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Nü sishu 女四書

Mar 4, 2011 © Ulrich Theobald

Nü sishu 女四書 "Four books for girls" is a collection of four writings especially compiled for elementary learning of girls. The title is derived from the Four Books (sishu 四書) of the Confucian Canon which had to be studies by young boys. The main content of the "female parallels" is the social position of women, which is subordinated to that of men.

The four books for girls are the Nüjie 女誡 by the Han-period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) female writer Ban Zhao 班昭 (c. 45-c. 117 CE), the Nü lunyu 女論語 by the Tang-period 唐 (618-907) sisters Song Ruoxin 宋若莘 (d. 820?) and Song Ruozhao 宋若昭 (761-828), the Nüxun 女訓 by Empress Xu 徐后 (Empress Renxiao 仁孝皇后, 1362-1407), and the Nüfan jielu 女範捷錄 by Ms. Liu 劉氏, both from the Ming period 明 (1368-1644).

The four books for girls are also known as Guige sishu jizhu 閨閣四書集注 "Collected commentaries to the four books of the boudoir" and were printed and published in this edition in 1624 by Wang Xiang 王相.

Table 1. The series Nü sishu 女四書
(Ming) 王相 Wang Xiang (comp.)
According to the 1880 edition by Li Guangming zhuang 李光明莊; 1887 edition by Shanghai Jiangzuo Shulin 上海江左書林
書名, length in juan Title Author(s)
女誡 一卷 Nüjie (Han) 班昭 Ban Zhao
女論語 一卷 Nü lunyu (Tang) 宋若莘 Song Ruoxin, 宋若昭 Song Ruozhao
女訓 (內訓) 一卷 Nüxun (Neixun) (Ming) 徐后 Empress Xu (仁孝皇后 Empress Renxiao)
女範捷錄 一卷 Nüfan jielu (Ming) 劉氏 Ms. Liu
Sources:
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