The Death Of Woman Wang Summary

“The Death of Woman Wang”, written by Chinese historian Jonathan Spence, is a book recounting the harsh realities facing citizens of Tancheng country, Shandong Province, Qing controlled China in the late 17th century. Using various primary sources, Spence describes some of the hardships and sorrow that the people of Tancheng faced. From natural disasters, poor leadership, banditry, and invasions, the citizens of Tancheng struggled to survive in a devastated and changing world around them. On its own, “Woman Wang” is an insightful snapshot of one of the worst-off counties in imperial Qing China, however when taking a step back and weaving in an understanding of long held Chinese traditions, there is a greater understanding what happened in

Tancheng to be found. Despite the somewhat misleading title, “Woman Wang” is not just about one woman, but goes into detail about several women in Tancheng province. Throughout the book, women are faced with surviving in a world where they were bound by the values of a very ancient traditional Confucian past, and the current reality in which those morals are making it difficult for them to adapt, survive, and thrive.
Throughout most of Chinese history, women were less important than men at best, and expected to be entirely subservient at worst. Going back over 3,000 years, late Shang officials would divine and make predictions using burnt bones and turtle shells. These divinations would range from predicting if it would rain, to identifying which dead ancestor was doing the ruler harm, to which real life enemy was about to attack (Oracle bone citation). However, the women in this period were always associated with child birth. For example, one divination reads, "On xinsi (day 18) divined: "(We) will pray for a child to Mother Geng and Mother Bing and offer a bull, a ram, and a white boar"” (Oracle bone citation). Interestingly, the early Chinese civilization was already developing the idea that women are good for their ability to bear children, and that womanly virtue is tied to being a good domestic partner. In one of the five classics, “The Odes” possibly dating from the 11th century BC, Mencius’ mother cites the rites of women as, "'She has no transgression and no authority to decide,/Wine and food are her only concerns'...Therefore, according to the rites,...when she marries she obeys her husband, and when her husband dies she obeys her son." (Exemplary women of early China).
Similarly, “Woman Wang” describes similar virtues held dear in Tancheng nearly 2,000 years later. Throughout the book, many hardships befall the county of Tancheng, and yet women are able to persevere with, “determination and strict moral purpose--and bring up one's children to be either worthy scholars or loyal wives in their turn." (Woman Wang, 59). There are several stories in “Woman Wang” that extoll the ideals of womanly devotion to the husband, especially after the husband had died. These stories point out that even in the husbands passing, the wife must maintain loyalty to him and his family. Most stories in “Woman Wang” are related to the woman maintaining her virtue in the face of hardship. One such story in “Woman Wang” describes the life of Hsi-Liu. She was smart, relaxed, did not speak ill of other people, enjoyed reading, and liked to learn about facial expressions (Woman Wang, 62). After years of denying suitors, she decided to maintain filial piety and listen to her parents about getting married. She married a local scholar, took care of his son, and had a son of her own in the years to come. She did her womanly duties in the home, as well as taking over the family business affairs (Woman Wang, 63). Her husband died, and she her sons were not so easy to control. They did not want to study, or do more respectable work, so she implemented a series of tough love measures for her two children who were putting the family in hardship. The townsfolk saw what she was doing to the children and shunned her.
Although around the time of the Liang dynasty, over 1,000 years prior to “Woman Wang”, the role of women had shifted away from strict adherence to Confucian ideals.

Yan Zhitui states that, "women take charge of family affairs, entering into lawsuits, straightening out disagreements, and paying calls to seek favor...the government offices are filled with their fancy silks." (Differences between north and south, 111). Yet, even in the Qing dynasty women were still restricted by and expected to uphold more traditional ideals, especially in the public eye. So, in the end, through her virtue, Hsi-Liu’s two children we able to become upright. Here, there is a split between what a woman is supposed to be according to old Chinese tradition, and the realities facing women in Tancheng. The loss of her husband, and economic hardship had forced His-Liu to behave in a different way, as if she were usurping the power from the eldest son so she could teach the two boys a lesson about being good family members. While she still maintains the ideals of bearing children, and being loyal to her husband, even after he dies, out of necessity she is forced to break from Confucian ideals of being only concerned with the domestic issues. This too put her at odds with the more traditional society around her, as the villagers pitied her sons, but vilified the Hsi-Liu for being so strict with them (Woman Wang, 65). Had she remarried, she would have been looked down upon even more because she would had broken her duty to remain faithful to her deceased

husband.
During the Tang dynasty, or the golden age of Chinese civilization, women enjoyed the most freedom in their lives than had ever been possible before. When the Tang dynasty was founded, the rulers sought to codify laws, even in family life and the rights of women. During this period, especially due to the rise of Empress Wu Zetian, the status of women and the degree that women were involved in politics was unrivaled before, or after until much later in Chinese history (Mosca, 4/12). However, neo-Confucianism had rose to prominence during the Song dynasty. Song China returned to Confucian ideals, because they believed that straying has led to greater suffering. For example, Sima Guang says, "Confucius said, 'The man of virtue talks about moral principles. Inferior men talk about profit.'" (New policies of An Wang Shi). A book describing what a perfect family should look like was written by the preeminent Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi, and therefore women begin to lose their rights. By the time of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China, there are stories such as Injustice to Dou E, where women that remarry are breaking their vows to dead husbands (Dou E, 16). In the book, Dou E says, "In the beginning your husband left you property, worried about you, gave you stew and gruel in all seasons, and bound you round and round. All he ever hoped was that widow and orphan, without needing to rely or depend on others--Mother and child--would reach old age!" (Dou E, 16). After the overthrow of the Yuan by the Ming, women were still constricted by Confucianism, however concubines became very popular in society (Cambridge, 203.) Concubinage was so popular in fact, that "Even if a customer has the stamina to keep looking for four or five days (for a concubine), he cannot finish visiting all the houses” (Commercial activities, 16).
The women of Tancheng under the Qing are boxed in by centuries of political upheaval, shifting ideological beliefs surrounding women’s rights, and how women are to behave. In “Woman Wang”, Tsui-hsien was betrothed against her will to a dishonorable and poor man. Her husband got the idea to sell his wife into concubinage, so he could continue to gamble and drink. (Woman Wang, 12). Married to a man she did not want, she must pretend to be loyal to maintain her honor. Perhaps even more tragic a fate is that of Woman Wang herself. She was married to a poor man, lived and did not get along with her father-in-law, and she ran away from it all with another man. Since women were lesser under Confucian ideals, she could not leave her husband of her own accord unless he had severely abused her (Woman Wang, 120). After committing the crime of running away, and due to constant disaster, the two runaways had nowhere to go where they would not be watched by the government, who would beat them severely, or attacked by bandits. Even worse, the couple could be caught by the husband, Kao, and killed in a fit of rage. Even in the final imperial dynasty in Chinese history, women still did not have equal rights with men. Eventually, her lover had left her, and she ended up back at Kao’s house, where he strangled her to death. Kao was found guilty of committing the murder, but he was not punished because he needed to take care of his father, and Wang had not behaved as a proper wife. In the end, the government cared more about appeasing her ghost than avenging her murder, which is a poignant way to end the book. The Qing government cares more about protecting their land than giving women equal rights under the law. Ensuring a smooth government takes precedent over the rights of a woman, even up to the early 20th century when the Qing fell in 1912.
After the fall of the Qing due to various reasons, to include peasant unrest, China went through a period of war that would shape the modern Chinese state, especially once the communist party under Mao Zedong took over. Mao himself looked at historical injustices and exploitations wrought by Confucianism, such as the stories in “Woman Wang” and he would mobilize peasants to root out these injustices. Mao points out that, "As to women, apart from being dominated by the three systems mentioned above (the state, patriarchy, gods), they are further dominated by men” (Mao 410). Mao would make equal rights for women in his government one of the key parts of his communist revolutionary platform.
Throughout Chinese history, women had been relegated to the sidelines. Their importance was dictated by men, their virtues were dictated by men, and the society surrounding women was set up to keep women in their place. Even when faced with extreme circumstances, women were still expected to maintain their virtue within the Confucian and governmental systems. This, as in the case of the women in “Woman Wang”, shows that strict adherence to traditional law in the face of adversity often leads women to tragic endings.