10/07/2025 15:15 - 17:30

HALL: Lecture Hall 03

Chair: Cai L.

Speaker: Cai L., Choo J., Xu M.

Robin May Schott pointed out in 2003 that Western feminists had moved beyond the phase of negative critiques of the Western canon and were increasingly engaged in the positive construction of feminist theories emerging from the ashes of those canonical texts. More recently, Li-Hsiang Lisa Roselee has argued that mainstream feminism constructs a hierarchy of cultures and imposes its biases on non-Western traditions.
Echoing those voices, this panel aims to develop more positive perspectives on gender and sexuality within Confucian and Daoist traditions. Dr. Cai's paper focuses on the classical age of Chinese civilizations (ca. 8th century BCE-2nd century CE). She demonstrates that the Confucian canons acknowledge sexual desire as a fundamental instinct and an essential component of genuine human nature. Dr. Choo's paper examines Daoist canons in medieval China as a case study, showing that while childbirth-centered rituals reinforced prevailing misogynistic norms, they also created spaces for women to exercise agency. Dr. Xu's paper argues that during the Song dynasty, women from outside traditional social spheres often penetrated men's legitimate domains without jeopardizing the established social order.
While some radical feminists focus on extreme criminal cases involving sex (e.g., The Right to Sex), analyzing such cases neither represents broader realities nor provides a normativity that can guide the future. Instead, this panel will concentrate on the positive representations of gender and sexuality in Chinese sources. These representations might be criticized for overlooking the darker aspects of reality. However, through this reconstruction, the panel hopes to inspire the younger generation—especially young women—with courage and confidence to embrace romance and sexuality in a healthy and fulfilling way.