The Women's Question: Value and Ritual Meanings from a Neo-Confucian Perspective
(to the poem Peacocks fly to the Southeast)
The article presents a retrospective analysis of the traditional attitude towards women, their freedoms and marriage in China based on historical, literary and poetic sources. The analysis is based on Han Dynasty Yuefu poem "Peacocks fly to the Southeast". This article examines the fundamental characteristics of marital culture in ancient China over time, including the permissible number of marriages; the roles of parents before and after marriage, and during marriage and divorce; the special powers of the matchmaker; ideas about the merits and demerits of those entering into marriage; the main marriage rituals; and the legal grounds for divorce. In connection with the topic of marriage, the focus is on changing views on the role of women in society, as substantiated by Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, up until the end of the imperial period of Chinese history.

















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