★ As global interest in women's history and gender issues surges, this book offers a profound, systematic, and crucial Eastern case study. Integrated with millennia of Chinese history, it provides an indispensable Asian perspective for understanding the diverse forms of gender power structures worldwide!

★ This work applies gender theory to the study of Chinese history, analyzing how marriage, rituals, education, and bodily concepts progressively constructed women's lives—from prehistoric matrilineal societies to the patriarchal systems of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It serves as an excellent bridge between academic research and general readership.

★ Through nuanced interpretation of unique cultural phenomena such as the ancient Chinese "Six Rites of Marriage," the Biographies of Exemplary Women (Lienü Zhuan), and female instruction texts, it reveals how gender norms were concretely constructed. This provides invaluable historical case studies and resources for reflection in contemporary global discussions on identity, power, and cultural traditions.

★ The author, Professor Jiao Jie, is a distinguished scholar in the field of Chinese women's history. Her focus on women's history, ancient cultural history, and social history, combined with her role as Vice President of the Shaanxi Provincial Research Association on Women, Marriage, and Family Theory, ensures both the academic rigor and contemporary relevance of this book.

This is an innovative scholarly work that combines modern social science theories with the rich historical material of China. It aims to break through traditional historical frameworks, using "gender" as the primary analytical tool to systematically examine the lives and changing status of women in ancient China from prehistoric times through the Qing Dynasty.

Comprising fourteen chapters, the book progresses with clear logic. The opening section (Chapters 1-3) establishes the theoretical framework, clearly explaining the distinction between "sex" and "gender," systematically introducing major schools of Western feminist thought and core gender theories, and focusing on the possibilities and methods for applying these theories to Chinese historical research, thereby laying a solid theoretical foundation for the entire work.

Subsequently, the book unfolds its in-depth analysis chronologically. Chapter 4 traces back to prehistoric societies, exploring the primordial opposition between the sexes and the characteristics of female status in matrilineal eras. Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the Xia, Shang, and Zhou periods, meticulously analyzing the evolution of early marriage systems (such as polygyny and the betrothal-present marriage) and their profound impact on women's status, offering unique interpretations of the symbolic meanings and cultural transformations of the "Six Rites of Marriage."

Chapters 7 through 9 and subsequent sections delve into core issues, investigating how traditional society shaped female images, bodily concepts, and moral standards through cultural construction. Topics include the formation of the "virtuous wife and good mother" stereotype, patriarchal aesthetic control over the female body, the evolution of women's images as reflected in the Biographies of Exemplary Women texts, and how women's instruction and education throughout history participated in constructing feminine virtue standards. The book also dedicates chapters to discussing the differentiated lives of women of various statuses (such as imperial consorts, female officials, commoners, maidservants, and concubines), revealing the complex and multifaceted nature of women's circumstances in ancient times.

Through this grand structure, the book successfully blends theoretical perspectives with historical evidence. It not only maps the multiple dimensions of ancient Chinese women's lives but also reveals the internal logic and historical dynamics of the traditional Chinese gender system, providing readers with an indispensable gendered dimension for understanding Chinese society and culture.

Jiao Jie

Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of History and Culture, Shaanxi Normal University; Executive Deputy Director of the Women's Studies Center; Vice President of the Shaanxi Provincial Research Association on Women, Marriage, and Family Theory. Her main research areas are women's history, ancient cultural history, and social history. She has a prolific academic record, having published several monographs on related topics, including A Study of Women's Images in the "Book of Changes," "Rituals," and "Book of Songs" from a Gender Perspective, Essays on Gender History, and Women and Religion in the Tang Dynasty, among others. She has also published over 70 papers in authoritative academic journals.

Chapter 1: Sex, Gender, and Sexual Difference
1.1 Feminist Puzzles Regarding Gender
　├─ Women's Status in Traditional Society (p3)
　└─ Sex and Gender (p7)
1.2 Modern Scientific Research on Sexual Difference
　├─ The Biological Perspective (p11)
　├─ The Cultural Anthropological Perspective (p13)
　└─ Historical & Psychological Perspectives (p15)

Chapter 2: Feminist Thought and Gender Studies
2.1 Major Schools of Feminist Thought
　├─ Liberal Feminism (p21)
　├─ Radical Feminism (p24)
　├─ Marxist & Socialist Feminism (p26)
　└─ Postmodern Feminism (p29)
2.2 Basic Theories of Gender Studies
　├─ The Emergence of "Gender" and "The Feminine Mystique" (p33)
　└─ The Proposal and Development of Sex/Gender System Theory (p36)

Chapter 3: The Application of Gender Theory in Historical Studies
3.1 The Development of Women's History in China and the West
　├─ From "Discovering Women" to "Women's/Gender History" (p45)
　├─ The Development and Trends of Women's History Research in Mainland China (p48)
　└─ The Proposal and Exploration of Localized Theory (p51)
3.2 Methods and Approaches in Chinese Women's History Research
　├─ Utilization of Historical Sources and Material Analysis (p54)
　└─ Theoretical Application and Research Methods (p58)

Chapter 4: Sexual Opposition and Conflict in Prehistoric Societies
4.1 Three Main Lines of Sexual Opposition
　├─ Opposition in Reproductive Worship (p63)
　├─ Opposition in Labor Division & Religious Beliefs (p66)
　└─ Opposition in Marriage Forms (p69)
4.2 Public Power and Female Status in the Matrilineal Era
　├─ Overview of Sexual Status in Matrilineal Clan Society (p72)
　├─ Female Participation in Public Power (p74)
　└─ The Influence of Public Power on Female Images (p76)
……