중국 문학에 나타난 두 종류의 여성 형상

Two Images of Women Appeared in Chinese Literature -Centering on official literature(관방문학) and folk literature(민간문학)-

The general image of a traditional Chinese woman we have in mind is an altruistic one who is obedient and faithful to her family, Such an image was consolidated further as Confucianism emerged as a dominant idea. Under the dominant ideology of Confucianism, people emphasized and created the image of an obedient woman that was required by the generation, assuming that, when a woman played her role sincerely at her house, the country would be preserved. In this research, we compared the traditional images of Chinese women appeared in three types of literature, to find whether the image of a woman mentioned above reflected the traditional images of women precisely. What we examined are; firstly the image of goddesses in Chinese myths, which were created in ancient times when Confucianism had not prevailed yet and the society was not male-dominant; secondly, the image of women in female biographies of authentic chronicles since Han Dynasty when male-dominant society had launched already and Confucianism began to settle; and thirdly, the image of women in yuefus, which are folk ballads developed greatly in Han Dynasty. We compared the images, which we examined, with each other, and verified whether the image of women praised in the authentic chronicles had been the general image of women in that age, and if not, what kind of women had existed. Contrary to the great women with strong divine power and divinity appeared in the myths during the age of matriarch, the women in the biographies of authentic chronicles during the age of patriarch lost independent right and personality as a person and sacrificed themselves submitting to systems or laws. On the other hand, the women shown in folk ballads rejected blind obedience and protected their personality and dignity at any cost, standing against social norms, systems and laws that emphasized endless sacrifice. In conclusion, we infer that the image of a traditional woman in ancient China was what the society created. There must be more women who resisted the irrationality and chose independent life. We can find through the folk ballads of ancient China that large number of women lived a life in that way and that people praised women of the image.