For centuries, China had been influenced by only one philosophical system, Confucianism. Confucianism is a philosophy based on the teachings of Kong Fuzi (551-479 B.C.E.), or Confucius, that emphasizes order, the role of the gentleman, obligation to society, and reciprocity (Bentley G-3). Under traditional Confucianism, women were treated as inferior beings compared to their male counterparts. Although, as time passed, information travelled throughout the world and outside teachings began to incorporate it's way into China. "After the fall of the Han, however, the Confucian tradition suffered a loss of credibility" (Bentley 294). .
With Confucianism losing it's full credibility, Daoism and Buddhism were beginning to surface China's society. The Song Dynasty allowed China to free itself from traditional Confucianism and gave rise to Neo-Confucianism. Neo-Confucianism being a philosophy that attempted to merge the basic elements of Confucian and Buddhist thoughts (Bentley G-6). So, as China progressed out of traditional Confucianism, how did the role of women in society change? The new philosophy of Neo-Confucianism gave women a chance to gain intellect and independence from the male dominated Chinese society.
Under the Han Dynasty, there was a revival of the Confucian classics, which included three personal qualities: ren, li, and xiao. In traditional Confucianism xiao, meaning filial piety, was a major key point (Smarr 06 February 2013). There are several relationships to consider under ciao: child to parent, wife to husband, emperor to subject, and younger sibling to older sibling (Smarr 06 February 2013). Each relationship was different, meaning that not each relationship was treated in the exact same way. For men, respect was most important in the relationship of child to parent. For women, respect was expected in all her relationships, first to her father, then her husband, and then her son.
