According to A catalogue of women’s publications throughout Chinese history by Hu Wenkai (1901-1988), women in the Qing dynasty produced an extremely rich number of writings. Not only were the Guixiu diligent in their studies, but their writings were also diverse in subjects. For example, their detailed descriptions of family life (e.g., marital affection, children education, etc.) often touched on a variety of social and national issues, including a wide range of topics that are invaluable historical resources. At the same time, the study of writings produced by women in the Qing Dynasty has also attracted much attention and research in the academic circles. It is worth noting that most of the Guixiu in the Qing Dynasty were wives and most of their writings were about their husbands. After a careful review, the author found that there were especially many records of chanting and exchanging poems between talent couples in the Qing Dynasty. Their writings also demonstrated how the husband and wife reached consensus and helped each other in order to maintain the family’s operation, which was a manifestation of “companionate marriages (友愛婚姻)”.
This research will first list out the changhe works and husband-wife co-authorship created by couples in the Qing Dynasty recorded in A catalogue of women’s publications throughout Chinese history. Based on individual works, we will further show how the two genders in the Qing Dynasty communicated with each other via writing, encouraged and supported the other, and meanwhile, how the Guixiu interpreted their husbands’ gender roles such as the core issues of male responsibility and honor from the perspective of being wives. Through the investigation of the writings created by talent couples in the Qing Dynasty, this study explores the interaction and division of labor between the two genders in traditional society, examining the culture of talented women in the Qing Dynasty and the different positions and voices they held towards the behavior of men in ancient China. It is expected to make supplementation and contribution to the study of ancient women’s writings, the phenomenon of changhe and husband-wife co-authorship, the gender study of the Qing Dynasty, couple and gender relationships, and the expectations of roles of male genders. [Go to the full record in the library's catalogue]
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