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Courtesans, Concubines, and the Cult of Female Fidelity

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Title: Courtesans, Concubines, and the Cult of Female Fidelity
Description: This book traces changing gender relations in China from the tenth to fourteenth centuries by examining three critical categories of women: courtesans, concubines, and faithful wives. It shows how the intersection and mutual influence of these groups—and of male discourses about them—transformed ideas about family relations and the proper roles of men and women. Courtesan culture had a profound effect on Song social and family life, as entertainment skills became a defining feature of a new model of concubinage, and as entertainer-concubines increasingly became mothers of literati sons. Neo-Confucianism, the new moral learning of the Song, was significantly shaped by this entertainment culture and by the new markets—in women—that it created. Responding to a broad social consensus, Neo-Confucians called for enhanced recognition of concubine mothers in ritual and expressed increasing concern about wifely jealousy. The book also details the surprising origins of the Late Imperial cult of fidelity, showing that from inception, the drive to celebrate female loyalty was rooted in a complex amalgam of political, social, and moral agendas. By taking women—and men's relationships with women—seriously, this book makes a case for the centrality of gender relations in the social, political, and intellectual life of the Song and Yuan dynasties.
Authors: Beverely Bossler
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Wives--China--History--To 1500, Courtesans--China--History--To 1500, Concubinage--China--History--To 1500, Sex role--China--History--To 1500, Women--China--Social conditions, Man-woman relationships--China--History--To 1500
Categories: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
FullText Links:
  – Type: ebook-pdf
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  Availability: 0
Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 2661748
RelevancyScore: 1051
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 1050.81640625
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  Data: Courtesans, Concubines, and the Cult of Female Fidelity
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  Label: Description
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  Data: This book traces changing gender relations in China from the tenth to fourteenth centuries by examining three critical categories of women: courtesans, concubines, and faithful wives. It shows how the intersection and mutual influence of these groups—and of male discourses about them—transformed ideas about family relations and the proper roles of men and women. Courtesan culture had a profound effect on Song social and family life, as entertainment skills became a defining feature of a new model of concubinage, and as entertainer-concubines increasingly became mothers of literati sons. Neo-Confucianism, the new moral learning of the Song, was significantly shaped by this entertainment culture and by the new markets—in women—that it created. Responding to a broad social consensus, Neo-Confucians called for enhanced recognition of concubine mothers in ritual and expressed increasing concern about wifely jealousy. The book also details the surprising origins of the Late Imperial cult of fidelity, showing that from inception, the drive to celebrate female loyalty was rooted in a complex amalgam of political, social, and moral agendas. By taking women—and men's relationships with women—seriously, this book makes a case for the centrality of gender relations in the social, political, and intellectual life of the Song and Yuan dynasties.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Beverely+Bossler%22">Beverely Bossler</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Wives--China--History--To+1500%22">Wives--China--History--To 1500</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Courtesans--China--History--To+1500%22">Courtesans--China--History--To 1500</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Concubinage--China--History--To+1500%22">Concubinage--China--History--To 1500</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sex+role--China--History--To+1500%22">Sex role--China--History--To 1500</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Women--China--Social+conditions%22">Women--China--Social conditions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Man-woman+relationships--China--History--To+1500%22">Man-woman relationships--China--History--To 1500</searchLink>
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
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      – Code: 305.40951
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Wives--China--History--To 1500
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Courtesans--China--History--To 1500
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Concubinage--China--History--To 1500
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sex role--China--History--To 1500
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Women--China--Social conditions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Man-woman relationships--China--History--To 1500
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Courtesans, Concubines, and the Cult of Female Fidelity
        Type: main
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Beverely Bossler
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          Name:
            NameFull: Beverely Bossler
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2013
            – D: 21
              M: 08
              Type: profile
              Y: 2024
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780674066694
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9781684170678
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 00083
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Courtesans, Concubines, and the Cult of Female Fidelity
              Type: main
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