Viewpoints: Gender in East Asia

Over the course of the early modern period, family and marriage systems in China and Japan converged, with Japan moving closer to the Chinese model of strict subordination of women to men. In both societies, women moved into their husband’s house upon marriage. Once there, they were expected to show total obedience to both their husbands and their in-laws. Deprived of independent wealth by inheritance practices that favored sons over daughters, women had little leverage with which to resist the demands of their relatives. Thus, women were, in a sense, seen as perpetual children, with no identity separate from their roles as daughters, wives, and mothers. The documents included in this feature highlight this subordination, but they also reveal some of its limits. Most women worked in some capacity outside of the home, taking on roles that required more of them than humble acquiescence and a pretty smile. Moreover, contemporary observers were aware of the gender inequities in their society, and they did not always approve of them. As you explore the documents, think about the limits on the subordination of women in Japanese and Chinese society. Why was it impossible for the reality of gender relations to ever be in complete accord with theory?