Idejne osnove in zgodovinske transformacije koncepta spola v kitajski tradiciji

Abstract

The article presents the philosophical foundation and historical transformations of the gender concept in Chinese tradition. Based on analyses of the pre-Qin and later conceptions of gender and of the differences in evaluation of female and male social roles, it concludes that this concept was a relatively egalitarian one in ancient society, for it was based upon a complementary relation between both genders and manifested itself in the classical definition of binary concepts yinyang and neiwai. The article also shows later transformations of this concept and points out that in later Confucian official state doctrine the male social role was seen as superior and the female as subordinate one.