Women’s Work in Imperial China, Women Shaman, wu-po

Shamanism has a long, respected history in China. The word wu 巫 , interpreted as shaman, was first found inscribed on oracle bones dating from the Shang Dynasty (1554-1046 BCE).  A shaman is a spirit-intermediary or a spirit median. This term referred to either a male or female practitioner until by the late Zhou Dynasty (4th to 3rd centuries BCE) when it often meant women practitioners, not males (the latter were referred to as  xi 覡). A female shaman was also called wu-po 巫婆

During this early period shaman were valued, well-regarded, both females and males. However, by the Imperial Period there was a distinct change. Confucianism became the founding principal for the country’s rulers and the bureaucracy—based on meritocracy—needed to run the government. To become a government official, a man had to pass a series of examinations largely based on Confucianist texts. There was no place for spirit-intermediaries and their philosophies or rituals in this changed world view.

By the Ming Dynasty, the wu-po was much maligned by the state and considered a disreputable person. In many parts of the country being a granny-shaman was illegal. Nevertheless, throughout the country, especially in rural villages and towns, she was still needed by women without resources, for either their physical or psychological health.

Although considered charlatans by the government, the wu-po did not use their powers to become rich. They were typically very poor women themselves. To be a true wu-po the woman could not simply train under another shaman, she had to be called by a spirit. And she could not turn the spirit down. Once called, she had to capitulate. Another wu-po could guide her in her new journey as a shaman, but only after she’d been chosen by a spirit to be a median.

When sought out to solve a problem, the wu-po would seek her spirits’ advice or would exorcise evil spirits through a series of rituals. The rituals involved may involving beating a drum or cymbal and by dancing until the median goes into a trance and becomes a vessel for her particular spirit. If a woman’s illness was due to a malignant spirit, and an exorcism was needed, the median’s spirit could be called upon to force the evil spirit out.

So, it seems these women shaman lived between two worlds in Imperial China: despised by officialdom and condemned for their work and, at the same time, needed and respected by their women clients, who were often poor and underprivileged.

References:

*” Shamanism Theory and the Early Chinese Wu.” Thomas Michael. JSTOR Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Vol. 83, No.3 (Sept 2015), pp.649-696. Oxford University Press.

** “Wu (shaman)” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia April 16th 2024.

***Dangerous Women. Victoria Cass. 1999, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Boulder.

WOMEN’S WORK IN IMPERIAL CHINA, the physician granny

Undoubtedly the most well-known female doctor in China’s long history is Tan Yunxian (1461-1556) of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).  It’s not that there were no other noteworthy female doctors; it’s just that there are very few detailed records of their lives and their work. Lorraine Wilcox with Yue Lu opened up the window into her life and work by translating Tan Yunxian’s book, Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor, into English. Today there are many movies and stories written about Tan Yunxian.

TV drama, 50 Episodes. Directed by Li Guoli, Zheng Weiwen and Lu Zeliang. Tan Yunxian is played by Liu Shi Shi (AKA Cecelia Liu)

Although movies may make up parts to add excitement/tension to the story, because of this book, we have factual information about her and her family—she came from a medical family and was trained by her accomplished grandmother. Much of her medical prowess was based on well-established medical texts, but she also developed some of her own treatments. My character, Xiang-hua, in the A Ming Dynasty Mystery series (Deadly Relations, No Way to Die,and Justice Delayed, Justice Denied) is modeled on her life.

Because of China’s social conventions demanding varying degrees of separation between men and women—including male doctors and their female patients—female doctors were needed to treat women. A male doctor was limited in how much he could examine, touch, his female patient.  Usually, and only under appropriate circumstances, he could take her pulse to determine her illness and prescribe medicine. A female doctor could examine her patient more directly and more completely. She could also give a wider range of treatments, some involving touching the patient.

Of the other female doctors we know about, most are written about because they served in the imperial palace taking care of the emperor’s women. For example, in the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE), Yi Shuo (AKA Yi Xu) from Shan Xi province is known to have been a valuable and trusted female doctor because of her treating the empress dowager.*

Some were also noted because they worked with their husbands. Bao Gu of the Jin Dynasty (265-420 CE), who traveled with her highly acclaimed husband throughout Guangdong, was also so well-known and so famous, people called her the “Immortal Lady Bao.”

One female doctor, Wei Hua Cun (?252-334 AD) seems to be an exceptional case. She came from a literati family; her father was a court official. After marrying and having two children, she separated from her husband and apparently lived alone, practicing medicine for the rest of her life.

As important as female doctors were to their women patients, however, they were often roundly criticized by well-educated male doctors and other Confucianists as incompetent charlatans that should only have limited access to their families’ women. As with the other grannies, this distrust arose out of the lack of control men had over these relatively independent women. Nevertheless, in spite of this, female doctors were ultimately allowed into the homes because they were medical experts and served an important function—caring for sick women and children.

* NOTE: Information for this blog was taken from: Women Practitioners in Ancient China” bartleby.com; “Female Doctors in Ancient China,” Elena Santilli; A Flourishing Yin, Gender in China’s Medical History, 960-1665, Charlotte Furth; Dangerous Women, Victoria Cass.

To order books go to: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pa+de+voe&i=stripbooks&crid=20Q1ZL6QA6K16&sprefix=pa+de+voe%

WOMEN’S WORK IN IMPERIAL CHINA

Midwives–Grannies

While there was some variation over the centuries, Imperial China was largely a highly gendered, patriarchal society. The lives of men and women were kept separate as much as possible. While families and friends could get together now and then, by and large, mixing was discouraged. Including in the area of medicine.

This meant that such medical needs as childbirth, fell to other women. The latter specialists, midwives, took care of pregnant women and delivered their babies. However, they didn’t receive formal training and were often illiterate. They learned their skills through experience, through on-the-job training. Those who were successful in their deliveries were sought after; those who failed to save a baby or its mother, were not.

If there was a complication the midwife failed to handle successfully, she may even be considered bad luck to have in a delivery room in the future. So, being a midwife required her producing safe pregnancies. If she did this, she earned a good reputation and respect.

One way such practitioners were shown respect was by calling them Granny (po), Old Granny (lao po), Old Elder Sister (lao jie), Old Lady (lao niang), Old Mom (lao ma), and Old Auntie (lao sou).* The use of the word “Old” didn’t refer to their actual, chronical age but to their status. Traditionally, all older people deserved deference and esteem because of the wisdom they accumulated through a long life. Therefore, using the appellation Old was a way of honoring them, of showing them respect.

However, they were not always seen in a positive light. Because midwife grannies were able to travel about on their own and to go to any woman’s home—no matter what that patient’s family’s social position was—they were also considered dangerous. Dangerous to the family and to the over-all society.

This fear of the grannies’ power lay in their independence.  As unrestrained women they could infiltrate a family, learn its secrets, and cause disruption in the its order and harmony. The men of the family often saw these grannies as outsiders who had too much access to their patriarchal family’s women. And, therefore, it was risky to allow them to become intimates to the family’s women.

Thus, we see that granny midwives had an essential, yet complicated, position throughout Chinese history.

If you have any stories about granny midwives, I’d love to hear them.

*An excellent book on women in China is Dangerous Women, Warriors, Grannies and Geishas of the Ming by Victoria Cass, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Boulder. 1999.

** pictures from depositphotos.com

https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Relations-Ming-Dynasty-Mystery-ebook/dp/B079J9CPRW/

International Women’s Day, March 8th

The impetus for the establishment of International Women’s Day came from 1909 suffragist demonstrations in New York City. The first IWD was held in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland in 1911. The theme was women’s rights: to vote, hold public office, and against unfair employment practices. The United Nations officially recognized it in 1977 as a day for women’s rights and international peace. Today more than 2 dozen countries celebrate IWD as an official holiday—including China. Another eight countries or so, while not making it an official holiday, celebrate it nonetheless.

In 1994, Maxine Waters introduced a bill to make International Women’s Day a national holiday in the United States. However, Congress did not pass the bill. Therefore, this day of celebrating gender equality and women’s rights is not an official holiday in the US. (go to this link for more: https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/america-started-international-womens-day-so-why-don-t-we-celebrate-it-50b10ec7829e#:~:text.

China has been observing International Women’s Day for a long time. I’ve seen 2 different years mentioned: 19211 and 1949. The day is to encourage women to continue to work toward economic, social, and political achievements by highlighting women and organizations that are models for supporting women in China. It is a time to reflect on gender discrimination and stereotypes and how to change them.

As an official holiday, women enjoy a half-day off work to show the country’s appreciation for their contribution to society.

Interestingly, if you browse websites on China and the International Women’s Day, you’ll find a few that bemoan the fact that, while the day was originally designed to celebrate and encourage women’s drive toward equality, it is now becoming more and more of a shopping holiday. That reminds me of how so many people here in the U.S. bemoan Thanksgiving, which is a day for giving thanks and for being with family, having become such an important day (weekend) for holiday sales.

However, it looks like, as is to be expected, China is keeping to the original intent of the International Women’s Day—gender equality and justice—while at the same time, allowing for commercial spill-over.

An example is a short 2-minute video made by the cosmetic’s company Proya with China Women’s Daily called “Gender is not a borderline” staring the rapper Yu Zhen. The video was part of a campaign which included several media influencers who talk about the gender bias seen on social media. (see more at: https://daoinsights.com/news/proya-and-china-womens-daily-launch-viral-video-for-womens-day/)

This video is interesting because China Women’s Daily is a government-controlled media partnering with a commercial enterprise, Proya. China has been, and is still in many ways, a highly masculine-oriented culture. This orientation appears to be something the present government is encouraging. So, the video’s nod of the head toward questioning, examining, women’s equality is noteworthy.

At the same time, Proya, a business enterprise based on selling beauty products, is talking about women’s and men’s shared qualities as humans and not objectifying women and stressing their physical appearance (and, therefore, something they, as a cosmetic company could market off of). Of course, it has also been reported that Proya’s sales have gone up after this video came out.

As with our Thanksgiving, International Women’s Day in China (or anywhere) can bolster the economy through specialty sales and, at the same time, show homage and respect for those working for gender equality and to encourage the county to keep moving in that direction.

That is, the video may be considered a win-win as both a social message and as a commercial endeavor. However, to some, the video may be considered manipulative on the part of a cosmetic company. What do you think? I would be interested in your opinion.

Happy International Women’s Day!

1 https://daxueconsulting.com/history-behind-international-women-day-in-china/

*pictures from depositphotos.com

Chinese Lantern Festival 2024

The Chinese Lantern Festival (AKA Shangyuan Festival) is on the 15th day after Chinese New Year. This year that’s Saturday, February 24th. It marks the end of the new year celebrations. The lunar new year celebrations start with the beginning of the first new moon and end on the 15th –when it reaches its peak and is the first full moon. This is to highlight the beginning of a positive future, since it’s a time when winter abates and spring is on the horizon. Some consider this to be the most joyous of holidays.

Lanterns of different shapes and colors are hung in houses and out in the streets. Children and adults may walk the streets carrying lanterns. The lanterns may be round, square, of fish or other animal shapes. To make things even more fun, a lantern may have a riddle written on it and the person who guesses the riddle correctly gets a prize. The public festivities include parades with lion and dragon dances. The sound of fireworks can be heard everywhere.  

A favorite treat on this day are glutinous rice balls called yuanxiao or tangyuan. These round dumplings usually have a sweet black sesame, lotus paste, or red bean filling. Although any number of other fillings may be tried. Their round shape suggests something that is complete and whole and is used to symbolize a unified, strong family. Another popular food is an egg noodle known as the longevity noodle because of its length. Eating these noodles symbolizes enjoying a long life.

If you want to make lanterns there are several good DIY sites on the web. Making a lantern is also a good project to share with your child. Here are a few sites that will show you how to make fun, easy-to-do lanterns to celebrate this holiday.

DIY Lunar New Year lanterns:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rQ4ib7pSp4  A child demonstrates how to make lanterns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gA0zE_7j2k   Shows 1 simple lantern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeZKYGmuZn0   Extremely simple paper lantern.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSWcUKYrXyE   One level up from “Extremely simple paper lantern” above.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v12j1bQh9A   5 different ideas for lanterns.

photos are from depositphotos.com

https://www.amazon.com/Mei-hua-Trilogy-P-Voe-ebook/dp/B075SQ261G/

2024 The Year of the Wood Dragon

The Chinese lunar year is not only marked by one of the 12 animals found in the Chinese zodiac, but is also associated with one of the five elements or the five states of change: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each element influences the zodiac year in a unique way. This year, 2024, is the year of the wood dragon. Therefore, the characteristics attributed to the wood element are added to those of the dragon.

Let’s see what this means.

When you think of wood, think also of a tree, perhaps a large oak tree. The tree has roots going deep into the earth, giving it stability and strength. It also has branches, which are always growing up and out. So, the wood element suggests strength, change, abundance, expansion, curiosity, opportunity, and creativity. Combine those attributes with the dragon’s attributes of dynamism, authority, and strength and the Year of the Wood Dragon will be one of change, growth, prosperity and success.

To make your 2024 even more successful, wear green because the color heightens the Wood Dragon year’s positive qualities and good fortune.

*photo from depositphotos.com

Book 3 in the Mei-hua trilogy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019EQUV1S/

The Lunar New Year 2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon

While in Europe the dragon was seen as violent and dangerous, in China and in Eastern countries the dragon is much more nuanced.

The dragon is the only mythological figure in the Chinese Zodiac (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig). While it roams the skies—often depicted flying among the clouds—it is thought to live in rivers, lakes, and oceans.

As a rain god, it has authority over water in all its forms. It controls everything from storms, typhoons, floods, to the life-giving gentle spring rains. It is the rain which allows people to survive and thrive. And it is that life-giving rain which is associated with fertility and plenty.

Although not the only sign considered lucky in the Zodiac, it may be the most desirable, for there is usually a spike in the birth rate in the year of the dragon.* So why do so many new parents want their child to be born in this special year?

It’s because the dragon is associated with charisma, intelligence, power, strength, and—most importantly—success. These attributes are showered upon dragon-year newborns. What parent wouldn’t want that for their child?

*Note “’Baby dragons’ to rescue China? Beijing is counting on 2024 to fix its population woes – Here’s Why” WION https://www.wionews.com/world/baby-dragons-to-rescue-china-here-is-why-beijing-is-counting-on-2024-to-fix-its-population-woes-681243; and “The Dragon Code: Career Success Through Dragon Baby Insights” Forbes  https://www.forbes.com/sites/juliettehan/2024/02/05/cracking-the-dragon-code-career-success-through-dragon-baby-insights/?sh=6ee5848e4581

Picture from depositphotos.com

The Color RED in Chinese New Year

The color red is associated with fire—one of the five elements (metal, fire, water, wood and air). It is an auspicious color representing vitality, celebration, joy, luck, prosperity, and fertility. Who wouldn’t want their new year to start with such a positive and powerful color?

So, of course, it is the color most associated with celebrations, all celebrations. Its emphasis on prosperity includes fertility. Traditional Chinese weddings are fill with red—the bridge’s dress as well as the decorations.

Nevertheless, you do not want to write a congratulatory note using red ink for the couple’s names. Because, while red is a buoyant color, full of luck and prosperity for the future, it is not used to write people’s names. That’s considered rude and bad luck. There seems to be various possible reasons for this. There is the belief that the King of Hades had a book with everyone’s name in it—living and dead. And, he used red to mark through the names of people who were going to die. On earth, during the Imperial Period, convicted criminals who were to be executed also had their names highlighted in red. Plus, names on tombstones and ancestor tablets could be written in red. All of this association of red with dying made using red for names unlucky and inauspicious.

Except for being careful for using red with names, red is a wonderful, favorable, and auspicious color.  So, enjoy decorating with red and giving out red envelopes (with money inside for the recipient as a gift) this New Year holiday!

*photos from depositphotos.com

For an historical Chinese adventure/mystery read The Mei-hua Trilogy by P.A. De Voe

What is Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is a special festivity based on the lunar calendar not the solar calendar. It’s celebrated on the first moon of the lunisolar calendar and marks the beginning of spring. Therefore, Chinese New Year is sometimes also called the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival.

Although here in the US, we typicaly call it Chinese New Year, there are other Asian countries that celebrate this time of the year. Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia do, too. And, of course, it is a time of festivities across the globe—due to the widely spread Asian diaspora. While western nations celebrate the beginning of the solar New Year for one day, the lunar New Year is celebrated over the course of several days in Asia.

Typically, the Lunar New Year begins with the Spring Festival on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and goes through the Lantern Festival on the next full moon of the lunar month.  That means this year, 2024, people begin their festivities on February 10th and enjoy a holiday period through February 24th. This two-week period is especially important for family and friends to be together; people travel great distances to be home with their family and share in the New Year’s festivities.  

photo from Depositphotos