Women of free China stand proudly on their own feet today - the equals of men. The process of their emancipation has been one of the most rapid and dramatic in world history. Until half a century ago, the women of China usually were regarded as the accessories of men. Girls had to obey their fathers, wives their husbands and widows their sons. Women could not own anything besides their personal effects. There wasn't a stateswoman. An empress or empress dowager might occasionally attempt to steer the ship of state from behind the scenes. But in all its long history, China has had only one female ruler - Empress Wu - who reigned over the Middle Kingdom from 690 to 705. In literature, there was a small handful of successful women prose writers and poets.
The emancipation of women in China began after the founding of the Republic in 1912. Even then, progress was slow until 1924, when the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) declared in its platform that "there is no restriction of sex in political activities". After that an increasing number of women began to attend colleges and enter the professions.
Women had to struggle for their rights in many countries. Chinese women didn't need to become suffragettes. They were assured of full and equal rights under the Constitution promulgated in 1947. This is more than a matter of the franchise. A number of seats are reserved for women in parliamentary bodies at all levels.
In the Republic of China today, women enjoy total equality with men. They have free choice in schooling, employment and marriage. Of the 138,600 college students at the end of June, 1968, about a third were women. There are women employees in every occupation. They work as judges, attorneys, administrators, diplomats, journalists, writers, teachers, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists, doctors of medicine and military and police officers. There is no discriminatory treatment of female employees. Many of them continue their careers after marriage.
In sharp contrast with these new freedoms, the women of ancient China had to face restrictions of all sorts from the moment of their birth. Many of these misogynistic customs came into effect during the Chou dynasty (1122-256 B.C.). When the wife of an official or scholar became pregnant, she was confined to a maternity ward a couple of months before the expected date of delivery. When the wife began to suffer labor pains, her husband went to the ward - not to see her but to ask the midwife how things were going.
A bow was hung on the left side of the maternity ward if the baby was a boy and a kerchief on the right if it was a girl. Ordinary people who could not afford such displays merely laid boy babies on the bed and girl babies on the floor. During the period of the Warring States (403-221 B.C.) and Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.-25 A.D.), girl babies often were abandoned or drowned. The government punished such conduct in the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368). However, infanticide was not brought to an end until establishment of the Republic of China.
When a baby was three months old, the parents chose a "lucky day" for a first haircut. A boy's hair was cut on top but the hair on the sides of the head was left in place and bound into two knots. The hair atop a girl's head was tied so as to form a tuft. A boy received his name after the haircut. Girls often remained nameless for life.
Boys and girls could play together until they were 6 years old. Beginning in the seventh year, they were segregated and not allowed even to chat with each other. Men and women never sat at the same table for meals. If a family had only one table, the women ate after the men. This custom still survives in rural Taiwan and Korea.
In sex segregation, any physical contact was taboo. An article to be given to a member of the opposite sex had to be laid down and not passed directly. Men and women of well-to-do families did not share the same bathroom or use water drawn from the same well. Women appearing in public had to veil their faces and walk on the left side of the road. When going out at night, a woman carried a candle.
Beginning in the 10th year, girls were forbidden to leave the house except on errands for their elders. They were required to get up at the cock's first crowing. Work began at dawn. Girls went to their parents' chamber to wish them good morning. Except in the families of high-ranking officials and scholars, girls rarely learned to read and write and cipher. In ordinary families, girls learned needlework, weaving and sericulture from their mothers and sisters. On the occasion of festivals and funerals, they were sent to ancestral halls and other places of worship to arrange sacrifices and prepare for the rituals.
Marriages were always arranged by parents or elders through matchmakers. In many cases, the betrothed did not see each other until the wedding ceremony.
If the daughter of a well-to-do family was engaged before the age of 15, a "hairdressing ceremony" was held on the 15th birthday. Her hair was bound up and fastened with foot-long ivory hairpin. The bun was tied with a five-color ribbon. The hairpin symbolized chastity and the ribbon her engagement. After the ceremony, girls were not allowed to enter the private chamber of others and especially not of men. The ribbon was removed by the bridegroom after the marriage. If an engaged girl died before her marriage, she was buried as a member of her fiance's family.
At the latest, the "hairdressing ceremony" was held in the 20th year. If a girl was not engaged by that age, no guests were invited to the ceremony because she was considered on her way to becoming an old maid. Usually an unengaged girl of 20 did not wear the hairpin.
Upon engagement, girls of well-to-do families received three months of pre-marital lessons in their clan's ancestral halls or at the house of the head of the clan. Matrons from among the older and most virtuous women of the clan were instructors. In addition to household matters, emphasis was placed on the cultivation of the "three obediences" - obey father, husband and sons after death of the husband - and the "four virtues" - chastity, modesty in speech, neatness of appearance, and good needlework and cooking. A widow could not remarry.
Bridal lessons were concluded with ancestral worship. All the sacrifices had to be of marine products, implying that the brides-to-be would be as submissive to their husbands and elders as water to the life with which it teems. Brides of ordinary families were taught by parents and elders.
The "hairdressing ceremony" was carried out in this wise until the Sung dynasty (960-1279). From the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) to the first years of the Republic, there were some changes and the age was reduced to 13.
On Taiwan today, most urban girls marry husbands of their own choice. Arranged marriages are still common in rural areas. However, the betrothed usually know each other. Bridal lessons are taught by mothers and sisters and with emphasis on home economics and childcare. The "four virtues" are still considered important. The "three obediences" have gradually lost their former hold with the rise of sexual equality and personal freedom. Fathers and husbands are respected, but many modern Chinese women are the de facto heads of their families. They also are playing a vital role in the political modernization, economic development and social advancement of their country.
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Editor's note: Some of the material in this article was adapted from "How Ancient China Gave Men Precedence Over Women" by Li Chia-fu in the Chinese-language Women for October.