The Evolution of Female Images in Chinese Historical and Literary Narratives: Taking “The Biographies of Virtuous Women”, “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio”, and “The Golden Cangue” as Examples

Abstract

This paper examines how female characters in Chinese historical literary narratives, who were previously merely “written” objects subject to male discourse and definition, gradually transformed through textual practice into “self-writing” subjects. Through a comparative analysis of historical biographies represented by Biographies of Exemplary Women, male literati novels represented by Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, and modern women’s novels represented by The Golden Cangue, this study aims to reveal how the patriarchal-centric narrative constructs women as the “Other” by means of “ethical symbolization” and “aesthetic objectification”, and to analyze the subversive paths and inherent causes of women’s writing against this tradition. By integrating the analytical frameworks of narratology and gender theory (male gaze, disciplinary power), the study reveals that the suppression and regression of female subjectivity not only relate to the selection of themes but are also profoundly manifested in the changes of narrative forms. This paper points out that, from the moral discipline in Biographies of Exemplary Women to the desire discipline in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, male narratives consistently serve to dissolve the complexity of female experience. In The Golden Cangue, Eileen Chang delves deeply into the inner world of the characters, presenting the complex entanglement of trauma and desire, thereby subverting and reversing the traditional narrative paradigm. This study will analyze the deepening focus of Chinese feminist literary criticism, shifting from image critique to narrative mechanism, and also reveal the cross-era endeavors and feasible paths by which women reclaim their discourse power and reconstruct their subjectivity through writing.