Abstract:The Book of Rites was written between the Warring States Period and the Qin and the Han Dynasty. Although it was meant to explain ancient etiquette in the pre-Qin era, its views of women were very different from those expressed through rituals in the pre-Qin era partly due to changes in social structure and ideas. Such differences occurred, especially in the interpretation of the significance of weddings, and the interpretation of the "Three Subordinations". In the case of the former, the following expressions were suggested as leading wedding themes: "the Yin echoes while the Yang sings"; "the male leads while the female follows"; "the wife preserves chastity even after her husband passes away", and "the wife maintains her devotion to her husband till she dies". In the case of the latter, the "Three Subordinations", which emphasized women's subordination to her husband's rule and were embraced by Confucius followers who gained dominating influence in the Han Dynasty, were seen as the guiding principles of the design of costumes for women to wear in mourning rituals. These differences of interpretation reflected the increase of husband's power from the Warring States Period to the Qin and the Han Dynasty.
焦杰,耿冠静. 从《礼记》看战国以后夫权的强化[J]. 妇女研究论丛, 2011, 0(4): 59-64.
JIAO Jie, GENG Guan-jing. View the Increase of the Husband's Power after the Warring States Period from the Book of Rites. , 2011, 0(4): 59-64.