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Biographies Of Heroic Women Summary

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Over the course of history, the role of women has changed numerous times. Before the Han Dynasty, there was little emphasis on women and their roles in society. During the Han, even though women were still considered inferior to men, there was a rise of women in society, including authors and historians, and to top it off some women even held powerful positions in the court like Empress Lu. Section 17 in the Ebrey textbook covers the topic of women’s virtues and vices. By using excerpts from the Biographies of Heroic Women and Admonitions for Women, Ebrey is providing detailed evidence and stories to show the audience the significance and position of women in these times. The first passage is taken from the Biographies of Heroic Women …show more content…

This passage gives us insight into the expectations that were placed on women during the Han dynasty. It discusses the virtues that woman should have in order to be considered a part of society. The first virtue that is mentioned is humility. It describes humility as “yielding and acting respectful, putting others first and oneself last” (Ebrey 75). Furthermore the passage discusses industriousness and the continuing of sacrifices, which are the two other traits that a women should have. Industriousness means working hard and putting 100% effort into every given task The continuing of sacrifices is another way that a woman “submits” to her husband or master. This section in particular once again provides a checklist of virtues for women during the Han dynasty. It states that a woman following these three traits will eventually lead a good acceptable life because there has never been a woman who followed these things and had her reputation ruined. It focuses on how the Han people viewed woman and what they wanted woman to be in relation to being a member of society. These were the standards women had to live up to in order to be

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