Gender relations as well as the social situation of Manchu women have long been
ignored in studies of the cultural evolution of the Manchu. By setting the discussion of
Manchu women in the context of cultural adaptation, this study reintroduces gender and
women's problems into the research on the Manchu culture by outlining the social changes in
Manchu society over 300 years, which in turn have affected the social position of Manchu
women.
A literature review provides a theoretical framework to the understanding of the
interaction between the social system of Manchu society and environmental stress. An
emphasis is laid on the role of the state in cultural evolution and its influence on Manchu
women. Two factors significantly affecting Manchu women's lives are the introduction of the
Banner system and the process of systematic sinification.
Cultural assimilation and maintenance are also major topics covered in this study. The
results of a field investigation at Outer Firearm Camp In Beijing reveal a pattern of a mixture of
Han and Manchu customs, which serves as a good example of how a cultural system be
partially destroyed and partially preserved in the process of adaptation, and how women's
status remains higher among the Manchu than among the Han. The Manchu's basic cultural
value system with its emphasis on women's equality has proven to be remarkably stable
despite many social adaptations to extreme pressures from the outside world. / Graduation date: 1996 / Best scan available for p.53 and p.106.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28376 |
| Date | 16 January 1996 |
| Creators | Fang, Jin-cai |
| Contributors | Young, John A. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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