Question

. According to Ban Zhao, what three things should a woman learn as a baby (6 points)?

Answer 1

Ban Zhao was the first known female historian who lived between years 45 and 116. She was also a philosopher and politician.

She wrote Lessons for Women as a manual which included a set of principles that according to her should guide the behaviour of women. It regarded women as the humble sex, should be educated with the necessary skills to appropiately serve a husband, apart from receiving the rest of their educations equal to the one given to men. According to their wife roles, since they are children, women need to learn about four main pillar: wifely virtue, wifely speech, wifely appearance and wifely work.

When a girl is born three things are done: she is put below the bed (she is weak and should humble herself in front of others), she is given a potsherd (to practice labor as her main role in life if to be industrious) and she is offered to the ancestors so that she continues worshipping in the house.

Answer 2

Ban Zhao was considered a scholar and an exemplary widow, this is the reason she wrote “Nüjie” that translates as “lessons for women”. The purpose of it was to teach daughters the values of being a proper young woman.

The three things a woman needs to learn as a baby are connected to the things the ancients need to do after the birth of a girl:

1. They need to place the baby below the bed - the baby needs to learn that her primary duty is to humble herself before others.

2. The ancients will give her pieces of broken pottery for her to play with - this means the girl needs to practice labor and consider it her primary duty.

3. At last, the ancients will announce her birth before her ancestors - this means the girl needs to continue to observe the workship in the home.