Women in Chinese Philosophy: Yin-Yang Theory in Feminism Constructing
The traditional way of thinking about women in ancient Chinese philosophy was grounded on the concepts of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are the basic principles of the being, the interrelation and interaction between which provide the original force for the emergence of all beings in the world. In the...
| Published in: | Cultural and religious studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
David Publishing Company
2018
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| In: |
Cultural and religious studies
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| Further subjects: | B
Women
B Function B China B Yin-yang |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The traditional way of thinking about women in ancient Chinese philosophy was grounded on the concepts of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are the basic principles of the being, the interrelation and interaction between which provide the original force for the emergence of all beings in the world. In the traditional family construction, men as Yang master the affairs outside the family, and women as Yin master the affairs inside the family (男主外，女主内), which means that women normally had no voice in the social affairs. Her field was limited inside the family. Furthermore, according to Confucian doctrine "husband guides wife" (夫为妻纲), husband is the decision maker of a family, as a king in a state. The prejudice against woman has persisted to the present. This paper will show that within the Confucian tradition, the ontological principles of Yin and Yang have been abused to a certain degree, and women became the sacrifice of the interpretation with this prejudice. The author will argue in this paper, that the Yin-yang principle itself is very flexible. It contains much richer possibilities of interpretation than that had been interpreted in the Confucian tradition. The author’s argument is that if we recognized that each person is a complete Yin-Yang system, we would understand that every human being is a complete and independent person with both virtues of Yin and Yang. Yin is not a substance which restricts women, neither Yang to men. From this perspective, every woman has the potentiality to reach her universality and individuality. The author’s claim is that in building feminism with the resource of ancient Chinese thought, the concepts of Yin and Yang can be revived and given a new life if we think about them in a functional way. In this framework, Yin and Yang are correlative functions in social and family operation. The properties of Yin and Yang are determined only in each particular affair. People practicing functions are Yin or Yang in temporality. |
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| ISSN: | 2328-2177 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Cultural and religious studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.17265/2328-2177/2018.07.002 |