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Han China Woman

Decent Essays

In the third century C.E., the male poet Fu Xuan wrote a poem delineating and illustrating the vicissitudes between men and women, and how women were treated and viewed within the rigid patriarchy of Han China. The poem highlights several differences between the lives of women and men, beginning from birth, and persisting throughout every aspect of a woman’s life. One of the salient differences that is highlighted in Fu Xuan’s poem is that men are considered to be worthy of and capable of having ambitions and opportunities in their lifetimes, while Chinese society had no faith or confidence in a girl’s future when she was born. As referenced in “How Sad It Is to Be a Woman,” “Boys stand leaning at the door/Like Gods fallen out of Heaven./Their hearts brave the Four Oceans,/The wind and dust of a thousand miles./No one is glad when a girl is born:/By her the family sets no store.” This detail reflects the esteemed and venerated status that men held within society, while highlighting how women were viewed and regarded in this patriarchal construct. While men were viewed as “Gods fallen out of Heaven,” celebrated and superior to their female counterparts, no one celebrated the birth of a girl - “setting no store” …show more content…

A male would lead his life with the consciousness and recognition that they could “brave the Four Oceans,” or the “wind and dust of a thousand miles” - which are metaphors illustrating the high ranking positions and status they could gain in society, both in the workplace, and in their family. Thus, men were likely predisposed to having greater advantages and benefits throughout their lifetimes, and the poem illustrates that China’s patriarchal society had no faith in and did not value or celebrate the birth of a girl - who would live her life and grow up discordantly to her male

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