Lady Tan's Circle of Women

For most of the period stretching from the second millennium BCE to 1911 CE, the territories now known as China were ruled by a succession of kings and emperors. Fathers passed the throne to sons (with the exception of one woman, Wu Zetian, who ruled as Empress Regent from 690-705 CE). Reigns of related family members are referred to as dynasties. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women takes place during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE). The emperors ruling during the periods of Tan Yunxian’s life covered in the novel include the Chenghua Emperor (r. 1464-1487), the Hongzhi Emperor (r. 1487-1505), and the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505-1521). The Ming was one of the most stable dynastic periods, and one of the most centrally controlled. The capital was located in Beijing, where a palace complex known as the Forbidden City was built by the Yongle emperor.

Chinese social and political values were based on Confucianism, named for the teacher, philosopher, and political theorist known as Confucius (551-479 BCE). His students recorded his teachings in The Analects. Confucius emphasized education, self-reflection, moral authority, and discipline. He believed that social harmony rested on clear hierarchies, with the family unit the core and foundation. For women, the prevailing Confucian ideals were modesty—expressed in part as sexual chastity—and obedience. The Three Obediences (sometimes translated as “three followings”) bid a woman to subordinate her will to her father, her husband, and her son after being widowed. A wife’s most important roles were to manage the household and bear sons.

The Tang dynasty established the legislation on marriage that prevailed in the Ming period: A man could have only one wife, but he could purchase as many concubines as he could afford. Elite concubines were educated and cultured, selected for their physical appearance and trained in arts such as singing, music, calligraphy, and poetry composition as well as receiving instruction in sex acts. They were raised in group homes managed by a businesswoman who arranged the transactions with clients who paid for their company.

A wave of neo-Confucianism during the Song dynasty solidified the cultural belief that men represented the more active yang and women the submissive yin. This endorsed practices that kept women, especially elite women, from participating in public activities. Men inherited family property and business interests. Marriages, arranged by professional matchmakers, were designed to expand wealth and improve a family’s social station. Wives, like concubines, were considered the property of their husbands, for which men paid a price. Likewise, children were regarded as the property of their fathers and could be traded or sold as commodities. Characters like Miss Zhao and Poppy report being sold to women who ran brothels by families who struggled to support their children.

Foot-binding emerged in the 13th century as a practice among the upper classes. The process began around age five and it took several years to achieve the desired shape, which included bending the toes beneath the sole. The ideal was a foot no longer than three inches. The resulting small foot and high arch were believed to be attractive, while the limitations on a woman’s movements due to her feet shaped by binding were understood to indicate her delicacy, refinement, and grace. As it was impractical to bind the feet of women whose livelihoods would depend on their labor, having bound feet was a favored social distinction. Due to its power as a status symbol, the practice of footbinding continued until the end of the imperial era in 1912.