Description
For this discussion, we are examining Liu Xiang’s Biographies of Exemplary Women, which was written around the year 18 BCE. Liu Xiang (77-6 BCE) was an important scholar who lived during the Han Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, the government and its officials promoted Confucian moral education for both men and women. Liu wrote this book specifically for the moral education of women, and it is the earliest extant (yet existing) book devoted to this purpose. Liu believed that by gathering stories from earlier works about women who exemplified Confucian virtues in their lives, other women would be inspired to follow their example and therefore to cultivate these virtues.
Tasks:
First, choose three biographies from Liu Xiang’s Biographies of Exemplary Women.
Next, answer all of the following questions:
Why do you think the individuals whose biographies you chose were included as examples of exemplary women?
Liu Xiang placed these biographies in a category he called “The Principled and Righteous.” Why do you think Liu considered the individuals whose biographies you chose to be principled and righteous?
Do the biographies you chose illustrate Confucian values? If yes, how? If not, why not?
Expectations and Criteria for Success:
Your discussion post should answer all the questions above with specific examples and details from the assigned sources.
Posts should be a minimum of 250 words.
