The greatest duty for a women in a family was to give birth to sons. Women needed to provide for the needs of men in the family and after marriage, you were considered a servant of your mother-in-law. A woman's life was always controlled by a male member of their family, before marriage was the father, after marriage was the husband. They were not given a name at birth unless they were born into a family of importance. Otherwise, daughters were called by the number of the order that they were born in. If a daughter was born into a poor family, the father could sell her to a wealthier family in exchange for money. If a woman's husband died and they were not buried with the husband, a widow could not remarry. The consequence for being disloyal to your dead husband would be a death penalty. However, men in Ancient China were allowed to have several wives. In such a harsh environment, Empress Wu was considered a powerful woman to have broken past all norms of society and become the first woman to become a ruler of Ancient China. During her reign, the position of women were slightly elevated. Xi Shi is another woman from the Ancient Chinese society who is still remembered today. She was a daughter of a tea merchant and considered as the beauty of China.
Questions:
1. What were the roles of women within a family?
2. Could you have lived the life of a woman in Ancient China?
Questions:
1. What were the roles of women within a family?
2. Could you have lived the life of a woman in Ancient China?