Suicide in the Lives of Women in China, 17 -21 Century a Thesis Submitted

University of Nevada, Reno Sanctioned Self-Immolation: Suicide in the lives of women in China, 17th-21st Century A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History by Tiffani L. Thomas Dr. Hugh Shapiro/Thesis Advisor December, 2012 THE GRADUATE SCHOOL We recommend that the thesis prepared under our supervision by TIFFANI L. THOMAS entitled Sanctioned Self-Immolation: Suicide in the lives of women in China, 17th- 21st century be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Hugh Shapiro, Ph.D., Advisor Greta De Jong, Ph.D., Committee Member Deborah Boehm, Ph.D., Committee Member Martha Hildreth, Ph.D., Graduate School Representative Marsha H. Read, Ph. D., Dean, Graduate School December, 2012 i Abstract Women in China have not always been constrained by Confucianism; women were once able to participate in social and political spheres that were later dominated by men during the Neo-Confucian period beginning during the Song dynasty. Women found themselves in newly controlled roles that left them with limited agency, mobility, or influence. Coinciding with the rise of Neo-Confucianism, female suicide became an avenue for women to gain honor and agency in a world very much organized by men. Once heralded by the Chinese Imperial state as prime examples of higher Confucian ideals, female suicides are now deemed an indicator of China’s deeply rooted social problems. While the problem of female suicide remains, the way in which it is viewed by Chinese society has shifted. Much like a large population was once perceived to be beneficial to the Chinese state and now is seen as encumbering and disastrous, so too is female suicide. To understand the continued persistence of female suicide within Chinese culture we must take into consideration the immense gender inequality that was promulgated through tradition and further instilled through contemporary social, political, and economic gender inequity. Through the ultimate form of self-harm, women have attempted to right societal wrongs, save themselves from public scrutiny, ensure vindication, demonstrate chastity, mourn a husband, resist tyrants, or simply exercise individual agency within a highly regulated society. While their reasons have been varied, women turning to suicide primarily stems from their controlled, second-class status within traditional Chinese society. The large majority of research done on female suicide in China has been focused primarily on a particular topic such as the faithful maiden cult, chaste widows, or suicide in literature. This paper attempts to combine these different avenues of research to demonstrate the ii depth and breadth of female suicide within both the historical record and memory of China. This paper discusses female suicide in China through the multiple lenses of Confucian morals, Neo- Confucian ideals, and Western theories of suicide developed by French sociologist Emile Durkheim. In addition, an attempt to lend an interdisciplinary approach lends a nuanced argument to the continued phenomena of female suicide in China. 1 The Traditional Role of Women in China When a son is born Let him sleep in the bed, Clothe him in fine robes, And give him a jade scepter to play with. How loudly his cry is And in red greaves shall he flare. May he be the head of the house And the lord of the land. When a daughter is born Let her sleep on the ground, Wrap her in common clothes, And give her a loom-whorl to play with. May she have no faults and violate no rules, Care about only food and wine, And bring no disgrace to her parents. Book of Songs, 7th Century BCE1 Within Chinese culture, women’s lives have traditionally been tightly regulated, structured, and controlled. A highly moralized code of conduct set forth through Confucian ideals is inextricably intertwined with Chinese culture. Paramount within Confucian thought is a structured set of relationship guidelines where filial piety is greatly emphasized. Children must be respectful to their parents, subjects reverent to their emperor, and wives duty-bound to their husbands. In all of these relationship dynamics, the woman is subservient. Confucianism presents the family as a set of connections among men; therefore, women can only transition through life going from one position of filial subservience to another; first with her father, then with her husband and finally with her son. It is only nearing her twilight years that a woman may hold any 1 Barnstone and Ping 2005 2 influence in her own life with even that contingent upon her giving birth to sons and becoming the tyrannical mother-in-law, similar to the one who had tortured her as a young bride. These traditional Confucian roles leave a Chinese woman with little to no power over her own life, actions, decisions, or body.2 Confucian ideals, which allowed men extensive social mobility through education in the classics, effectively limited women’s potential for self-cultivation to marriage, chastity , and obedience. When a young girl was born, she was taught that only her betrothal to a good family would be able to bring honor to her family. She learned to exist within her sequestered world, spending her day within the confines of the house and away from the prying eyes of males outside her family and those with the potential to tarnish her name or call into question her virtue and chastity. Exemplary women— marriageable women--were those who existed outside of the public eye, and were immune to the wagging tongues of the community. With a society situated in patrilocal terms, China has historically placed great emphasis on the birth of sons. The ideal household was typified by multiple generations living under one roof, forming a familial compound of sorts. Sons grew the family line, while daughters were only within their natal family until the time when they are married off. Therefore, daughters were less beneficial for the family because they were perceived as just another mouth to feed—they subtracted from the family, they did not add to it. On the other hand, sons retained the family name, continued the lineage and brought honor to the family. Male children therefore, represented potential ties to outside families, outside wealth, and outside opportunity. Arthur Wolf states that in late imperial China, 2 Ebrey 1993 3 “marriage was early and nearly universal for females.”3 It was a time when women went from being the property of their fathers to becoming a possession of their husband’s household and thusly under the control and supervision of her new mother-in-law. Arguably only through childbirth was a woman allowed any level of authority within the household. Only after having completed her Confucian role as the dutiful wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law by successfully bringing a healthy child into the world- was she awarded any position within the household. While this freshly acquired rank allowed the new mother privilege over peers, it was even more important due to its ability to limit the amount of authority the mother-in-law held over the woman, her husband and the household. By bringing a male child into the household a woman now had a pretense of a voice, and therefore a small, limited stake within society. Thus, women have been pawns in the chess game of life. They have been bargaining tools for social mobility, breeding instruments, cheap labor, and sexual objects. Women within Chinese Society Women from earlier dynasties, especially the Tang (618-907 C.E.) dynasty, were able to participate within traditional male spheres. Women had access to education and enjoyed the typical male pursuits of horseback riding and poetry. In addition, women were players within the political arena, most notably Empress Wu, who founded the Zhou dynasty (690-705 C.E). With the reemergence of Confucian ideals starting around the Song dynasty (960-1276 C.E), women found themselves increasingly constrained within 3 Wolf and Huang 1980, 134 4 a strict patriarchal society; they found themselves bereft of social, political or familial power.4 Traditionally, women have been socially marginalized and physically isolated within Chinese society. As far back as the Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 210 C.E.), the separation of the sexes has been an integral aspect of classical Chinese thought. The physical separation of male and female was deemed imperative to maintaining order within the universe as well as amongst human relationships.5 These gender specific spheres were almost always mutually exclusive. The homosocial groups allowed for the protection and continuation of gender specific norms and virtues. In addition, historians have argued that both genders often “asserted the significance of the inner-outer distinction as a mental boundary even when its social and spatial realization was problematic.”6 The physical separation of the sexes, coupled with supposed cultural gender differences were significant in the preservation of Confucian ideals and the positioning of the elite within traditional Chinese society. Women were confined to the stifling inner quarters of the family compound not only intellectually but also physically through customary practices such as foot-binding. With this extremely limited role within society, and a woman’s body and identity intimately tied to marriage, sex, and reproduction, it is no wonder that mothers began to disfigure their own daughters to ensure their successful marriageability. The practice of foot-binding not only further sexualized the female body by molding it to conform to male notions of attractiveness; it also limited the mobility of women to traverse outside their isolated female spheres. Footbinding also served as a very poignant reminder to 4 Tian 1988 5 Hinsch 2003 6 Theiss 2004, 158 5 women that their bodies were not their own; their supposed agency was only an extension of male desire.

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