CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Yang Yang |
|---|---|
| Title | Chinese Civilization and Chinese Women in the Imaginary of the Scottish Enlightenment |
| Summary | In the late eighteenth century, for Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, images of women from around the world reflected the actual condition of local women in their writings on the history of women. In their works, the images of women varied across different stages of society as civilization progressed. Since China was viewed as a static commercial society by Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, Chinese women there were expected to be free and to serve as friends and companions to their partners. However, Chinese women appeared as an image of lacking freedom, despite being chaste and modest, in Scottish Enlightenment narratives. In reconstructing the image of Chinese women from the sources they read, Scottish Enlightenment thinkers drew upon prevailing depictions of Chinese women and records of China by French Jesuits to present an image that aligned with their understanding of Chinese civilization and the expectations of women and men within Scottish society. This attempt only succeeded after they revised the standards by which they evaluated civilization. With the emergence of new standards— one of which was the condition or image of women as a measure of civilization —the image of Chinese women served as a means for Scottish Enlightenment thinkers to review China within their framework of the Progress of civilization. Based on this image of a Chinese woman, Willan Alexander placed China in a position that was inferior to Europe, yet superior to other civilizations. |
| Supervisor | Laszlo Kontler(Supervisor) and Professor Robyn Radway(Second Reader) |
| Department | Historical Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/yang_yang.pdf |
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