User:Corphine/sandbox/1/Yu Zhengxie

Yu Zhengxie (1775–1840) was a prominent Chinese scholar and philosopher of the mid-Qing period. He was one of the earliest male feminists who noted critic of foot binding, female infanticide, widow suicide, widow chastity and the double standard. He was also denoted as a skilled philologist and astrologist.

Names
Yu's original name was Yú Zhèngxiè in the pinyin romanisation system, which was pronounced as Yu Cheng-hsieh and written as Yü Cheng-hsieh in the older Wade–Giles system.

The family name is Yú, and the given name, Zhèng and Xiè, means Uprightness, Purity, Honesty and Harmonisation, Adjustment respectively.

The courtesy name of Yu was Li-chu.

Era
18th to 19th century (Qing Dynasty)(Daoguang and Jiaqing)

Feminism
Yu was one of the first Chinese intellectuals who showed unique sensitivity toward the plight women faced in a society of profound gender inequality. Yu sharply criticised traditional restrictions on females and championed a more egalitarian conjugal relationship. In his compiled work Gui si lei gao, the defense of women's rights reached its first culmination. His major thoughts were stated in four essays:
 * A Postscript to the Book on Costumes of the Old T'ang History
 * Jealousy Is Not a Woman's Evil Trait
 * On Chaste Widows
 * On Faithful Maidens

He opposed foot-binding and favoured abolishment of the custom. He questioned the double standard applied to women and men regarding marriage and morals, criticising the concubinage system and advocating humane treatment of widows.

By distinguishing du (妒), jealousy, from ji (嫉), malicious envy, Yu showed understanding and sympathy to women's feelings of insecurity in a society where taking concubines was considered male glory. He argued that it was just a natural emotion rather than a reflection of female character defects—a stereotype mindset for ancient Chinese people—and that it was polygamy that caused such dissonance. He also accused the ethical propriety of commendating chaste widowhood (shǒu guǎ) and chastity martyrs (liè nǚ), which was referred to as shameless masculine point of view to enslave women in his essay On Chaste Widows:

Yu as a prominent scholar raised a strong concern on women's issues of his time, and Lin Yutang entitled Yu as one of the three earliest Chinese feminists, along with Yuan Mei and Li Ruzhen. Yu's feminist thinking was denoted as "important and revolutionary conclusions" that "contain the seeds of true sexual equality and a system of monogamy in marriage", which was characterised by a tendency towards a tightening of conjugal morality for both men and women and "had been making highly significant contributions to Chinese culture for quite a long time".

Philology
A skilled philologist, Yu researched the history of language, which influenced his views on women. According to his interpretation, the Han historical texts supported an egalitarian view of marriage.

Influences

 * Lin Yü-T'ang, "Feminist Thought in Ancient China":
 * in
 * also in 1935 Confucius Nancy


 * also Cai Yuanpei and Kang Youwei

Publications
K'uei-ssu lei-kao K'uei-ssu ts'un-kao Gui si cun gao 癸巳存稿 also denoted as: KSTK Kuei-ssu ts'un-kao 癸巳類稿, by Yü Cheng-hsieh 俞正燮. 1833; reprint, Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1957. KSLK Kuei-ssu lei-kao, by Yü Cheng-hsieh 俞正燮. 1833; reprint, Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1957.

Gui si lei gao also denoted as: KSLK Kuei-ssu lei-kao 癸巳類稿, by Yü Cheng-hsieh 俞正燮. 1833; reprint, Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1957.

Biobliography

 * pp. 175-194
 * pp. 93-119
 * pp. 93-119
 * pp. 93-119
 * pp. 93-119
 * pp. 93-119
 * pp. 93-119
 * pp. 93-119