Women as a Category and Categories of Women: Gender and Hierarchy in the Chunqiu

Abstract

Abstract This study examines references to women in the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn), a non-narrative history covering 722 to 479 BCE, and written from the perspective of the ancient state of Lu. The Chunqiu records use form, including naming conventions, phrasing, and patterned inclusion of information, to display the relative rank of the individuals mentioned therein. Records related to marriage are of particular interest, as are death and funeral records. Writing about gender in hierarchical societies, anthropologist Sherry Ortner proposed that the status of women is “more similar” to that of men at the same hierarchical level than to that of women at other levels. This claim is largely borne out by the Chunqiu records, but analysis is complicated by several factors. First, certain features of the records indicate that women were regarded as categorically different from men. Furthermore, the Chunqiu draws a distinction between women who married in and those who married out, and between primary and secondary wives; thus categories of women do not correspond neatly to categories of men. Ultimately, the Chunqiu uses form to display an idealized hierarchy, conveying a system of roles and relationships that is simpler and more regular than the reality, and in which individuals or situations that deviated from the ideals of that system tended to be distorted or hidden from view.