Author(s)

Lijuan Wang

Corresponding Author

Lijuan Wang

Abstract

Mulberry Tree of the Path created the image of an intelligent and brave woman advocating self-esteem and self-improvement by describing Luo Fu, a girl picking mulberry. It approached the image by features such as her living environment, clothing, physical appearance, and in particular her intelligence when confronting the governor. The prototype was from girls picking mulberry in the real world. The awakening female self-consciousness pushed the girl to focus on things other than the perception of romance and love. Instead, their spiritual world started to mature with pursuit of independence. Another prototype of Luo Fu is the Wife of Qiuhuin the Western Han Dynasty. However, Mulberry Tree of the Path focuses not on the moral theme of "guarding chastity until death", but the rebellion and maturity of women's thoughts under the restriction of the so-called "three obedience and four virtues" under Confucianism in the Han Dynasty. Prior to the poem, we could not find a woman with such independence and confidence in the ancient Chinese literature. Since then, Luo Fu, with her beauty, generosity and wisdom, has become the subject of Chinese literature.

Keywords

Mulberry Tree of the Path; Luo Fu; girls picking up mulberry; female self-consciousness