Women throughout Chinese history have experienced the oppression their tradition and culture exert as well as the power only members of their sex can attain in their chosen domains. Although readers have been exposed to historical anecdotes relating foot binding and Man's superiority to women, there are also many stories relating their freedom and tenacity, whether they are wives, concubines, courtesans or prostitutes. The history of Chinese women is not necessarily limited to persecution and being dominated, it is also peppered with inspirational stories of women who have been able to find happiness, success and fulfillment within the parameters Chinese tradition and culture dictate.

In Chinese society, the positions women maintained were very indistinct (http://www.wm.edu/CAS/anthropology/faculty/hamada/Virtual_Classromm/wwwb.../208.htm,1)."In Chinese society, women as a category had a dependent status." (Watson, 1991, 232). Before a girl married, she was controlled completely by her father. After she married, this responsibility was transferred to her husband. If...
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