34 China in World History
She wrote many poems, helped her brother Ban Gu complete his Han
dynastic history, and wrote Precepts for My Daughters, the most famous
instruction booklet for women in all of Chinese culture.
Since most ethical and philosophical works were written for men,
Ban Zhao decided to write ethical instructions specifi cally for women.
She admonished women to exhibit three qualities or virtues: to act with
modesty, deference, and respect; to be diligent and hardworking; and to
serve their in-laws and carry out the ancestral sacrifi ces with reverence
and dignity. Thus she could assure a good reputation for herself and
her family. But, she concluded, “if you fail in any of these three things,
there will be no good name to be spread, and divorce and dishonor will
be unavoidable!”^6 Her advice was particularly relevant to elite members
of her own class, which included all the women of the court, where
intrigue and power struggles were very common. Ban Zhao knew the
sad fate of powerful empresses who tried to exercise power themselves
and ended up being killed along with their closest relatives. In this light,Extremely beautiful and pursued by many suitors after her husband’s death, the
Widow Gaoxing of the state of Liang responds to a marriage proposal by cutting
off her own nose, thereby discouraging all marriage proposals and preserving
her widow chastity. This ink rubbing was made from one of many wall carvings
depicting historical scenes and commemorating virtuous behavior in the ancestral
offering shrine for the Wu family erected in front of Wu Liang’s grave in 171
BCE.Feng Yupeng and Feng Yunyuan, Jinshi Suo (An index to bronzes and stone
carvings), 1821