Yin and Yang

Yin and Yang

There is no arguing that during the classical era men were viewed as superior to women.  Men controlled politics, property, and people.  Men were allowed to make decisions about their wives, sisters, and daughters as if they were objects.  Patriarchies were varied within each civilization but the roles of women were the same – to be subservient to their men.  I personally think men were nervous about giving power to women because they were afraid of the possibility that women might be able to outwit them.  This proved true during the collapse of a dynasty (in China) as men often blamed women for their influence in politics.  Instead, men left women with such tasks of housekeeping and child bearing.  It kept women in a safe place from having too much power. 

I feel embarrassed saying this but before reading the text, I was always under the impression that “Yin and Yang” complimented each other.  I thought it meant one could not exist without the other.  I didn’t realize that Yang was the masculine symbol that was related to Heaven and strength and that Yin was the feminine symbol related to the earth and weakness.  The idea that women must be “obedient” to their fathers, husbands, and sons is hard to imagine.  I can only imagine how a woman would feel after carrying a child in her womb to find out it was a girl and that she must place her baby on the floor to show she was weak.  Luckily, after the collapse of the Han dynasty in China, “Confucianism was discredited” according to the text.  Patriarchy certainly did not end after that in China, but roles were changed and the idea that men were superior slowly faded as women took on new roles in that society.