Siyuan Wang CHIN 315 10/28/08 The Change in the Perception of Women in China from Ancient Times to Today For 2000 years, women in ancient china have lived under the influence of the Confucius doctrine. Confucius is considered as one of the premier philosophers in ancient china and was viewed with great respect. Confucius doctrine said women were not equal to men because women were unworthy and incapable of a literary education. Confucius is a very masculine author and states very little about women, showing his view of feminism. The author of the prestige doctrine that set social standards in China for two thousand years barely mentions women showing no respect towards female opinions. This was probably because most people at that time accepted this and believed that it was almost as if the role of women was meant to serve men(Andrea and Overfield). The role of women in China has changed dramatically, from one of servitude and repression in ancient China, to one of revolutionary action and symbolism and finally to one of equality in modern China. From birth, women were often despised and unwanted by their fathers. The birth of a girl has many rituals and every one of them shows the low status of a female. In ancient china, it was a custom that 3 days after a birth of a girl, they must be placed under the bed and given a piece of pottery. The display of a girl under the bed is symbolizing that a women is weak and low and a second rate person behind the man. The shard of pottery symbolizes the practice of labor and productivity; a duty to continue the chores of the home(womeninworldhistory.com). People in ancient china believed that a son is useful in helping around the house, carrying on the family business, and most importantly carrying on the family name. A daughter would mean an extra mouth to feed and useless baggage that needed to be married off. Women were actually considered a man’s private property as Heng states “ Chinese women were in a position of...