This book is one of the "Overseas China Studies Series" and is a revised and reprinted edition. The Song Dynasty was a complex and changing era. On the one hand, footbinding became popular, and scholars began to advocate that "starving to death is a small matter, but being unruly is a big deal." On the other hand, we are exposed to a completely different impression: women's marriage and property rights are further protected.
In this book, the author shows us an extremely rich picture, and the lives of women in the Song Dynasty are vividly presented to us: the difference between inside and outside, sacrifices and celebrations, arranging marriages, serving parents-in-law, raising offspring, fighting for favor among women, observing festivals and remarrying... It shows that the history of women is a dynamic history, a history full of many possibilities.
From this, readers can not only understand the group portraits of women in the Song Dynasty from multiple angles and levels, but also grasp their choices and talents amid social changes.
Reader comments
The writing style of this book is very vivid, making me feel like I have traveled back to the Song Dynasty and saw the lives of women at that time. The author's writing style is also very good, and he explains the complicated history clearly. I quite hate those traditional concepts that constrain women. Fortunately, the women in the book are not constrained by these. They work hard to pursue their own happiness in a limited space. This book gave me a new understanding of women in the Song Dynasty. It turned out that they also had so many stories and wisdom.
The writing style of this book is very vivid, making me feel like I have traveled back to the Song Dynasty and saw the lives of women at that time. The author's writing style is also very good, and he explains the complicated history clearly. I quite hate those traditional concepts that constrain women. Fortunately, the women in the book are not constrained by these. They work hard to pursue their own happiness in a limited space. This book gave me a new understanding of women in the Song Dynasty. It turned out that they also had so many stories and wisdom.