Ancient Biography of Virtuous Women, beautified women’s sacrifices

A place for groping Asian Feminism is prepared. The Society for Chinese Language and Literature, Korean Women’s Institute, and Ewha Institute for Women’s Theological Studies hold a conference titled Type of East Asian women, genealogy of its image on May 12th, 9:30am at Ewha Womans University Humanities Hall.

This conference, focused on reading the reality of East Asian women from the features of women in the Biography of Virtuous Women, written in the Han dynasty of China, has a growing concern in a sense that it will discuss Asian autogenous women’s studies beyond western (feminist) theories.

The Biography of Virtuous Women, written by Yu Hyang in the 1st century BC, is the first Chinese biography of women and was used to educate women. Based on Confucian perspective of women in the Book of Rite, this book describes seven types of women; motherly and good in wifehood, wise, virtuous and intelligent, orderly, loyal, adaptable, and debauchery women, who can be role models or condemnatory women.

Park Young-hee, professor of Sogang University department of Chinese language and literature points out limitations of Biography of Virtuous Women in the paper Component principle and its discourse on biography of women. She insists that biographies like Biography of Virtuous Women are simply a reconstruction of related facts on a figure followed by confronting ideology. Accordingly, Biography of Virtuous Women, written in the period of Han dynasty which was based on patriarchal Confucianism, is only a story of men who were behind the women, not an objective narration about the reality of women at that time.

Song Jeong-Wha, professor of Korea University department of Chinese language and literature describes a social context of women’s forced sacrifice under the beautified name of motherhood in the paper From Maiden in myth to mother in history.

Excluding thoroughly the inner stories, such as suffering of pregnancy and delivery, difficulty in upbringing, and psychological changes through these experiences, it only suggests the formalized women’s image of wise mother and good wife and shows the patriarchal phases of the times.

Chung Jae-seo, professor of Ewha Womens University department of Chinese language and literature focuses on the story of Jae-Young in the Biogrphy who chose herself to be a government slave to save her father and analyzes the social context of Han dynasty that inspired sacrifice to women. Chung diagnoses that the reality of Korean women is rooted in this story of sacrifice: this Jae-Young’s image has reproduced another Jae-Young in Korean society, projecting from female factory workers in the 70s who became industrial laborers for educating their younger brothers to So-Ryung in the movie The End of the Century (Se-Ki-Mal) who goes in for Won-jo-kyo-jae (original friendship?) for supporting her elder brother, who prepares civil service examination.

Chung states, This study contributed to build the foundation of the study of Korean Feminism. To organize the genealogy of Korean women would be a starting point for a discussion of autogenous women’s studies.

In this conference, which makes public its three-year study of The Society for Chinese Language and Literature, Kim Young-mi of Ewha Womens University, Cho Sook-ja of Seoul National University, and Choi Jin-a of Yonsei University also participate as panelists.

skkim@donga.com