Sex, Gender, and Society in Imperial China

This course examines the changing nature of gender relations across China’s imperial period, from roughly 200 BCE to the early twentieth century. From early cosmological ideas about yin and yang, to the policies of the Qing dynasty in the late 19th century, we will see how gender relations intersected with philosophical ideals, political agendas, religious values, and economic developments. We will examine the kinds of choices that were available to men and women at various points in time, and explore the ways that they navigated those choices to construct meaningful lives.