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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 7 page research paper that explores the position of women in medieval Chinese society (Tang dynasty) by outlining the examining the life of Empress Wu. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khwu.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
power" was expressed in foreign conquest and in the shaping of Chinese society, "down to the level of the individual street or farm."1 This "will to power" personifies the career
of the individual who governed China in the year 700, an individual who governed effectively, while greatly strengthening the powers of the throne and the center bureaucracy.2 This ruler was,
however, an anomaly due to the fact that that she was a woman, the "only woman ever to occupy the position of emperor" in her own name.3 Chinese tradition discriminated
against women taking an active role in government or public life. The attitude toward women is best expressed in the Confucian analect that reads: The Master said, In ones household,
it is the women and the small men that are difficult to deal with. If you let them get too close, they become insolent. If you keep them at a
distance, they complain.4 This attitude towards women was not as extreme in its "fear and loathing" of female sexuality as either the traditions of Buddhism or of medieval Christianity,
yet it does express the lower social position of women in Chinese society.5 Yin and yang, that is, femininity and masculinity, were seen as complementary forces that perpetuated harmony in
the cosmos and it was thought that human life also required such a balance.6 There was no strong indication in Chinese society, as there was in medieval European society, that
the masculine yang was thought to be good and feminine yin was considered evil.7 However, there was the perception that femininity should be passive, while masculinity was active; therefore, the
"proper" role for women was inside the home. Therefore, accounts of Empress Wus life should be viewed in light of a cultural bias against a woman who "did not know
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