On the issue of women's education, it is said that women don't need to know much, as long as they are at home. However, nothing is absolute, and the status of women is not static, just as the status of women in the Song Dynasty is different. In the Song Dynasty, women's going out was not so restricted, and women's rights were also guaranteed to a certain extent.
Women who began to "go to school" in Song Dynasty
1, a "girls' school" in the Song Dynasty
In ancient China, most women seldom went out. Family education has a great influence on a woman, so the "teachers" they contact most are their father, mother, brother and younger brother. Since ancient times, poor families have been worried about their livelihood, and those who have the ability to learn have a certain family background.
In the Song Dynasty, literature was more important than martial arts. Officials studied hard and tried to behave well in front of their bosses. Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, those who received good knowledge education were generally women from official families. This social background provides a good learning atmosphere for official families and rich women, so that they can all receive better education.
Song Gaozong once said: I don't think only men have to study, and so do women. Sima Guang once said: Everyone can't stop learning. What's the difference between men and women? In addition, the appearance of movable type printing facilitated the printing of books and accelerated the popularization of education in Song Dynasty.
In the open atmosphere of the Song Dynasty, women can also go to private schools or their own home schools to study. There are many girls whose cultural education is not limited to The Book of Filial Piety, The Analects of Confucius, Biography of Fierce Women, Female Commandments and Poems.
Different family education methods are different, and women's education level is also different. Some focus on women's virtues, while others focus on the education of women's poems and songs.
2. Talented women who take the "College Entrance Examination"
The college entrance examination system in China has a long history. In ancient China, imperial examinations were organized by the supreme ruler at that time, and countless children from poor families were looking forward to climbing the ladder and getting ahead quickly. Under the influence of the background of the Song Dynasty, the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty did not restrict women from taking the imperial examination.
Indeed, some women seized this loophole and participated in the ancient "College Entrance Examination" as women, and achieved good results. There is even a woman admitted to Jinshi. She should have done a lot, but she was stopped by ministers.
Yes, if a precedent is set for recruiting female employees, there will be people smearing their faces in future meetings (early meetings), which will ruin the serious atmosphere at the meeting! Since then, the affair of being a female official has gone away.
However, taking part in the imperial examination and entering the imperial examination can already reflect the educational level of women in the Song Dynasty.
Being unable to take the imperial examination did not dispel the enthusiasm of women in Song Dynasty for learning knowledge. The open atmosphere in Song Dynasty trained many talented women in Song Dynasty, such as Li Qingzhao, Zhu Xi, Zhang Xi.
Women were masters of the country in Song Dynasty.
1, a female in Song Dynasty who can inherit property.
Song dynasty's generosity to women is not only reflected in the education of women, but also in their right to inherit property. During the Song Dynasty, unmarried women and even married women had the right to inherit property. Unmarried boudoir women, if they have enough ability, can inherit family property and be masters of their own affairs like men.
During the Song Dynasty, religious culture was very popular, and some religious activities were often held. The restrictions on women's going out are not so strict, and the opportunities for women to go out have increased. Some women can also run some shops and manage property.
Therefore, women in the Song Dynasty all had their own "private money". In the Song Dynasty, it was a fashion to marry a daughter, and some less wealthy families would go out to borrow money to marry their daughters. In Fujian, there is also the custom of preparing a double bride price for her daughter as a dowry.
Some men in debt will borrow usury to prepare rich bride price, and they are not worried about not receiving it. There will be a double dowry anyway. It is said that there were a large number of good-looking older "leftover men" and "leftover women" in the Song Dynasty, and they could not get married because their families were poor.
2. Married women without discrimination.
What was the family status of women who became relatives in Song Dynasty? In ancient feudal society, it was normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines. How does a wife keep her position? In fact, the open atmosphere in the Song Dynasty enabled the wife to master the financial power of the family, and the expenses of the whole family were managed by the wife.
In addition, due to the small educational difference between men and women in the Song Dynasty, many wives could dominate their own affairs and have a great say in family decision-making. In this case, women are not subject to too many restrictions on divorce and remarriage, and they will not be discriminated against after remarriage.
Some families don't want their daughters to be widowed and suffer for their husbands, but will support their daughters to remarry. Therefore, women in Song Dynasty still had great right to choose their spouses. Even, in the period, two prime ministers quarreled over marrying the widow of the left general Xue. Later, both of them were punished.
In addition, the queens of Song Zhenzong and Song Renzong are also remarried women. The Song Dynasty provided an unprecedented open environment for women, and women's political freedom was also extremely high. Therefore, as many as five queens participated in and handled political affairs in the Song Dynasty.
abstract
The atmosphere of the Song Dynasty was open, and the tolerance for women was unprecedented. There are no restrictions on women's study and study, and they will not be restricted too much by the saying that "women have no talents". Women in Song Dynasty could also take the imperial examination, which broke the previous record that no women took the imperial examination and achieved good results.
Although women could not take the imperial examination at that time, many talented women like Li Qingzhao emerged during this period, expressing their feelings, thoughts and expectations for their husbands with their own poems, which have been passed down to this day.
In the Song Dynasty, people were very tolerant of women, and women could remarry without discrimination.
The custom of thick marriage also gives women part of the right to speak in the family. It is no exaggeration to say that without Wu Zetian who appeared in the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty would be the dynasty with the highest status of women in history. In modern society, the status of women has improved. Who says that women are not as good as men has become the main theme of society?
However, there is still a long way to go to completely change the "colored glasses" for thousands of years and truly achieve complete equality in psychology and life.
refer to
1. Household miscellaneous instruments
2. Compilation of Song and Yao Hui
3. "Song Punishment System"