WOMENS WORK IN IMPERIAL CHINA - WEAVING N EW PATTERNS IN THE SOCIAL FABRIC

The secular expansion and elaboration of the Chinese economy between 1 000 and 1800 AD has been studied from many points of view, but no-one has yet examined specifically how this affected women, despite their e ssential role as producers of textiles. In this essay I identify histo rical patterns of change in the organisation of textile production, no ting the progressive marginalisation of women in the textile industry. I suggest that the corresponding changes in the social value of Chine se women's work provided fertile ground for popularization of neo-Conf ucian gender roles which emphasized women's dependence on men and idea lized their roles as reproducers.