Chapter 1206 The Returnee's Notes 280
In that era, most women were marginalized. Ban Zhao, because of her background, was able to receive a traditional education, which gave her a deeper ability to express herself and think critically.
Even she, and Deng Sui who later became a female ruler, sometimes had to submit to marriage and family, let alone other women.
That was a limitation imposed on them by that era.
Ban Zhao's original intention in writing "Admonitions for Women" was merely to provide survival guidance for future generations from the perspective of a mother and an elder, not to have women of the world take it as a code of conduct.
By then, she had lost all her relatives, leaving her alone to face the vicissitudes of the world. In her life, she witnessed the rise and fall of six emperors. Each change of the throne was accompanied by the turmoil and power struggles inside and outside the palace. She also personally witnessed the bloody battles in the harem and the prosperity and vicissitudes of the previous dynasty's national affairs, as well as life, death, honor, and disgrace.
She merely offered lessons learned from her own long years of experience and her keen observation of the fate of women in that era, so that future generations could better survive and protect themselves in the vortex of that time without having to suffer so much.
It also reveals her compassion for the living conditions of women at that time; she never thought of using violence to subdue women.
One line reads, "Observe the gentlemen of today...they only teach boys and not girls, is this not blinding them to the proper order? According to the Book of Rites, children begin to be taught books at eight, and by fifteen they are engaged in formal education. Should we not take this as our guide?"
She advocated that women should also receive education in knowledge and etiquette, placing women and men on an equal footing in education for the first time.
"Although you didn't finish reciting the entire 'Admonitions for Women,' I don't think it's entirely good. And the Ban Zhao you mentioned was more than just a mother or an elder..."
He was also a politician.
These are new words that Xie Ning taught her.
Xie Ning nodded. "Of course."
Ban Zhao was a court historian and a member of Deng Sui's political group. In the early years of Deng Sui's regency, "Admonitions for Women" may have had an official and political flavor.
People today are not like those of the past, and no one knows whether it was a letter to future generations in the purest sense or a set of guiding standards for all women.
After all, influenced by her father and brothers, Ban Zhao received a pure Confucian education.
"She was a politician. The time when 'Admonitions for Women' was written was during the reign of Empress Dowager Deng Sui. The overly humble ideas in it may have been a deliberate strategy to lull others into a false sense of security."
Naturally, it also carries an element of exploitation.
As for evaluation, not only in modern times, but also in Ban Zhao's own era, people's evaluation of "Admonitions for Women" was polarized.
As times progressed, the "Admonitions for Women" was exploited by rulers and scholar-officials. Especially during the rise of Neo-Confucianism, some of the views in the "Admonitions for Women" were promoted and made extreme, gradually turning it into a tool to imprison women. The iron chains of etiquette bound women in the world layer upon layer.
This led many women in later generations... no, not just women, but many people in later generations to believe that the so-called etiquette education for women in "Admonitions for Women" was simply about teaching them how to serve their husbands and their families, without any sense of individuality or social consciousness. Gradually, women were completely reduced to being appendages of men...
"Long, long afterward, China was beset by internal and external troubles, and the country was on the verge of collapse. At that time, women's thoughts experienced an explosive liberation. They wanted power, the power of equality."
Therefore, they criticized everything that exploited and oppressed them, including the "Women's Precepts".
Because by then, the "Women's Precepts" had already been completely distorted, even though it originally contained good intentions.
Regardless of the circumstances, it is undeniable that in the distant Eastern Han Dynasty, there was a female monarch who established female officials and encouraged women to participate in politics. There was also a female official who stood on the political stage and the historical stage, setting an example for others.
We need not deny the dross in them, because the limitations of the times are unchangeable, but we should see the strength of women in them to encourage ourselves.
Xie Ning exhaled a breath of white air, and for some reason, the tomb chamber became even colder.
Finally, she mentioned Empress Wu, a monarch whose story has been fabricated and distorted by some people in later generations.
People say she harmed her own siblings and children, and that she had two husbands, simply because she was a woman. Therefore, these are all heinous crimes. If she were a man, what she did would be utterly insignificant.
Qingnu sat beside the coffin, looking at Xie Ning's somewhat tense profile. She felt that Xie Ning's eyes held a hint of helplessness, but even more so, a burning passion.
Xie Ning's face remained completely expressionless.
She said, "The throne, the highest right of rule, is by default a game of struggle between men. Women are never allowed to participate. Even if they do participate and succeed by giving their all to stand in that supreme position, they will not receive the rewards they deserve like men do."
Because in the eyes of the world, they are daughters, wives, and mothers; they themselves are never number one.
The path they are taking will be more arduous and full of thorns.
Even when one reaches a high position, it's like walking on thin ice, because if one makes a mistake, people will say, "A woman is just a woman..."
Being a woman is not shameful, nor does it mean they are unworthy of sitting in that high position and possessing that highest power.
Qingnu sighed, "When I was little, I used to think how wonderful it would be if I were a man like my brother."
If only I could be a man, perhaps there wouldn't be so many thorns on the road, and every step I take would bring me the reward I deserve.
"No......"
Xie Ning met Qing Nu's eyes and said, "Don't think about becoming a man and adapting to their rules."
What we need to do is become the game makers, change the rules, change the game itself. In this way, the path we women walk will be less thorny, and every step we take will be rewarded accordingly.
People often use the concept of love to interpret a woman.
Tell the women of this world that she lacks love and that she needs the love that men give her.
No, women never lack love; what they lack are resources, power, and respect.
The desire to be loved is essentially a loss of power; therefore, climbing up and gaining power will create a different world.
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