The content of ancient women's moral education was generally to serve their parents and in-laws, obey their husbands and educate their children with a training goal. "Different from men's learning and ambition, women's learning is" lead an honest and clean life and aim at four virtues (women's virtue) ". It can also be seen from here that the focus of women's education in ancient China was moral education. In contrast, intellectual education seems to be minimal. But it is also worth discussing together today.
Intellectual education includes imparting knowledge and skills and cultivating the ability to understand and solve problems. The intellectual education of ancient women in China was basically at the level of daily cultural literacy. However, there is also great controversy in society about whether it is necessary for ancient women to receive literacy education and develop their intelligence.
One school of reasons against women's reading and literacy is that "women's literacy is immoral" and "women's lack of talent is virtue". However, the dominant opinion of orthodox women's education still advocates basic cultural and mathematical education for women.
First of all, basic knowledge helps to improve the ability of caring for husbands and educating children, managing families and managing finances. The so-called "I only wish my daughter can read roughly, and the wine spectrum is connected with the tea classics" is more direct than what Lu Shiyi said. "I only teach women to read, but I don't teach them the meaning of books. Covering literacy can manage housework, manage wealth and goods, and do the work for her husband. If this book is meaningful, it is useless.
Secondly, women should receive basic education in reading and literacy, which is beneficial to Xiu De's politeness. Li Wanfang pointed out that "when reading, you can see clearly Chu etiquette and know the daily things of ethics."
The debate on whether women develop their intelligence is closely related to their understanding of the relationship between ability and political integrity. There were two understandings of "talent" in ancient times. One is to value the talent of poetry and lyrics, or the talent of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting; The other is general intelligence. Talent was mostly rejected by ancient women's education. The common saying that "a woman without talent is virtue" circulated in Ming and Qing Dynasties concentrated on this mentality.
Although Confucius listed women's education as "the foundation of governing the people" long ago, the early women's books were relatively tolerant of developing women's intelligence from the standpoint of education. During the Spring and Autumn Period, women's education was highly valued by the society, and women's talents were also brought into play by teachers and praised by the society. For example, Wei Ji, the daughter of Qi Hou and the wife of Qi Huangong, made great achievements in politics. The wife of Wei and the wife of the palace have made great achievements in politics, literature and art. Ban Chao's Women's Commandment contains contempt for women's talents, but it also highlights women's morality and opposes women's success. In the late feudal society, the status of "talents" declined with the increasingly strict ethics. In "Wisdom" in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, "the road to public security is determined by the husband, and a wise woman is better than a man", "A talented person is a virtue, and his words are acceptable; It is not true that a woman is virtuous without talent. "
Generally speaking, traditional women's education does not emphasize that women are "brilliant and unique", but women's talents and behaviors beneficial to men's families and ruling the country are still affirmed. Liu Xiang's Biography of Women is a model of all kinds of talented women, and it is also respected by women's education in later generations. Even in the Qing dynasty, there is no denying that "the ancient sages and daughters were also talented." But he also stressed that once a woman's intelligence exceeds three obedience and four virtues, it will be suppressed immediately.
Although there were many talented women in ancient times, on the whole, for ordinary women, intellectual education is included, and their ability is still very small. The education of culture, mathematics and physics plays a subordinate role in the indoctrination of ancient women's educational knowledge, but it can not be ignored as the basis and tool of learning. Strictly speaking, this is also a kind of knowledge education. Knowledge is at the level of bleeding and laying the foundation. Knowledge education is relatively shallow, systematic and profound, and only reserved a way for women with superior family circumstances to pursue further studies.
The Book of Filial Piety for Women in the Tang Dynasty once put forward the idea of "assisting a gentleman with wisdom", and emphasized that women also have the nature of intelligence and Tessa, believing that there is no harm in it, but relying on their wisdom and heart. But the crux of the problem is that orthodox female education has never improved the cultivation of women, and the study of ancient women has no systematic and profound knowledge base, but has been honed and cultivated from social practice; How to increase your intelligence? Women's education books mostly praise women who can show their talents in the early days, but do not put forward practical measures and steps to develop women's talents. With the increasing bondage of society to women, the atmosphere of attaching importance to women's intellectual education in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period did not reappear in the later period. Therefore, according to the orthodox blueprint for women's education, the only thing that can be created is to use the wisdom of family and religion, or to train countless obedient and obedient domestic slaves.
In short, in ancient women's education, intellectual education was basically in the primary stage of literacy, and knowledge was regarded as a subordinate means to cope with daily housework and further study etiquette for women's moral education. There is a big gap and defect between systematic knowledge and training talents, which is really low.