai Yong,and became a legendary woman who was still very strong in her three marriages and disregarded ethics to justify her husband.Empress Ma,who assisted the emperor,and Empress Deng,who participated in the political affairs,indirectly reflected the etiquette education of women in the Eastern Han Dynasty.Part four is the education of women's etiquette in Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties.At this time,the rise of women's status had impacted traditional etiquette education.As a representative of women,Xie Daoyun had a free and open-minded personality.The etiquette education she received contains a simple idea of equality between men and women,so that she can speak frankly about her husband's mediocrity,extricate her husband's brother from the siege and fight hard when she encounters danger.Except Xie Daoyun,Xun Guan who bravely killed the enemy,Han Lanying who taught students and Xu Zhaopei who made up half of her face,all these were the most powerful evidences for the distinctive features of this period's women's etiquette education.Part five is the main characteristics of etiquette education of female and the reason analysis in the Han,Wei and Six Dynasties.Influenced by the changes of political,economic and social life,the Confucian and Taoist educational thoughts,the etiquette education of women in the Western Han Dynasty not only had a certain degree of conservative and obedient,but also continued the bold and open atmosphere of the Pre-Qin Dynasty.In the Eastern Han Dynasty,due to the education of the “Lessons for Women”,the woman was gradually restrained.However,the contradiction between the free social atmosphere and the etiquette and ethics made the etiquette education of women quite relaxed in fact.In the Wei,Jin,Southern and Northern Dynasties,there were many legendary females,and the field of women's etiquette education continued to expand.It can be seen that the characteristics of women's etiquette education in the Han,Wei and Six Dynasties is from relatively open to conservative,more open and coexistence of freedom and imprisonment.Part six is the later evolution and inspiration of the etiquette education of female.Women's etiquette education is generally lenient and strict in terms of women's morality,words and deeds,daily life and social interaction.It was only in the Ming and Qing Dynasties that women's etiquette education became a little tense.Therefore,we should change our traditional concepts and correctly treat the education of women's etiquette in the Han,Wei,Six Dynasties and even the whole ancient China.We must not generalize it in terms of restraint and harshness,although it was imposed by traditional etiquette and ethics with the color of inequality,it can be said to be indispensable in maintaining family harmony and improving individual cultivation.