forgotten
OUTDATED CONFUCIAN IDEAS
106 A.D.
Luoyang, China
Ban Zhao, the feminist hero who once championed the teaching of girls, has set back women’s rights a thousand years. Worse, she has betrayed the movement. In her old age she has published a new book with old ideas. The book claims to be a primer on etiquette for young wives, but it’s nothing more than a screed for the patriarchy, advising women to be in subjection to their husbands in all things. But that’s not how we do things in China in these modern times.
Her book recycles the usual worn-old precepts of the Confucians. The only people who still subscribe to these ideas are gray-haired grandmothers like herself. These teachings were outdated before there was a Silk Road!
But seriously…
February 2, 2023
She was the world’s first female historian.
She wrote the book on the history of the Han Empire, China’s contemporary to the Roman Empire.
She was the teacher of future emperors and empresses.
Her works may have been the very first things written on paper.
And late in life she published a book teaching young women how to navigate the world of matrimony.
Ban Zhao did all this by being a trendsetter in a tradition-bound society; she survived and thrived by reinventing herself.
Family Business
Ban Zhao (also translated Pan Chao) was born in the year 45 A.D. to a family of overachievers.
Her mother and great aunt, Ban Jieyu, were educated and noted literary figures. Ban Jieyu was an imperial concubine who was fell out of favor and took solace in poetry.
Her father and two brothers served at the center of power in Han China. Her father, Ban Biao, was commissioned by the emperor to write the official history of his dynasty. His son Ban Gu took over the job after his death.
Ban Gu was imprisoned twice. His first imprisonment was in his capacity as court historian. Maybe he was not sufficiently obsequious? His second came after he got caught up in a royal family power struggle. After retiring, he joined General Dou Xian on a successful military campaign, during which he destroyed the Xiongnu, a nomadic kingdom north of China. (The remnant of the Xiongnu migrated west; some have speculated they became the Huns.) Emperor He, jealous of a possible rival to the throne, had the general (who happened to be his uncle) imprisoned, and Ban Gu with him. There was some bad blood in the family: Dou Xian’s mother, Empress Dou, had been responsible for the death of Emperor He’s own mother.
Ban Gu, after so contributing so much to the empire, died in exile.
After Ban Gu’s retirement, Ban Zhao finished the work, known as the Hanshu, or Book of Han.
She introduced innovations such as a focus on biographies- a novelty at the time. She added genealogical tables spanning two hundred years, including the emperor’s family tree. This became the prototype for all future dynastic histories. She also wrote essays, poetry, a travel memoir, and treatises on mathematics and astronomy.
(Her other brother, Ban Chao, was the general who was instrumental in conquering the border states to the west. While the Romans were securing the “Pax Romana” throughout the Mediterranean, the Hans were pushing their empire out into central Asia, creating the “Han Peace.”)
Teacher
She married, apparently, at the age of 14 (although one source claims she was older); she raised several sons as a widow, and never remarried. But her influence on succeeding generations was profound.
In addition to being the court historian in the court of Eastern Han Emperor Ho (89-105 A.D.), Ban Zhao was appointed as teacher to the future Empress Deng, who would serve as regent to two emperors.
She taught poetry, eloquence, and history.
She was an outspoken advocate for the teaching of girls.
Paper
Writing on bamboo slips was still currently practiced in China itself until about 200 A.D., but silk had come into general use under the Western Han dynasty, and the official announcement of the invention of paper was made by Ts’ai Lun in 105 A.D. at the court of the Emperor Ho.
She supervised, as director of editorial operations, the copying of old books upon the newly invented substance. Her own works, along with those of her father and brother, were part of the bamboo library, and may have been the earliest writings to be written on the new medium.
Lessons for Women
At age 61 she published a new book, called Lessons for Women.
It provided guidance to young wives for achieving domestic harmony. It was essentially a survival kit for marriage. It advocated complete submission to the husband, and deference to the mother-in-law.
This dangerous doctrine would get her into a lot of trouble- in centuries to come. Modern day revolutionaries have criticized her for not being a revolutionary. The Maoists had a vendetta against her for her support of Confucianism. Twentieth Century critics have reviled her for not supporting Twentieth Century ideals.
But it was sound advice in the time and place it was offered. It must have been a help and consolation to many young women. It also showed the wisdom of a woman experienced in the world, who believed in “working within the system.”
Developing a novel approach to a dynastic history. Serving as schoolmarm to a future empress and future emperors. Introducing paper to the imperial library. Championing the education of girls.
Who says she wasn’t a revolutionary?
For what it’s worth, a crater on Venus is named after her.
More importantly, her undaunted innovative spirit has facilitated the love of learning on this planet.
Sources
The Philosopher Queens, edited by Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting
Making History, Richard Cohen
Notable Women of China, Shang Dynasty to the early Twentieth Century, Barbara Bennett Peterson
Pan Chao: Foremost Woman Scholar of China, Nancy Lee Swann
