8. 100 BCE - 100 CE Women and the Han Empire

Women had a prominent role in leadership in Asia, mainly in China during the Han Dynasty. The spotlight is placed among a group of powerful women including the first female monarch, an empress, and a court historian. Learn about how each played a role in their place of power or lived within that environment and what their lives were like during the Han Dynasty. 

​While the Roman Empire thrived at the other end of Eurasia, the Han Dynasty came to power in China and solidified a Chinese Empire for centuries to come. The dynasty followed the short-lived Qin dynasty and a period of violent conflict. The empire was known for its civil service and government structure, the nationalization of the private salt and iron industries, inventions, and adoption of Confucianism. But did these advances improve the lives of women that lived there? Nah– not really. 

In many ways the Han Empire was similar to the Roman Empire. To understand the impact the Han had on women, it would also be helpful if you reviewed Asian Philosophies and Women’s Place, because as you will see, the philosophy of Confucianism had an adverse effect on women in China for centuries to come. The Yin and the Yang were not good for the girl gang.

China: The Han leadership realized that philosophies can be powerful tools for solidifying an empire. Confucius’ writings became more mainstream and eventually Emperor Wu Di (reigned 141–87 BCE) made Confucianism the official state ideology. Confucius schools were established to teach Confucian ethics and spread the philosophy to the masses.

For women this had lasting effects on the structure and expectations in their lives. “Filial piety,” or devotion to family, is key to Confucian thinking. Devotion included ancestor worship, submission to parental authority, or the emperor and his government. 

Confucian philosophy meant that women lived pretty subjugated lives. Women could not earn money outside the home and were expected to leave their family to join their spouses when they married, so many baby girls were abandoned shortly after birth, a practice called “infanticide.” Women had no path to divorce unless her husband mistreated her father, while a husband could divorce his wife if she failed to bear a son, was unfaithful, lacked filial piety to the husband's parents, suffered from a virulent or infectious disease, or even talked too much. The only protection given to a wife was that she could not be divorced if she had no family to return to. Consequently, in practice, divorce was not as common as these grounds might suggest. Another social convention was that widows should not remarry, leaving women’s options in life very limited.

Confucianism, solidified women’s second-class status, and culturally ingrained the prohibition on women’s formal education. Women’s education ebbed when outsiders gained control of traditional Chinese regions, but the persistent domination of Confucianism locked women into perpetual slavery to their families.  One scholar wrote, “Few people teach their daughters to read and write nowadays for fear that they might become over ambitious.”  

Women of lower status, such as farmer's wives, spent significantly more time out of the home, as they were expected to work in the fields - especially in regions where rice was cultivated. As many farmers did not own their own land but worked it as tenants, their wives were, on occasion, subject to abuse from landowners. Many women were forced into prostitution in times of drought or crop failure. Prostitution was an open part of town and city life, with officials and merchants frequenting houses where prostitutes plied their trade for the purposes of corporate entertainment. 

Women worked in the home weaving silk and caring for the silkworms that produced it. This textile work was incredibly valuable to the families income. 

Some were called upon, like men, to perform the labor service which acted as a form of taxation in many periods of ancient China, but this was only in exceptional circumstances.

Adding insult to injury, although Chinese men usually had only one wife, they did openly make use of courtesans and invited concubines to live permanently in the family home. Concubines might also be used to provide a family with the all-important male heir when the wife only produced daughters. However, the concubine and her offspring did not have the same legal status of the wife and her children. The number of concubines in the household was limited by the husband's means. A wife was expected to never show any jealousy to her husband's concubines, as that too was grounds for divorce. The Han believed there was a particularly nasty corner of hell awaiting jealous wives. Concubines usually came from the lower classes and entered the households of the wealthier families in society. And while sexual activity was certainly present, Concubines were more like servants. This Eastern Han funeral stele for a concubine presents an interesting record of their duties: “When she entered the household, she was diligent in care and ordered our familial way, treating all our ancestors as lofty. She sought good fortune without straying, her conduct omitting or adding nothing. Keeping herself frugal, she spun thread, and planted profitable crops in the orchards and gardens. She respected the legal wife and instructed the children, rejecting arrogance, never boasting of her kindnesses. The three boys and two girls kept quiet within the women's apartments. She made the girls submissive to rituals, while giving the boys power. Her chastity exceeded that of ancient times, and her guidance was not oppressive. All our kin were harmonious and close, like leaves attached to the tree.” (Lewis, 170-171) 

Upper-class women were more often found in urban areas than rural. Like a lot of places around the world, upper-class women’s lives were perhaps more strictly controlled than at any other social group. Expected to remain within the inner chambers of the family home, they had only a very limited freedom of movement. Within the home, women did have significant responsibilities which included management of the household finances and the education of her children, but this did not mean they were the head of the family home. Elite women had large dowries that were considered her property and could be leveraged in family disputes. 

Confucian-Han women distinguish themselves from the pastoralists and rural poor by remaining secluded and passive. One Confucian writer described the “backward” ways of the northern pastoralists stating, “In the north of the yellow river it is usually the wife who runs the household. She will not dispense with good clothing or expensive jewelry. Her husband has to settle for old horses and sickly servants.The traditional niceties between husband and wife are seldom observed, and from time to time he even has to put up with her insults."

As with most history, it is also from these women that we have the most specific details of their lives. Elite women had proximity to men and male authors so their stories are recorded. 

Sri Lanka: Although well outside the control of the Han, the first recorded female monarch in Asia was Anula of Sri Lanka. Her rule would leave important lessons about female leadership. Her rule was recorded in an incredibly negative light– as most female rulers were characterized. It’s hard to tell if that is the bias of the male chroniclers, part of the necessity of being a woman in power, or if she really was just that awful. 

She ruled an island kingdom south of India in modern day Sri Lanka. According to historical records, this kingdom was established around 500 BCE and lasted until 1000 CE. Everything we know about the kingdom and Anula was recorded in the Mahavamsa, a historical chronicle.

​​According to legend, the dynasty from which Anula rose was founded by an exiled Indian prince who stumbled on the island with his followers. In the first century one of his descendants, an “evildoer,” according to the chronicle, ruled for 12 years and was murdered with poison by his concubine: Anula. Anula then went on to murder the new king and replace him with a palace guard who was her lover as king who she also had murdered. 

Anula went on to have a series of lovers whom she positioned as king, only to have them poisoned after a short rule. The chronicler, like most writers, likes to emphasize Anula’s sexual promiscuity, common of male rulers, rather than the politics of the time and perhaps the ineptitude of these men. The double standard is strong with these ones! Eventually, she just took the throne. 

Anula ruled for just four months and was either killed and burned on a pyre, or burned alive in her palace in a military coup. Not a great beginning or end for Asia’s first queen. 

Empress of Han: While not the first in Asia, Lü Zhi, was the first and most notable female Empress Consort of the Han Dynasty. By surviving accounts, she was, like Anula, a vicious woman. She and Emperor Gaozu were a formidable pair: he had a good eye for talent and recruited experts to guide him, she a ruthless defender of his rule. In the early years of the empire, she demonstrated skills as an administrator and established important connections. After the empire was secured and enemies of the Han defeated, she assassinated two of the generals who had elevated her husband to his position. 

Lü Zhi had two children, a daughter Yuan and a son, Huidi, but her position was still tenuous because she had a whole harem of her husband's concubines and their sons to contend with. At any moment favor could shift. Her husband was particularly fond of his concubine, Lady Qi and their son Liu Ruyi, giving him lands and wealth. But the Emperor was convinced to maintain the line of succession. When Emperor Gaozu died, Huidi became the new emperor and Lü Zhi became Empress Dowager, a regent for her young son and weidling incredible power.

Lü Zhi controlled the Empire with harsh cruelty and executed rivals of her son, including sons within her husband's former harem to consolidate her power, but it took her a while to coax Liu Ruyi out of his estate. Finally he came to her palace where she promptly had him poisoned. 

While terrible, the fate of his mother, Lady Qi is even worse. Lü Zhi ordered her soldiers to imprison Lady Qi in a pigsty, pull out her tongue, blind her, and then chop off all her limbs. Disgusted with his mother, Huidi withdrew from imperial management– leaving even more power in her hands. When he died, she put another infant in power, then another. She ruled the Han Empire as regent for about fifteen years. While Lü Zhi was certainly ruthless in her ambitions, she ushered in a time of stability and is said to have improved the lives of the poor. Maybe what was bad for her rivals was pretty good for the people.

Ban Zhao: About a century later, at the height of the Han Dynasty, another notable woman named Ban Zhao took on the role of court historian. She lived in China between 50 and 115 CE and is a great example of a woman born to an elite family of scholars. She was the daughter of one court historian and sister to another, and many people recognize her connection to men of such standing gave her opportunities normally closed to women. However, what many people forget is that it was a female ancestor that first connected the Ban family to the court of the emperor, and it was the patronage of a powerful empress that made Ban Zhao’s lifelong career possible.

In the very early years of the Han Dynasty, around 30 BCE, the daughter of a wealthy sheep and cattle farmer was taken to the palace to serve as a court lady under Emperor Cheng. She was a scholar and a poet and famously refused to ride in the same carriage as the Emperor so she would not distract him from his important responsibilities. Palace Lady Ban, as she became known, was so admired that she was able to invite one of her brothers, Ban You, to join her at court. He worked in the imperial library, collecting, and editing ancient books that were almost lost in the transition to Han rule.

Court could be a dangerous place because if you chose to follow the wrong side, there could be dire consequences. Wisely, Palace Lady Ban and her brother preferred to remain neutral when it came to politics. Instead, they built the family name on scholarship and service. In time, they were replaced by two more generations of imperial Ban scholars. Ban Zhao benefitted from a classical education that would serve her for the rest of her life.

Like most elite women in China at this time, Ban Zhao got married at a very young age, at 14, and left court to live with her husband’s family. Ban Zhao did all that was expected of her, and she was especially secure when she had a son. Ban Zhao’s husband died young, however, and Confucian practice required her to stay with her husband’s family while their son grew up.

Ban Zhao’s brother, Ban Gu, received an elevated position at the imperial court and he invited her to rejoin her family at the palace. Her husband’s family no doubt saw what an advantage it would be for their own heir to grow up at court. So, Ban Zhao returned to court with her child at her side. She worked as a historian with her brother, wrote poetry, and taught the children of the palace, boys as well as girls. 

She taught the Classics, astronomy, and mathematics. Several members of the royal family also commissioned poetry from Ban Zhao to mark special occasions. She went on to pick up the work her father and brother h
ad left incomplete.  She completed The History of the Han using private imperial documents and many historians regard this work as her most valuable contribution to the world.

Ban Zhao would become so trusted by the Empress that she was even able to advise the ruling family away from decisions that might reflect badly on them. At one memorable point, Empress Deng was reluctant to let a family member retire from his post in order to mourn his mother who had just died. The Empress and the men of her family were worried they might lose some political power if this man retired. Ban Zhao reminded the Empress that “yielding to others” was a Confucian virtue and the court would long remember the Empress’ unwillingness to yield. And that was that. As Deng wrote in her autobiography years later, “One word from Mother Ban and the great men withdrew.” Ban Zhao was so beloved that the royal family and everyone at court went into formal mourning when Ban Zhao died in 119 or 120.

So, you might be wondering, why on earth is there any question of Ban Zhao’s impact on women? Well, it’s because of the work Ban Zhao is best known for, a book of advice called Admonitions for Women or Lessons for Women.  In it, Ban Zhao makes a very persuasive case that all girls must be educated just as all boys were. The problem arises when we look at what she tells us girls and women should learn. 

Confucian philosophy offers multiple paths for boys and men to achieve ren, or “humanity” including respect, righteousness, altruism, and integrity. According to Ban Zhao, the chief aspects of ren for girls are remaining modest, practicing good hygiene, and staying focused on tasks such as weaving. A good wife should obey her husband and her mother-in-law without hesitation and without complaint.

Ban Zhao states in the introduction to Admonitions for Women that she was inspired to write it after looking at her own early life as a wife and mother. She said she had learned classical teaching well enough but that she had never understood her place in the world until she experienced it. She even seems to scold male scholars at one point, saying, “Now look at the gentlemen of the present age. They only knew that wives must be controlled, and that the husband’s rule and precedence be established. . .but if one only teaches men and does not teach women, is that not ignoring the essential relation between them?” 

Admonitions for Women highlights the need for balance and harmony in the home, especially between a husband and wife. She wrote: “The Way of Husband and Wife is associated with yin and yang and reaches to godliness; surely it is an expansive principle of Heaven and Earth and the greatest form of conjugation among human relationships.”  For Ban Zhao, the yin and yang of marriage are expressed through the authority and control of the man and the righteous service of the woman. If either spouse is not fulfilling their role the home will fall into conflict and despair.

Preparation for her life as a wife and mother begins within a few days of a girl’s birth. A newborn girl should be placed under a bed—not on the bed, under it—so she will always know her place. “It is a cardinal rule for her to be subordinate to others,” Ban Zhao wrote.

The baby girl should be given something to play with to emphasize the hard work that will be expected of her. In some translations the word for the toy is “tile”, or even interpreted as broken pottery, representing a harsh life. But some scholars suggest that Ban Zhao was suggesting baby girls play with a ceramic whorl, something she would learn to use when spinning and weaving. If that’s so, the plaything emphasizes feminine domesticity and not necessarily a harsh life.
Finally, the girl’s birth should be marked with fasting and an announcement of her arrival to the ancestors she will grow up to honor. All of these practices establish a girl’s place in her family right from the start. 

Ultimately, Ban Zhao sums up her lessons by advising women to be single-minded about everything but especially about devotion to their husbands. That extends even to standing by an unhappy marriage and remaining unmarried after a husband’s death. The woman should not be too curious and never challenge anything but dedicate herself to a life of perfect service. Sigh.

So, what do we make of the legacy of Ban Zhao? She was a woman who lived an unusual and amazing life and she fought for the equal education of girls. She even oversaw the education of the Empress Deng and supported that woman while she was at the height of her power. Clearly, Ban Zhao did not believe that all women were to be held back. At the same time, she decided the best preparation for a Chinese woman’s future was to remember her lowly place in the world and do her best to sacrifice herself for everyone around her. 

As late as the 18th century, her work was still counted as one of the Four Essential Books for Women. We might say that Ban Zhao was a pioneer for women who happened to live in a time and place in which women dared not reach for too much. At the same time, even the other women in her family did not share her views. A sister to Ban Zhao’s husband wrote a treatise disputing Admonitions for Women. Unfortunately, that work has been lost.

Vietnam: While the Han Dynasty grew in its control over the provinces of China, they also sought to expand their borders. As a society that all too clearly looked down on women, they found that some of the greatest opposition to their expansion came from women.
 
Sisters Trung Trac and Trung Nhi had been raised as the daughters of a prominent general and politician who had become a vassal for the Chinese when they first invaded Vietnam, but also pushed back against the Chinese when it became necessary in order to protect the Vietnamese people. The sisters were well educated and even studied martial arts with their father, as Vietnamese society was far more progressive in their views of women than their Chinese counterparts. They had social positions, could inherit property of their husbands or fathers, had more rights in their marriages, and more. 
 
Increased efforts of control by the Chinese kickstarted additional resistance from the Vietnamese vassals and population. Trung Trac had married a general from a neighboring district, Thi Sach, and he began to form a rebellion among the upper classes. He was soon captured and executed by the Chinese. Trung Trac, alongside her sister Trung Nhi, took up the mantle and began to mobilize local people of all classes to rise up against Chinese rule. They would end up spearheading a force of 80,000 soldiers, and like any great ruler, they decided to lead from the front.
 
The two sisters, and even their elderly mother, were among the 36 female generals leading this army against the Chinese. The Trung sisters and their army stormed several dozen Chinese-run citadels and the governor’s home, successfully forcing him out of the region. Trung Trac was then named queen, and reigned alongside her sister. Unfortunately, the Han overthrew the sisters a few years later and they threw themselves into a river to avoid torture and execution by the Chinese.
 
The two sisters remained a symbol of not only feminine power, but of freedom and Vietnam’s ability to rise above oppression. They drove the mighty Chinese out of their lands with a massive army willing to follow them and the female leadership within the army where their male predecessors had failed. Their reign had been short, but their memory had arisen from the ashes in multiple generations including the 20th century struggles against Japanese encroachment, French imperialism, and Western intervention in the Vietnam War.

Conclusion: Despite devastatingly low opinions of women, limited rights, and a horrible outlook for women’s status in China, there are notable women who defied the patriarchal structures, secured power, and whose stories were preserved. While these outliers are known, many thousands of women’s stories have been lost to time. 

Why did these women stand the test of time, and how are they symbolic of their time or region? How can their stories be applied to modern female  leadership? What stories have we lost? What were the likely experiences of average women? And how would they have viewed these brave women?

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Bibliography

Beard, Mary. Women & Power: A Manifesto. Liveright Publishing Corporation: New York, NY, 2017.

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Gaohou." Encyclopedia Britannica, October 19, 2015. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gaohou. 

Hinsch, Bret. “The Criticism of Powerful Women by Western Han Dynasty Portent Experts.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 49, no. 1 (2006): 96–121. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25165130.
​
The Records of the Grand Historian (Shi ji) by Sima Qian, translated by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1993. 


​Strayer, R. and Nelson, E., Ways Of The World. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016.

Primary AUTHOR:

Kelsie Brook Eckert

Primary Reviewer:

Dr. Nancy Locklin-Sofer

Consulting Team

Editors

Kelsie Brook Eckert, Project Director
Coordinator of Social Studies Education at Plymouth State University

Dr. Nancy Locklin-Sofer, Consultant
Professor of History at Maryville University. 

Chloe Gardner, Consultant
PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University

Dr. Whitney Howarth, Consultant
Former Professor of History at Plymouth State University

Jacqui Nelson, Consultant
Teaching Lecturer of Military History at Plymouth State University

​Maria Concepcion Marquez Sandoval
PhD Candidate in History at Arizona University

Amy Flanders
Humanities Teacher, Moultonborough Academy
Ron Kaiser
Humanities Teacher, Moultonborough Academy
Chris Canfield
Humanities Teacher, Moultonborough Academy

Reviewers

Ancient:
Dr. Kristin Heineman
Professor of History at Colorado State University
Dr. Bonnie Rock-McCutcheon
Professor of History at Wilson College
Sarah Stone
PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at Edinburgh University
Medieval:
Dr. Katherine Koh
Professor of History at La Sierra University
Dr. Jonathan Couser
Professor of History at Plymouth State University
Dr. Shahla Haeri
Professor of History at Boston University 
Lauren Cole
PhD Candidate in History at Northwestern University
Modern:
Dr. Jack Gronau
Professor of History at Northeastern University