BAN ZHAO AND THE QUESTION OF FEMALE PHILOSOPHY IN CHINA

This article begins with an introduction to the general problems of women and philosophy and shows that female philosophical theorists worldwide still stand in the shadow of their male colleagues, regardless of where they live, their theoretical potential and the value of their research. Then, the article focuses upon the situation in China. The author considers and analyses some systemic problems related to the position and significance of women philosophers in the history of Chinese philosophy. The study challenges traditional views of this problem and argues that in this context we have to differentiate between classical discourses and later ideologies that openly promoted the inferior position of women in society. Through an analysis of the works of Ban Zhao (45 – 117 BCE), the first influential female thinker in Chinese intellectual history, the author also aims to expose the contradiction between dominant patriarchal conventions on the one hand and latent, often hidden criticism of gender relations in women’s writing in traditional China, on the other.