Yin Yang and Religious Belief

• The Taoist "yin yang" symbol consists of the black, feminine "yin" and white, masculine "yang." The yin stands for passiveness, illustrating the Taoist belief that women play a passive role in society. The yin yang also symbolizes balance, however, meaning that men and women must act as complements, balancing one another equally to maintain order.
  
  Confucianism presents a much stricter picture of women in Chinese society. Confucius placed women at the low end of a patriarchal familial structure, and later teachings based in Confucianism, such as Ban Zhoa's "Lessons for Girls," further confirmed that status. The advent of Neo-Confucianism only imposed greater restrictions on women.
  
  

Historic Treatment

• During the Song Dynasty, 960-1279 CE, the already strong patriarchal structure of Chinese culture gained immense strength. This period introduced the practice of foot-binding, designed to limit female mobility. Women typically had little to no say about their marriage partner, and upon marriage, a woman left her home to live with her husband's family as a subordinate to her mother-in-law. A Chinese man only counted the number of sons when asked about the size of his family because the family name only survived through the birth of sons. Some families even sold unwanted daughters to wealthy families as chattel, or movable possessions.
  
  

Exceptions

• A few notable examples of strong women exist within the history of China. One of the most famous literary heroines in Chinese culture, Fa Mu Lan, first appeared in a poem during the Northern dynasties, 420-589 CE.
  
  Between 625-705 CE, Wu Zetian reigned as China's only female emperor. She promoted Buddhism, which took a less harsh stance toward women in society. The time of her rule even brought relative freedom for women, and she directly challenged Confucian beliefs about women by elevating her mother's relatives to political positions and by appointing scholars to write about famous women.
  
  

Contemporary Treatment: Not Quite Feminism

• Confucian principles, including those regarding gender, loosened their grip during the Maoist period, 1949-76 CE. The government emphasized similarities between men and women, even coining the term "iron girls" to describe strong women capable of performing labor-intensive work.
  
  As the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 took hold, though, controversy over class struggle overshadowed gender issues. Society maintained a patriarchal structure, and women found little to no equality in the professional realm. Women progressively moved into the workforce during the 1980s but had lower pay rates and higher rates of layoffs than men, and Chinese society also continued holding women responsible for maintaining their households. Additionally, China formally implemented the "one-child policy" in 1980, which reinforced the culture's favoritism toward sons, and rates of female infanticide increased as a result.