Female Education

Chapter 4 Female Education

4.1 Female Education in Qing China up to the 1860s

Debates on female education in ancient China have largely focused on socio- political ideologies related to female education, female writing, and biog- raphies of some famous, talented women.1 From the literature it would ap- pear that, in general, motives for females to seek education seem not to have changed much over time: girls mostly followed education for a variety of family-related reasons, such as providing early education for their sons, sup- porting their husbands (as the Chinese saying goes, “a good wife steers her husband clear of disaster”2), developing high moral standards, maintaining good relations with their in-laws, and improving their household skills. It was for these reasons that, among elite households, educated women were preferred as marriage partners. Generally speaking, for the majority of households, if it were financially possible, girls would be given the opportunity to study. The situation of female education is well described in the Qingsu Jiwen (清俗纪闻, A record of Qing dynasty customs), a book written around 1800 by the Japanese official Akagawa Tadateru (中川忠英). In this book, he discusses the customs and social situation in several of the richer provinces of China, for example Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian. He writes that affluent families would employ a private tutor to teach their daughters – starting from 7–8 years on – to read, write and compose poetry.3 Once engaged to be married, a girl’s education would shift to cover topics such as family responsibilities and ethics, practical aspects of housekeeping, and etiquette.4 Furthermore, in these richer provinces, because of the importance of commercial activities, a woman’s ca- pacity for reading, writing and arithmetic could also contribute to the family business. Owing to the clear benefits of female education, some families that might not have been rich enough to pay for a private tutor nevertheless sent their daughters – together with their sons – to Sishu for an elementary education.5

1 See Zurndorfer, “Women in Chinese learned culture,” pp. 23–35. 2 The Chinese translation of “A good wife makes her husband far from disasters” is Qi Xian Fu Huo Shao (妻贤夫祸少). 3 Mann, “The education of daughters,” pp. 19–49. 4 Akagawa, Qingsu Jiwen; Shu, Zhongguo Jindai Jiaoyushi Ziliao. pp. 155, 340. 5 Wang, Wang Duanshu Zhuan. p. 5.

Through education, women were given the opportunity to learn to read and write but, as argued by Zurndorfer (2014), it also produced a “paradoxical ef- fect”. Being constrained by the notion of “womanly virtues”, females were sub- consciously indoctrinated with the value of being obedient. In Zurndorfer’s opinion, female access to education in Imperial China only further promoted the monopoly of males on intellectual authority.6 Although that may certainly have been the case in some elite households, it was not uncommon that, when a male who earned the money to support his family was unable to work due to disability or had died, educated women would either run the business by themselves or generate other income by selling their paintings or calligraphy, or serving as private teachers in wealthy households.7 Notwithstanding its importance, female education was, of course, initially restricted to mainly richer households. In the 1840s this changed somewhat with the set-up of girls’ missionary schools, pioneered by Ningbo Nüshu (宁波女塾) in 1844. These girls’ schools offered a good opportunity for girls from poor families to acquire an elementary education without charge. In addition to religious instruction and English, Chinese, arithmetic, geography, singing and some technical skills (e.g. sewing, spinning and weaving) were taught.8 Yet, the number and scale of these missionary schools was small and, some- times, due to lack of funding they were often forced to close. As a consequence of these restrictions, during the Qing dynasty the female literacy rate remained very low. Indeed, an unweighted average for Fuqing county (located in Fujian), Chongning county (located in Sichuan), Shuangliu county (located in Sichuan), Peng county (located in Sichuan) and Yugan county (located in Jiangxi) from around 1880 shows that about 30% of boys and only 1% of girls of school age actually attended Sishu. Even though numbers of children following home schooling were omitted from this figure, nonetheless it would have certainly covered most female education taking place. Not only enrolment rates, but also the duration of schooling differed between boys and girls. For example, in the rural Yugan county (Jiangxi province), around 1920, on average girls that attended Sishu stayed for 1.8 years, while boys attended for 2.4 years.9

6 Zurndorfer, “Women in Chinese learned culture,” pp. 23–35. 7 Wan, Qingdai Zhishi Nüxing. pp. 22–27. 8 Qiu, “Zhongguo Lishishang Diyisuo Nüxiao Ningbo Nüshu,” pp. 8–11. 9 Household registration books, Yugan county (located in Shangrao city, Jiangxi province), Fifth township, fourth district, ca. 1947 (江西上饶市余干县五都乡第四保户籍登记簿).