Instructions for Chinese Women and Girls

by Lady Tsao, Esther E Jerman (Translator), Susan Blumberg-Kason (Introduction)

Little known today, Instructions for Chinese Women and Girls has a storied place in Chinese history as the first educational text for women and a standard reference for them from the first century AD all the way into the nineteenth. Polymath author Ban Zhao was perhaps China’s greatest female scholar. A writer, historian, mathematician, and astronomer, she was also a tutor to the ladies of the imperial court and a close confidant of Empress Deng. Although Ban Zhao completed a monumental historical tome on the Western Han dynasty, she would be best remembered for this slighter work – a short handbook of female etiquette in which she advises submissiveness in order to achieve household harmony. A kind of women’s Art of War , there is more yielding than winning in the guidebook, but at least Ban Zhao was a pioneer in asserting that girls should be educated. Instructions for Chinese Girls and Women is an easy, enjoyable read. It contains passages preaching subservience that will make the modern reader cringe and/or laugh, but there is interesting nuance there for readers with an open mind.
The husband commands, the wife obeys;
Yet let there be mutual grace and love; There are timeworn, universal
The present generation’s children are very bad;
They have learned nothing. And there are humorous warnings against immoral
Imitate not those rude women who with confusion eat, drink, and talk;
Drinking wine until crazy, they shamefully vomit their food;
In this state going home, before reaching their house, many shameful, rude acts will they do. This Camphor Press edition has illustrations and a new introduction from Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of the memoir Good Chinese Wife .

96 pages, Paperback

Published June 19, 2017

Reviews

[East West Notes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book caught my eye due to the introduction from Susan Blumberg-Kason, the author of Good Chinese Wife. Ban Zhao (班昭) wrote Lessons for Women(女誡) and completed and circulated a history of the Western Han Dynasty. It’s a delight to read advice from “China’s first recorded female historian” which was first translated to English by Esther Jerman Baldwin (1840 –1910), a teacher and missionary in China and mother of seven children. Her sudden death was a loss to them and the world of higher mathematics, languages (Latin, French and Chinese), politics and theology. The instructions in this book were highly influential through the Qing dynasty and although the text references Confucius and Mencius, it doesn’t require a strong background knowledge in Chinese philosophy. There is something fascinating in reading about the manners and etiquette of another time and place.

The text opens with an introduction to the four womanly virtues: carefulness in deportment, womanly duties, talking little and being virtuous. The instructions read like poetry and yet, remind me of both job interview guidance and tips from The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right. Each section is divided by wonderful art prints such as “Gathering Chia Leaves for Cocoons” and “Making the Bed for Mother in Law.”

It’s easy to snort with derision at any instructions aimed directly at women and girls, but much of it is good, stoic advice. There is no need to be a woman or an expert in gender studies to enjoy reading about the life challenges of a newly married young woman joining an unfamiliar household. Much of the required work, such as keep clothes mended, kitchens clean and families fed were (and are) absolutely necessary for the smooth running of the entire household. It describes the benefits of being industrious as “..rags and poverty you will not know. Do not imitate lazy women, who from youth to womanhood have been stupid; not having exerted themselves in woman’s work, they are prepared for neither cold nor warm weather.” Recommendations for restraint in eating and drinking include wonderful translator’s notes that will make you smile and probably should be read by university students everywhere.

Both girls and boys are addressed in the section on educating children. The author laments that boys of the present generation are too wilful, “drinking wine, and seeking only amusement.” Much of these complaints about the younger generation stretch across the ages. Other familiar advice includes the importance of rising early, caring for your parents, and hosting guests. Each section sets out what should be done and then shifts to “imitate not stupid women who…” Although the advice for obeying husbands, avoiding remarriage and the importance of being gentle has gone out of fashion, the importance of a happy marriage, family harmony, stable incomes and avoiding gossip has not. Overall, this book offers solid advice similar to that found in the meditations of Marcus Aurelius or the diaries of Benjamin Franklin, with an interesting glimpse into the life of young woman in the Eastern Han dynasty.

I do wish this book included one extra chapter summarising how influential the text was or how this advice for women interacted with advice for others in the household. For example, if an elder in the family had a ruinous habit, such as gambling or drinking, how would the situation be addressed? Did this book naturally fall out of popularity after the Qing dynasty or was there a push to eradicate these rules for women? A closing chapter on how this advice played out in Chinese culture and history would have been a great addition to this humorous and useful translation.

[Susannah Spradlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

for a school book i like i would genuinely recommend