WOMEN IN MEDIEVAL CHINA China has always been a traditional society, practicing customs that date back to the Shang Dynasty (circa 1500 b.c.e.). Medieval China is no different. One of the prevailing constants was misogyny of women. It dates back to before Confucianism, but became solidified and pervasive by the fifth century b.c.e. Confucianism inculcated in society that women were by nature quarrelsome, jealous, petty-minded, and vastly inferior to men. Most scholars view the property distribution at the core of this misogyny, but derogatory remarks and actions against girls and women of all classes will be noticeable. In this chapter we will be discussing women's roles in the Tang, Song or Sung, Kuan or Mongol and the Ming dynasties, 618-1644. Women's rights and freedoms varied by dynasty. With the incoming influence of Buddhism from India, and changes in the philosophy of Taoism, medieval Chinese society undergoes some significant transformations in the medieval centuries. From the Tang to the Ming dynastic periods the vast majority of Chinese lived in villages that ranged in size from a few dozen people to several thousand. Life in these villages was like life in medieval European villages. Peasants rarely left their village, but the family unit was an extended on not nuclear as in Europe. At least three generations lived together, especially in the rice growing regions of Central and Southern China. By the eighth century Buddhism was fully established in China. While basically Buddhism brought better living conditions for women, it still brought some mixed responses partly because no single Buddhist ideology relating to women existed. As Buddhism expanded into China from India and the trade routes, Mahayana Buddhism with a bodhisattva component resonated in China rather than the more ascetic Theravada Buddhism. According to Buddhist doctrines, a bodhisattva has the power to embody itself in any form, whether that is a male, female, child or even an animal. This embodiment is dependent on the type of being the bodhisattva is seeking to save. There has been much scholarly debate regarding the origins of devotion to the famous Bodhisattva Kuan Yin. She is considered the compassionate goddess, and revered in China as much as the Virgin Mary is for the Catholics. Interesting, Kuan Yin as late as the tenth century was still being portrayed as a male. With the introduction of Tantric Buddhism into China in the eighth century, an image of the Bodhisattva as a beautiful white-robed goddess became predominant. By the ninth century that was a statue of the female Kuan Yin in every Buddhist monastery in China. Today2she is worshipped by Taoists as well as Mahayana Buddhists. In tandem with this belief was the idea that women came to symbolize all that must be transcended in order to achieve enlightenment. More discussion on this will follow in the section on medieval women in Japan. In the Medieval centuries, there was still a strong role for the Queen Mother of the West, Hsi Huang Mu. Medieval Taoists considered her the embodiment of the ultimate Yin: she was the dark female force, she created the world, she was a mother, teacher, and lover, and it was her role as a lover with divine passion that is clearly evident. Thus, the Queen Mother of the West is both transcendent and divine passion. There will be a backlash against Buddhism in the late Tang and Song Dynasty that led unfortunately to the reassertion that women were again inferior. Confucian ideas were popular once more. Generally speaking, the higher the family's status, the more Confucian they were. This is going to lead to a long period of decline for women's status and positions in the coming centuries. Rudimentary education was given to girls just enough so they could read simple versions of Confucian philosophy. His ideas were edited to emphasize the lowly role women were expected to play. Additionally, women's sexual purity must be protected at all costs. The woman was obligated to practice self-mutilation or commit suicide to prevent being raped. Marriage and divorce customs were typical for the times. Mothers took an active interest in the selection of a marriage partner for their children, but the formal arrangements were made by a matchmaker, who usually was an older woman. The girl's parents were to provide a dowry to the groom. Women were sixteen to twenty when they married, and the men were a couple of years older. The actual wedding rituals occurred when the bride left her natal home with her groom, his friends and relatives. This was the first time the bride had seen her groom. When the couple arrived at his home, the bride knelt and bowed to her new parents-in-laws, and to the tablets representing the family's ancestors. Then the couple drank some wine from the same cup. Later when they were shown to their bedroom, beans and rice previously tossed on the bed greeted them, symbolizing fertility. Often the parents added a new wing to the house for the newly married couple if enough money was available. The new wife was usually on a three to four month trial. Even if the husband liked his wife, but his parents did not, then he was to divorce her. The wife's security was ensured when she bore a3son. Women who did not marry remained spinsters at their natal homes. If the wife did not provide her husband with a male heir, then he was permitted to take a second wife. His first wife had no right to get a divorce. As an old Chinese proverb stated: "Marry a chicken, follow the chicken, marry a dog, and follow the dog." When a woman became a mother-in-law, then her status was raised. As the eldest female she could enjoy her grandchildren and help with their education. She had more time for religious devotions. We find that sons were usually devoted to their mothers. In the Song Dynasty, neo-Confucianism was often blamed for the declining status of women. Cheng Yi, the best known neo-Confucian teacher once told followers that it would be better for a widow to die of starvation than to lose her virtue by remarrying. While Song widows frequently remarried, later centuries Cheng Yi's statement justified widows not remarrying. During this dynasty a wife's property automatically passed to her husband. Women were forbidden to remarry if their husbands divorced them or they died. Wealthy Chinese husbands sometimes selected concubines who lived in a separate room in the home. A concubine sometimes