The Matriarchal Societies’ Case - How Chinese Data about the Dong Nuguo Could Entice Western Scholars to Re-Open It.

Abstract

My 15 year research of the star-shaped towers of the Tibetan-Qiang-Yi Corridor has lead me to study and research, in ancient Chinese texts, the clues about an ancient matriarchal society, the “Dong Nuguo”, documented until the Tang Dynasty. Surprisingly the matriarchal quality of this ancient society had never been evaluated in depth by scholars. Chinese scholars until recently somewhat took for granted a matriarchal past and Western scholars mostly favoured the “Timeless Patriarchy” and “Nuclear Family” theories. Archaeological findings are rather inconclusive. This paper will explain these opposite Western and Chinese attitudes and their reasons to be as well as my reasons for believing that the data found in the Chinese Annals and other ancient texts is probably sufficient to establish that this society did in fact exist. This paper will also briefly explain how new findings in anthropology and animal biology demonstrate that the nuclear family model is far from universal; and that the latest neuroscience support intersex brain. I will consequently argue that men and women have the same potential leadership qualities required for the existence of societies where women were in power, and that time has come to re-open the case of the matriarchal societies ―a topic that has been taboo, in western anthropological circles, for at least 50 years. Key terms Matriarchy, Matrilineal, Tibetan-Qiang-Yi Corridor of southwest China, Dong Nuguo.