When it comes to talented women in history, many people may think of Li Qingzhao of the Song Dynasty, or Shangguan Wan'er of the Tang Dynasty. However, in the earlier Han Dynasty, there was also a talented woman who could not lose Li Qingzhao in learning and did not lose to Shangguan Wan'er in governing the country, Ban Zhao.
In ancient times, even in the Han Dynasty, where the idea of favoring sons over daughters was not so serious, it was very difficult for women to become talents. Ban Zhao, on the other hand, benefited from being born into a Confucian family.
Her father was a well-known Confucian scholar at that time. Therefore, Ban Zhao has been very interested in reading and literacy since childhood. In the end, Ban Zhao also learned a literary style, a wide range of knowledge, and outstanding talent, even men were impressed.
Because the reputation of the Ban family for being rich and talented was very prominent, Ban Zhao was often summoned to the palace to teach the female relatives in the palace to read the history of the scriptures. The empress concubines in the palace also honored Ban Zhao as a teacher.
What really made Ban Zhaoqingshi famous was her participation in the compilation of the Book of Han. The Book of Han is the first book in China, a chronicle of history. Since Ban Zhao's father, he has been writing it. After ban zhao's father's death, it was continued by his brother Bangu.
However, when the Book of Han was about to be compiled, Ban Gu was implicated in the Dou Xian case and finally died in prison. In order to complete the lifelong efforts of his father and brother, Ban Zhao had no choice but to continue the writing work alone. Fortunately, Ban Zhao often helped his brother to compile the Book of Han before, and then with the approval of The Han and Emperor, he could read the royal classics for reference. Finally, when Ban Zhao was forty years old, he finally completed the compilation of the Book of Han and won unanimous praise from scholars at that time.
In addition, Ban Zhao also wrote sixteen literary masterpieces such as "Eastern Crusade Fu", which also had a great influence on later generations.
In addition to his literary achievements, Ban Zhao also had a very bright performance in politics. Because he was often in the palace, he taught the history of female relatives and was deeply respected by everyone in the harem. During Empress Deng's reign, she allowed Ban Zhao to participate in political affairs. Ban Zhao was very diligent in handling political affairs, and was deeply appreciated by Empress Deng, so ban Zhao's son was named the Marquis of Guannei.
Logically, such a talented woman should naturally be left in the history of Youth. However, compared with other talented women, Ban Zhao was rarely mentioned, and even if he mentioned her, he was constantly scolding. Why did Ban Zhao cause such a great controversy in later generations?
Naturally, she wrote a book called The Ring. The book advocates "three from four virtues" and emphasizes "male superiority and female inferiority", especially after the Song Dynasty, it is enshrined as a classic. Since then, the minds of Chinese women have been imprisoned for a thousand years, and the status of women has become increasingly inferior. But as a woman, why did Ban Zhao write such a book that demeaned women?
It turned out that when Ban Zhao wrote this book, he was already in his twilight years and was seriously ill. At that time, many women of the right age in the family had reached the age of marriage. Ban Zhao was worried that after they married into the man's family, they would not understand the etiquette, which would make the two families lose face. Therefore, she specially wrote the book "Female Ring" for the sake of the younger generations of the family. This is an encouragement to them, in the hope that it will help them.
This was a small matter of Ban Zhao's own family, but after the Han Dynasty great Ru Ma Rong saw this book, he praised the ideas in the book and vigorously promoted it. During the Han Dynasty, the idea of favoring sons over daughters was not serious, and some people were not accustomed to the ideas advocated in the "Women's Ring". Ban Zhao's sister-in-law, Cao Fengsheng, wrote an article that vigorously refuted the views in the "Women's Ring".
However, after the Song Dynasty, the imperial court vigorously promoted Confucian culture. The "Female Ring" was also hyped up because it was enshrined as a classic by Confucianism. But this was not Ban Zhao's original intention, and the "Women's Ring" was just a tool used by those in power to better control the people. Just like the Confucian culture they admired, the heavens and the earth were just to consolidate their dominance.
Ban Zhao, as a talented woman of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was only misunderstood for a thousand years because she wrote the "Women's Ring" to encourage her own juniors. If she knew, the evaluation of her in the future generations would probably only be able to cry and laugh.