Women Rhetoricians’ Role Model and Pan Chao - 877 Words

Someone was Arguing the Same Points in the FIRST Century! Such rhetorical argument or style rather was intelligently made by another woman way before advocators for women’s education came about in the late 19th century. In fact the argument was made in the first century in China under great Han Empire. The argument was made by Pan Chao, women rhetoricians’ role model. Pan Chao lived during the first and second centuries C.E. she was a royal historiographer and librarian and teacher of the empress and other court ladies. For a woman she held a high position in the empire. She was from a rich family and she was very well educated, which is why she was able to take over her brother’s job as a historiographer and a librarian when her brother died. In her Lessons for Women, she talks about education of women and it is famous for being one of the earliest rhetorical pieces written by a woman. In her piece, she talks about all the virtues of women and what women ought to possess to better serve her husband, children, mother an d father in laws and the community. In Humility section she states, â€Å"Let a woman modestly yield to others; let her respect others; let her put others first, herself last. (Pan Chao, Lessons for Women)† In Husband and Wife section she states, â€Å"They only know that wives must be controlled, and that the husband’s rules of conduct manifesting his authority must be established. They therefore teach their boys to read books and [study] histories. But they do not in