Technology and Gender - Power Weaves in Late Imperial China

Author: Bai Fulan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: This is a unique work of material cultural history and a perspective-defining study of women's history. The book opposes the assessment of China's traditional technological achievements using Western "scientific" standards, which then leads to answers like "Why did China fail to modernize." Instead, it advocates viewing technology as a powerful material form that expresses and shapes Chinese culture and social forms. Adopting this perspective, it examines "women's technology" in traditional Chinese society from the Song to the Qing dynasties, analyzing from three aspects—family space and daily life, women's textile production, and women's reproduction and health care—how technology powerfully disseminated and shaped gender norms and women's roles in traditional Chinese culture. However, unlike the traditional understanding of women in traditional society, the author argues that women were not passive victims of patriarchy and male authority but active and powerful participants in the formation of traditional Chinese cultural norms and social order.