R&L Logo R&L Logo
  • GENERAL
    • Browse by Subjects
    • New Releases
    • Coming Soon
    • Chases's Calendar
  • ACADEMIC
    • Textbooks
    • Browse by Course
    • Instructor's Copies
    • Monographs & Research
    • Reference
  • PROFESSIONAL
    • Education
    • Intelligence & Security
    • Library Services
    • Business & Leadership
    • Museum Studies
    • Music
    • Pastoral Resources
    • Psychotherapy
  • FREUD SET
Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
eBook
share of facebook share on twitter
Add to GoodReads

Women Shall Not Rule

Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao

Keith McMahon

Chinese emperors guaranteed male successors by taking multiple wives, in some cases hundreds and even thousands. Women Shall Not Rule offers a fascinating history of imperial wives and concubines, especially in light of the greatest challenges to polygamous harmony—rivalry between women and their attempts to engage in politics. Besides ambitious empresses and concubines, these vivid stories of the imperial polygamous family are also populated with prolific emperors, wanton women, libertine men, cunning eunuchs, and bizarre cases of intrigue and scandal among rival wives.

Keith McMahon, a leading expert on the history of gender in China, draws upon decades of research to describe the values and ideals of imperial polygamy and the ways in which it worked and did not work in real life. His rich sources are both historical and fictional, including poetic accounts and sensational stories told in pornographic detail. Displaying rare historical breadth, his lively and fascinating study will be invaluable as a comprehensive and authoritative resource for all readers interested in the domestic life of royal palaces across the world.
  • Details
  • Details
  • Author
  • Author
  • TOC
  • TOC
  • Reviews
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Features
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 310 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
978-1-4422-2289-2 • Hardback • June 2013 • $109.00 • (£84.00)
978-1-5381-4194-6 • Paperback • March 2020 • $35.00 • (£30.00)
978-1-4422-2290-8 • eBook • June 2013 • $33.00 • (£25.00)
Subjects: History / Asia / China, Social Science / Regional Studies, Social Science / Women's Studies, History / Women
Keith McMahon is professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Kansas.
Prologue: Sexual Politics and State Politics
Part I: Early China, 1250 BCE–317 CE

Chapter 1: The Institution and Values of Royal Polygamy
Chapter 2: Empresses and Consorts of the Former Han, 206 BCE–25 CE
Chapter 3: The Later Han to the End of the Western Jin, 25–317
Part II: The Eastern Jin to the Reign of Wu Zetian, 317–712
Chapter 4: The Period of Disunity, 317–589
Chapter 5: The Sui and Early Tang Dynasties to Empress Wu, 581–705

Part III: The High Tang to the Liao, 712–1125
Chapter 6: The Tang from Xuanzong to Its Fall, 712–907

Chapter 7: The Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, and the Liao, 907–1125
Selected Bibliography
This survey of the role of women in early Chinese dynastic history succeeds in elucidating patterns over many periods. University of Kansas professor McMahon relies on a variety of sources, including official histories offering a “correct” view of events and unofficial histories, which provide more salacious details. From these, McMahon pieces together brief vignettes, each usually a few paragraphs, about empresses and consorts through the ages. The author acknowledges difficulties with veracity, but aims to document the qualities ascribed to both praise-worthy and poorly-behaved imperial women rather than determine precise historical accuracy. An upright wife is, above all, lacking in jealousy while wives that are vilified are described as “wanton.” Highlights of the book include the story of Wu Zeitan, who described herself as emperor. The book includes scenes of torture, mild pornography, and acts of self-sacrifice. Examples presented over the time span covered here—1250 B.C.E. to 1125 C.E.—[will] appeal to Chinese history scholars.
— Publishers Weekly


In this book, written with conscientiousness and compassion, Keith McMahon illustrates early Chinese dynastic history from a unique perspective. Rather than discussing emperors and heroes as in mainstream historiography, Woman Shall Not Rule focuses on imperial ladies—empresses and consorts—in the context of polygamist ancient China with scenes of self-sacrifice, torture and violence, and even mild pornography. . . . In addition to presenting an alternative narrative of Chinese history from about 1250 B.C.E. to 1125 C.E., the author also takes imperial polygamy as an approach to the study of sexual politics in China. . . .McMahon’s narratives of palace women in the context of the royal polygamist family offer many insights when rethinking the roles of imperial women in Chinese history. . . .In addition to scholars in Chinese history, the book could also attract general readers with its vivid accounts of historical women.
— Women and Gender in Chinese Studies Review


One of the world’s leading experts in Ming-Qing fiction and gender relations, Keith McMahon is ideally qualified to undertake the study of women in the emperor’s entourage over the two millennia of China’s imperial history.In this masterful two-volume survey, Women Shall Not Rule and Celestial Women, he draws on official histories for the basic facts of who, when, and where, and he also casts a wide net, exploiting informal histories, gossipy memoirs, and the countless fictional narratives that have always done more than official histories to shape public perceptions of women and gender relations in the emperors’ palaces.... McMahon has expertly crafted a narrative that is at once erudite, encyclopedic, and entertaining. He has set the standard for writing about the empresses and consorts of Chinese emperors and has drawn on countless examples in order to build insightful generalizations about patterns, changes, and continuities in gender relations at the top of the Chinese government over two millennia of imperial history. And he has done all this with careful attention to the ways Chinese examples compare with palace women in other cultures, times, and places. This is a most welcome and valuable addition to global scholarship on Chinese history, literature, politics, and gender studies.
— China Review International


The reader will find here a treasure house of ideology, history, and lore about China’s highest-placed and most visible women, the empresses and concubines of China’s rulers, starting from the earliest times of the civilization. Denied formal access to political power and at times indifferently educated, a few palace women managed, for better or worse, to exert great political force. Every famous empress and consort known to history appears here, along with many others whom the author has rescued from obscurity. The women appear mainly as intimate participants in the rulers’ private lives, but some made their way into the public sphere as well, influencing policy, and, in a few cases, commanding the realm. Useful comparisons are made to royal and imperial households in other cultures. McMahon, an experienced scholar of China’s traditional fiction and gender relations, is especially well qualified to take up this ambitious project, one the China field has long needed.
— John W. Dardess, University of Kansas


A stimulating and comprehensive history of Chinese emperors and their multiple wives

A lively narrative based on careful scholarship

Colorful biographies of women rulers

Vivid portraits of libertine emperors and femmes fatales

Fascinating tales of jealousy and rivalry among imperial wives

Bizarre accounts of intrigue and scandal among eunuchs, dowagers, wet-nurses, and palace maids

Stories of love affairs and infatuations in the inner palace

Details about sexual customs in the harem

Thoughtful analysis of the issues of rule by women and the relationship between one man and many wives

Comparative references to European, Byzantine, Mughal, Ottoman, and other regimes across the world

Contrasts the customs of native Han and nomadic Inner Asian regime

Women Shall Not Rule

Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Han to Liao

Cover Image
Hardback
Paperback
eBook
Summary
Summary
  • Chinese emperors guaranteed male successors by taking multiple wives, in some cases hundreds and even thousands. Women Shall Not Rule offers a fascinating history of imperial wives and concubines, especially in light of the greatest challenges to polygamous harmony—rivalry between women and their attempts to engage in politics. Besides ambitious empresses and concubines, these vivid stories of the imperial polygamous family are also populated with prolific emperors, wanton women, libertine men, cunning eunuchs, and bizarre cases of intrigue and scandal among rival wives.

    Keith McMahon, a leading expert on the history of gender in China, draws upon decades of research to describe the values and ideals of imperial polygamy and the ways in which it worked and did not work in real life. His rich sources are both historical and fictional, including poetic accounts and sensational stories told in pornographic detail. Displaying rare historical breadth, his lively and fascinating study will be invaluable as a comprehensive and authoritative resource for all readers interested in the domestic life of royal palaces across the world.
Details
Details
  • Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
    Pages: 310 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼
    978-1-4422-2289-2 • Hardback • June 2013 • $109.00 • (£84.00)
    978-1-5381-4194-6 • Paperback • March 2020 • $35.00 • (£30.00)
    978-1-4422-2290-8 • eBook • June 2013 • $33.00 • (£25.00)
    Subjects: History / Asia / China, Social Science / Regional Studies, Social Science / Women's Studies, History / Women
Author
Author
  • Keith McMahon is professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Kansas.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
  • Prologue: Sexual Politics and State Politics
    Part I: Early China, 1250 BCE–317 CE

    Chapter 1: The Institution and Values of Royal Polygamy
    Chapter 2: Empresses and Consorts of the Former Han, 206 BCE–25 CE
    Chapter 3: The Later Han to the End of the Western Jin, 25–317
    Part II: The Eastern Jin to the Reign of Wu Zetian, 317–712
    Chapter 4: The Period of Disunity, 317–589
    Chapter 5: The Sui and Early Tang Dynasties to Empress Wu, 581–705

    Part III: The High Tang to the Liao, 712–1125
    Chapter 6: The Tang from Xuanzong to Its Fall, 712–907

    Chapter 7: The Five Dynasties, Ten Kingdoms, and the Liao, 907–1125
    Selected Bibliography
Reviews
Reviews
  • This survey of the role of women in early Chinese dynastic history succeeds in elucidating patterns over many periods. University of Kansas professor McMahon relies on a variety of sources, including official histories offering a “correct” view of events and unofficial histories, which provide more salacious details. From these, McMahon pieces together brief vignettes, each usually a few paragraphs, about empresses and consorts through the ages. The author acknowledges difficulties with veracity, but aims to document the qualities ascribed to both praise-worthy and poorly-behaved imperial women rather than determine precise historical accuracy. An upright wife is, above all, lacking in jealousy while wives that are vilified are described as “wanton.” Highlights of the book include the story of Wu Zeitan, who described herself as emperor. The book includes scenes of torture, mild pornography, and acts of self-sacrifice. Examples presented over the time span covered here—1250 B.C.E. to 1125 C.E.—[will] appeal to Chinese history scholars.
    — Publishers Weekly


    In this book, written with conscientiousness and compassion, Keith McMahon illustrates early Chinese dynastic history from a unique perspective. Rather than discussing emperors and heroes as in mainstream historiography, Woman Shall Not Rule focuses on imperial ladies—empresses and consorts—in the context of polygamist ancient China with scenes of self-sacrifice, torture and violence, and even mild pornography. . . . In addition to presenting an alternative narrative of Chinese history from about 1250 B.C.E. to 1125 C.E., the author also takes imperial polygamy as an approach to the study of sexual politics in China. . . .McMahon’s narratives of palace women in the context of the royal polygamist family offer many insights when rethinking the roles of imperial women in Chinese history. . . .In addition to scholars in Chinese history, the book could also attract general readers with its vivid accounts of historical women.
    — Women and Gender in Chinese Studies Review


    One of the world’s leading experts in Ming-Qing fiction and gender relations, Keith McMahon is ideally qualified to undertake the study of women in the emperor’s entourage over the two millennia of China’s imperial history.In this masterful two-volume survey, Women Shall Not Rule and Celestial Women, he draws on official histories for the basic facts of who, when, and where, and he also casts a wide net, exploiting informal histories, gossipy memoirs, and the countless fictional narratives that have always done more than official histories to shape public perceptions of women and gender relations in the emperors’ palaces.... McMahon has expertly crafted a narrative that is at once erudite, encyclopedic, and entertaining. He has set the standard for writing about the empresses and consorts of Chinese emperors and has drawn on countless examples in order to build insightful generalizations about patterns, changes, and continuities in gender relations at the top of the Chinese government over two millennia of imperial history. And he has done all this with careful attention to the ways Chinese examples compare with palace women in other cultures, times, and places. This is a most welcome and valuable addition to global scholarship on Chinese history, literature, politics, and gender studies.
    — China Review International


    The reader will find here a treasure house of ideology, history, and lore about China’s highest-placed and most visible women, the empresses and concubines of China’s rulers, starting from the earliest times of the civilization. Denied formal access to political power and at times indifferently educated, a few palace women managed, for better or worse, to exert great political force. Every famous empress and consort known to history appears here, along with many others whom the author has rescued from obscurity. The women appear mainly as intimate participants in the rulers’ private lives, but some made their way into the public sphere as well, influencing policy, and, in a few cases, commanding the realm. Useful comparisons are made to royal and imperial households in other cultures. McMahon, an experienced scholar of China’s traditional fiction and gender relations, is especially well qualified to take up this ambitious project, one the China field has long needed.
    — John W. Dardess, University of Kansas


Features
Features
  • A stimulating and comprehensive history of Chinese emperors and their multiple wives

    A lively narrative based on careful scholarship

    Colorful biographies of women rulers

    Vivid portraits of libertine emperors and femmes fatales

    Fascinating tales of jealousy and rivalry among imperial wives

    Bizarre accounts of intrigue and scandal among eunuchs, dowagers, wet-nurses, and palace maids

    Stories of love affairs and infatuations in the inner palace

    Details about sexual customs in the harem

    Thoughtful analysis of the issues of rule by women and the relationship between one man and many wives

    Comparative references to European, Byzantine, Mughal, Ottoman, and other regimes across the world

    Contrasts the customs of native Han and nomadic Inner Asian regime

ALSO AVAILABLE

  • Cover image for the book Chieftains, Lamas, and Warriors: A History of Kham, 1904–1961
  • Cover image for the book Modern China: Continuity and Change, 1644 to the Present, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War
  • Cover image for the book The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800, Fifth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Women and China's Revolutions
  • Cover image for the book The United States and China: A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the Financial System in China
  • Cover image for the book Voices Carry: Behind Bars and Backstage during China's Revolution and Reform
  • Cover image for the book Congress and China Policy: Past Episodic, Recent Enduring Influence
  • Cover image for the book Chinese Empresses
  • Cover image for the book China: An Environmental History, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Echoes of Harbin: Reflections on Space and Time of a Vanished Community in Manchuria
  • Cover image for the book The History of the Formation of Early Chinese Buddhism: A Study on Discourse Characteristics
  • Cover image for the book A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai
  • Cover image for the book Three Yuan Plays by Yang Zi: In English Translation with Full Annotations
  • Cover image for the book Ming China, 1368–1644: A Concise History of a Resilient Empire
  • Cover image for the book Women in Imperial China
  • Cover image for the book Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing
  • Cover image for the book Tempered in the Revolutionary Furnace: China's Youth in the Rustication Movement
  • Cover image for the book China and the Uyghurs: A Concise Introduction
  • Cover image for the book Chinese Propaganda on Tibet: A Documentary History
  • Cover image for the book The Qing Dynasty and Traditional Chinese Culture
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Knowledge Production in Mao-Era China: Learning from the Masses
  • Cover image for the book Mao and the Sino-Soviet Split, 1959–1973: A New History
  • Cover image for the book The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800, Fourth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Mao and the Sino–Soviet Partnership, 1945–1959: A New History
  • Cover image for the book Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times
  • Cover image for the book China and the Founding of the United States: The Influence of Traditional Chinese Civilization
  • Cover image for the book Women in Tang China
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Chinese Culture
  • Cover image for the book An Object of Seduction: Chinese Silk in the Early Modern Transpacific Trade, 1500–1700
  • Cover image for the book Matteo Ricci: A Jesuit in the Ming Court
  • Cover image for the book Chieftains, Lamas, and Warriors: A History of Kham, 1904–1961
  • Cover image for the book Modern China: Continuity and Change, 1644 to the Present, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War
  • Cover image for the book The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800, Fifth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Women and China's Revolutions
  • Cover image for the book The United States and China: A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the Financial System in China
  • Cover image for the book Voices Carry: Behind Bars and Backstage during China's Revolution and Reform
  • Cover image for the book Congress and China Policy: Past Episodic, Recent Enduring Influence
  • Cover image for the book Chinese Empresses
  • Cover image for the book China: An Environmental History, Second Edition
  • Cover image for the book Echoes of Harbin: Reflections on Space and Time of a Vanished Community in Manchuria
  • Cover image for the book The History of the Formation of Early Chinese Buddhism: A Study on Discourse Characteristics
  • Cover image for the book A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai
  • Cover image for the book Three Yuan Plays by Yang Zi: In English Translation with Full Annotations
  • Cover image for the book Ming China, 1368–1644: A Concise History of a Resilient Empire
  • Cover image for the book Women in Imperial China
  • Cover image for the book Celestial Women: Imperial Wives and Concubines in China from Song to Qing
  • Cover image for the book Tempered in the Revolutionary Furnace: China's Youth in the Rustication Movement
  • Cover image for the book China and the Uyghurs: A Concise Introduction
  • Cover image for the book Chinese Propaganda on Tibet: A Documentary History
  • Cover image for the book The Qing Dynasty and Traditional Chinese Culture
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of the People's Republic of China, Third Edition
  • Cover image for the book Knowledge Production in Mao-Era China: Learning from the Masses
  • Cover image for the book Mao and the Sino-Soviet Split, 1959–1973: A New History
  • Cover image for the book The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800, Fourth Edition
  • Cover image for the book Mao and the Sino–Soviet Partnership, 1945–1959: A New History
  • Cover image for the book Chinese Among Others: Emigration in Modern Times
  • Cover image for the book China and the Founding of the United States: The Influence of Traditional Chinese Civilization
  • Cover image for the book Women in Tang China
  • Cover image for the book Historical Dictionary of Chinese Culture
  • Cover image for the book An Object of Seduction: Chinese Silk in the Early Modern Transpacific Trade, 1500–1700
  • Cover image for the book Matteo Ricci: A Jesuit in the Ming Court
facebook icon twitter icon instagram icon linked in icon NEWSLETTERS
ABOUT US
  • Mission Statement
  • Employment
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility Statement
CONTACT
  • Company Directory
  • Publicity and Media Queries
  • Rights and Permissions
  • Textbook Resource Center
AUTHOR RESOURCES
  • Royalty Contact
  • Production Guidelines
  • Manuscript Submissions
ORDERING INFORMATION
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • National Book Network
  • Ingram Publisher Services UK
  • Special Sales
  • International Sales
  • eBook Partners
  • Digital Catalogs
IMPRINTS
  • Rowman & Littlefield
  • Lexington Books
  • Hamilton Books
  • Applause Books
  • Amadeus Press
  • Backbeat Books
  • Bernan
  • Hal Leonard Books
  • Limelight Editions
  • Co-Publishing Partners
  • Globe Pequot
  • Down East Books
  • Falcon Guides
  • Gooseberry Patch
  • Lyons Press
  • Muddy Boots
  • Pineapple Press
  • TwoDot Books
  • Stackpole Books
PARTNERS
  • American Alliance of Museums
  • American Association for State and Local History
  • Brookings Institution Press
  • Center for Strategic & International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
  • Fortress Press
  • The Foundation for Critical Thinking
  • Lehigh University Press
  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Other Partners...