Virtue school
Virtue schools,[1] or female virtue classes[2] (Chinese: 女德班[3]) are privately operated schools or classes in the People's Republic of China that have become controversial for allegedly teaching women so-called traditional Chinese virtues, such as being obedient and subordinate to men.[2]
Background
Since the Qin dynasty, traditional female roles have been present in Chinese society, and women's behaviors have been mandated by the Ming and Qing dynasty eras.[4]
Traditionally, Chinese society has required women to be the "yin" against the male "yang", complementary to their father, husband or son, and placed an emphasis on chastity and a domestic role which does not require scholastic aptitude.[3] Practices such as foot binding, widow suicide and widow chastity were socially-accepted norms.[4]
In addition, various Chinese characters with negative connotations carry the radical 女 (woman), including 嬾 (lazy, languid), 婬 (obscene, lewd) and 媮 (stealing). Some idioms are also contemptuous of women, like the idiom 紅顏禍水, which roughly translates to femme fatale.[4]
The social demands on women moved to be more progressive after the Communist Party took power in China.[3]
History
Since the 2000s, various organizations and companies have organized virtue schools.[3] Various media reports state that virtue schools were organized in Beijing, as well as the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Henan, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, and Zhejiang.[5][6][7]
Operation
Some virtue schools have operated under the guise of summer camp classes,[8] while others have targeted families with troubled girls, claiming that they can change the girls for the better with the teaching of traditional values.[3] Some target corporations by claiming their teachings can lead to a more harmonious work environment.[2]
Course material
The classes often involve teaching women that career and femininity do not mix.[2] Some of the core messages include:
- Career women don't end well[2]
- Women should stay at society's bottom level, and don't try to move upwards[2]
- Always obey their father, husband and son's orders[2]
- Never fight back when the husband is physically violent[2]
- Never argue with the husband when he is yelling[2]
- Dressing in a revealing manner verges on vulgar behavior[2]
Some of the more extreme messages include:
- Career women might as well cut off their breasts and uterus[2]
- Ordering takeout is a symbol of unchastity and laziness
- Having sex with more than three men can lead to disease and death[2]
- Changing boyfriends will lead to hands and feet ulceration, resulting in amputation[6][9][10]
Some classes attendees have been ordered to use their hands to clean toilets, clean the floor while kneeling, and kneel in front of a Confucius statue to repent for the sin of wearing makeup that is considered to be too heavy.[7][1]
Reaction
Government officials
In 2017, education officials shut down an institute that operated female virtue classes under accusations that it violated "socialist core values."[1]
In 2019, China's Ministry of Education banned education groups from teaching a number of topics, including those related to Three Obediences and Four Virtues, fortune-telling and geomancy.[9]
State-owned media have also criticized female virtue classes, denouncing them as being harmful to children.[8]
Organizers
Groups that have organized female virtue classes have claimed that they are being defamed by online content creators.[5]
Society
Some web users have criticized female virtue classes as having cult-like properties, as well as being anachronistic.[9]
Some media outlets have noted a certain level of resilience with female virtue classes, in that despite government crackdown, they manage to reopen elsewhere after a forced shutdown.[5]
There is a debate on whether female virtue classes mark a return to feudal Chinese ideas on gender roles rights.[2]
References
- 1 2 3 "China closes school 'teaching women to be obedient'". BBC News. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Inside China's 'virtue schools' for women". BBC News. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "BBC中國博客：深入中國「女德」學校" [BBC China Blog: An in-depth look at China's "female virtue" school]. BBC News (in Traditional Chinese). 13 December 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- 1 2 3 Du, Fangqin (6 May 2020). "古代禮教如何規範女性？" [How does ancient rites treat women?]. Academy of Chinese Studies (in Traditional Chinese). Hong Kong. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- 1 2 3 Le, Ran (12 April 2017). "培训女奴？抚顺无证"女德班"被解散" [Training female slaves? Fushun's "female virtue class," which has operated without a license, has been disbanded]. Deutsche Welle (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- 1 2 Wang, Lijuan (10 December 2018). "換男友爛手腳: 女德班溫州捲土重來 洗腦未成年少女" [Changing boyfriends will result in ulcerated hands and feet: female virtue classes have returned in Wenzhou, brainwashing underage teenage girls]. World Journal (in Traditional Chinese). Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- 1 2 蔡佳妘 (12 December 2018). "換男友會爛手腳、穿太露是叫人來強姦…女德班不只語出驚人，還得跪在孔子像前懺悔化濃妝" [Changing boyfriends will result in ulcerated hands and feet, wearing attires that are too revealing is a call for others to commit rape...female virtue classes feature more than shocking statements, [students] must kneel in front of Confucius to repent for the sin of wearing heavy makeup]. storm.mg (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- 1 2 Lin, Baohong (10 December 2018). 陸「女德班」捲土重來 洗腦少女：換男友會爛手腳 [Mainland's "female virtue class" has returned, brainwashing teenage girls: changing boyfriends will lead to ulcerated hands and feet]. TVBS (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 24 July 2020.
- 1 2 3 Pang, Jing Lum (11 April 2019). "【叫停女德班】教育部禁培訓機構以「國學」為名傳授「三從四德」" [(Stop the female virtue classes) [People's Republic of China's] Department of Education has banned training groups from teaching Three Obediences and Four Virtues under the guise of "national art".]. HK01 (in Traditional Chinese). Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ↑ Lin, Ping (4 December 2017). Jia, Hua (ed.). "辽宁抚顺"女德班"被勒令关停" [Female virtue classes in Fushun, Liaoning have been ordered to close]. Radio Free Asia (in Simplified Chinese). Retrieved 25 July 2020.