Male Honor and Female Chastity in Early China

Abstract

AbstractIn many respects, masculinity in early China resembled practices which have been described by anthropologists researching the Mediterranean region. Maintaining a reputation for honor was particularly important to Chinese manhood. As the individual was tightly integrated into a social group, men had to control the behavior of those around them to defend themselves against possible shame. For this reason, men found it useful to regulate the sexual practices of female kin to defend their own honor. The emergence of female chastity was thus closely tied to the honor culture of early Chinese masculinity.