Woman Wang

Jonathan Spence: author of Death of Woman Wang, who used three sources to write his book, which follow:
Feng K’o‑ts’an: a public official who kept accounts of the district
Huang Liu‑hung: a later official who wrote more on the district in his manual on local administration; he is important because he included materials that Feng might have considered too bad to put in his public documentation
P’u Sung‑ling: an unhappy scholar who had not done well in the Confucian exam system: he wrote short stories of fiction. (often appearing as small type in the book Death)
T’an‑ch’eng: rural district where Death takes place in northern 17th century China
Liu T’ing‑yüan :
Hsiao‑erh:
Hsi‑liu:
Woman P’eng:
Ts’ui Meng:
Woman Tou:
Ts’ui‑hsien:
Woman Wang:
Reading Questions:
How did Women P’eng, Tou, and Wang experience challenges in terms of their relationships to their husbands and their positions within their families?
In T'an-ch'eng/Late Imperial China, how did the legal system and access to property affect the real-life women in the Death of Woman Wang?
What was the role of the Chinese magistrate Huang Liu‑hung in T'an-ch'eng? In what ways was he acting as a go-between for the central Imperial Government of China and an overseer of affairs in this district? What actions does he take that make him successful?
How do the stories of Hsiao‑erh, Hsi‑liu, and Ts’ui‑hsien (all by P’u Sung‑ling), reflect successful women? To what extent are these stories unrealistic portrayals of seventeenth-century Chinese women, based on the real-life stories of women presented by Jonathan Spence?
What trouble does the outlaw Wang family get into in T'an-ch'eng? How does the magistrate Huang Liu-hung handle the situation?
What happens to Woman Wang? How does Huang Liu-hung handle the situation in the trial?
Describe the ways Confucian values permeate this society. Describe some of the practices and beliefs of Buddhism as it is expressed in The Death of Woman Wang.