Comparison of Women's Roles in Han and T'ang Dynasties

After reading an excerpt from Ban Zhao's "Lessons for a Woman", written during the Han Dynasty, and an essay on the life of T'ang Empress Wu Zetian, students will discuss the changed roles of women between the Han and T'ang dynasties.

Lesson: "Think, Read, Pair, Share"
Age: Grades 7-12
Time: One class period (60 min. with homework prep OR 90 min. with in-class prep).
Author: Lesson: Shirley Huettig

1. Teacher Preparation:
   1. Read "Lessons for a Woman," including the biographical introduction of Ban Zhao, and "Culture & Art: A Woman of the T'ang Dynasty", which includes a lengthy introduction on the changing role of women in Chinese history. (Scroll to "Virtuous Empress" for story of Wu Zetian.)
   2. Lesson is enriched if students are familiar with emphasis on Confucianism in the Han dynasty (and Confucianism's treatment or view of women) as well as the burgeoning practice of Buddhism in the T'ang dynasty (and Buddhism's treatment or view of women).
   
   
2. Think: Homework or end of preceding class:
   
   Have class share ideas of women's roles in Chinese history. (If applicable: draw on their knowledge of Confucianism and/or Buddhism and their treatment of women. Likely answers include: foot-binding, female infanticide, concubines.


3. Read: In class or as homework
   1. Students read "Lessons for a Woman" and "Culture & Art: A Woman of the T'ang Dynasty". (alternative: have half the class read one article and half read the other).
      
   2. Recommendation: copy for students only the primary document from Ban Zhao and the essay section on Wu Zetian. Do not have students read introductory essays so their impressions are gained solely from the primary sources.
   3. Students can list or write in paragraph form elements of women's lives in each of the Han and T'ang dynasties based on the documents.
   
   
4. Pairs: (or groups of three) students compare impressions from their reading and discuss differences of opinion. Pairs can be arranged in three different ways depending on time available and ability of students.
   • Both students have read both articles
   • Both students have read one (and the same) article
   • Each student has read a different article
   
   
5. Share: Whole class discussion
   1. Discuss the differences and similarities between the advice given to women in the Han dynasty and the experience of Wu Zetian in the T'ang dynasty.
   2. Extension: Compare these lifestyles to women's experience in China today.
      1. Refer to the Law Sefeguarding [sic] Women's Rights and Interests of the People's Republic of China for the laws passed in 1992 to protect women and promote equal rights
      .
      2. Compare this to the many stories available on the web about abuses against women in China as well as the progress being made by Chinese women in marriage rights, government and the workplace.
      3. Possible discussion questions:
         1. 1. To what extent were our impressions of Chinese women in history accurate?
         2. How have women's lives in China seem to have improved since the Han or T'ang dynasty? In what ways do women seem to have less freedom now than in the past?
         3. What additional sources would be useful to gain a clearer picture of women's roles and rights in China both past and present? [This is a good question to examine the historiography of this lesson, in which the sources are limited and therefore could present a less-than-complete view of women in China]