Servants of the Dynasty

Servants of the Dynasty PDF Author: Anne Walthall
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520941519
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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Book Description
Mothers, wives, concubines, entertainers, attendants, officials, maids, drudges. By offering the first comparative view of the women who lived, worked, and served in royal courts around the globe, this work opens a new perspective on the monarchies that have dominated much of human history. Written by leading historians, anthropologists, and archeologists, these lively essays take us from Mayan states to twentieth-century Benin in Nigeria, to the palace of Japanese Shoguns, the Chinese Imperial courts, eighteenth-century Versailles, Mughal India, and beyond. Together they investigate how women's roles differed, how their roles changed over time, and how their histories can illuminate the structures of power and societies in which they lived. This work also furthers our understanding of how royal courts, created to project the authority of male rulers, maintained themselves through the reproductive and productive powers of women.

The Burman, His Life and Notions

The Burman, His Life and Notions PDF Author: Sir James George Scott
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Burma
Languages : en
Pages : 628

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Book Description


Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Society

Marriage and Inequality in Chinese Society PDF Author: Rubie S. Watson
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520071247
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Until now our understanding of marriage in China has been based primarily on observations made during the twentieth century. The research of ten eminent scholars presented here provides a new vision of marriage in Chinese history, exploring the complex interplay between marriage and the social, political, economic, and gender inequalities that have so characterized Chinese society.

Above the Clouds

Above the Clouds PDF Author: Takie Sugiyama Lebra
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520076028
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 463

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Book Description
This is an ethnographic study of the modern Japanese aristocracy. The author gained entry into the tightly-knit "kazoku" and conducted more than 100 interviews with its members. Winner of the Association of American University Presses Hiromi Arisawa Award

Xerxes

Xerxes PDF Author: Dennis Abrams
Publisher: Infobase Learning
ISBN: 1438148143
Category : Biography
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
In the year 486;BCE, upon the death of his father, Darius I, Xerxes I became king of the Persian Empire.

Two Lives of Charlemagne

Two Lives of Charlemagne PDF Author: Einhard
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101160632
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 145

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Book Description
Two revealingly different accounts of the life of the most important figure of the Roman Empire Charlemage ?known as the father of Europe?was one of the most powerful and dynamic of all medieval rulers. The biographies brought together here provide a rich and varied portrait of the king from two perspectives: that of Einhard, a close friend and adviser, and of Notker, a monastic scholar and musician writing fifty years after Charlemagne?s death.

The Teardrop Story Woman

The Teardrop Story Woman PDF Author: Catherine Lim
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 140913833X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
A story set in 50's Malaya at the height of the communist guerilla activity. This is a backdrop for a story of love, passion, desire and duty as a beautiful married chinese women, Mei Kwei, falls in love with a priest who saves the woman caught with Mei's husband from public embarrassment.

Distasteful Life Choice "Polygamy"

Distasteful Life Choice Author: Robonnir Kijuga Kahumyo
Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 164191467X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
When we actually understand who Jesus Christ is in our lives, then He will certainly direct the personal choices that we always make daily and we will be able to avoid awful choices, like polygamy, which is one of the major foes in our homes. When our choices are God's choices, then we will surely have the good idiosyncrasy. For most of us, we have always been taught from a young age that a normal relationship should be between two different people of opposite sexes only. Anything beyond that is no longer considered health. That is called polygamy. And I wish to present to you a few pros and cons of polygamy: Few pros of polygamy: - It gives people freedom of choice when it comes to marrying whom they love. - It offers the husband more prestige and He will also have more options when it comes to sexual companionship, which makes him the envy of his peers. - It provides a better supports system and this eliminates the risk of depression among the members, especially the children. - It guarantees financial stability of the household, which will then have more income, which can be shared by everyone. - It has an abundance of love, when you have children from all spouses, and you will have even more love to last you a lifetime. - It prevents adultery and reduces adultery to a non issue and prevents the temptation of cheating on your spouse. Few cons of polygamy: - It can be the cause for abuse of power simply the man might think that he can be unfair to his wives just because they have consent over the relationship. - It brings jealousy then favoritism among your children can also cause jealousy and emotional distress. - It could prevent a person from spending quality time or this can also cause problems in the long run, especially when it comes to the younger ones, emotional development. - It can lead to abuse which can lead the wives to becoming more submissive to their husband, fearing that they might be replaced with a new wife. - It affects the children most, so children might tease them for having more than one mother in their house. - It could make women feel neglected, one of the wives could get hurt, especially when the man in the house brings in a new wife. Note: Polygamy can encourage the idea that women are considered objects that men can owe. Eventually, this can lead to abuse.

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings PDF Author: Annette Gordon-Reed
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813933560
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
When Annette Gordon-Reed's groundbreaking study was first published, rumors of Thomas Jefferson's sexual involvement with his slave Sally Hemings had circulated for two centuries. Among all aspects of Jefferson's renowned life, it was perhaps the most hotly contested topic. The publication of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings intensified this debate by identifying glaring inconsistencies in many noted scholars' evaluations of the existing evidence. In this study, Gordon-Reed assembles a fascinating and convincing argument: not that the alleged thirty-eight-year liaison necessarily took place but rather that the evidence for its taking place has been denied a fair hearing. Friends of Jefferson sought to debunk the Hemings story as early as 1800, and most subsequent historians and biographers followed suit, finding the affair unthinkable based upon their view of Jefferson's life, character, and beliefs. Gordon-Reed responds to these critics by pointing out numerous errors and prejudices in their writings, ranging from inaccurate citations, to impossible time lines, to virtual exclusions of evidence—especially evidence concerning the Hemings family. She demonstrates how these scholars may have been misguided by their own biases and may even have tailored evidence to serve and preserve their opinions of Jefferson. This updated edition of the book also includes an afterword in which the author comments on the DNA study that provided further evidence of a Jefferson and Hemings liaison. Possessing both a layperson's unfettered curiosity and a lawyer's logical mind, Annette Gordon-Reed writes with a style and compassion that are irresistible. Each chapter revolves around a key figure in the Hemings drama, and the resulting portraits are engrossing and very personal. Gordon-Reed also brings a keen intuitive sense of the psychological complexities of human relationships—relationships that, in the real world, often develop regardless of status or race. The most compelling element of all, however, is her extensive and careful research, which often allows the evidence to speak for itself. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy is the definitive look at a centuries-old question that should fascinate general readers and historians alike.

Mistresses

Mistresses PDF Author: Elizabeth Abbott
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 1590208765
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 526

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Book Description
“A lively and nuanced look at gender roles as they have been revealed by the lives of concubines and mistresses over the centuries” (Kirkus). She exists as both a fictional character and as a flesh-and-blood human being. But who is she, really? Why do women become mistresses, and what is it like to have a private life that is usually also a secret life? Is a mistress merely a wife-in-waiting, or is she the very definition of the emancipated, independent female? Elizabeth Abbott intelligently examines the motives and morals of some of history's most infamous and fascinating women, from antiquity to today. Drawing intimate portraits of those who have—by chance, coercion, or choice—assumed this complex role, Mistresses offers a rich blend of personal biography and cultural insight. “Ms. Abbott is delightfully indiscreet, with an eye for a good story and a colloquial style . . . She has done the ladies a service by bringing them out of the shadows.” —The Economist

Four Sisters of Hofei

Four Sisters of Hofei PDF Author: Annping Chin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439125872
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 489

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Book Description
Four Sisters of Hofei is an intimate encounter with Chinese history, told through the collective memory and stories of four sisters born between 1908 and 1924, and with the benefit of the extraordinary knowledge of Yale historian Annping Chin. Now in their late eighties and early nineties, the Chang sisters lived through a century of historic change in China. In this extraordinary work, assembled with the benefit of letter, diaries, family histories, poetry, journals, and interviews, Annping Chin shapes the story of this family into a riveting chronicle that provides uncanny insight into the old China and its transition to the new. From their father, the Chang sister inherited reason and a belief in the virtues of modern education. From their mother they learned about the human spirit and the art of finding an appropriate path. Their nurse-nannies -- uneducated widows from the Hofei countryside -- contributed their own traditional beliefs and opinions on modern ways. As the sisters grew up, one broke with tradition to marry an actor, one survived the most violent political years of Communist rule, one married one of China's greatest novelists, and one, raised separately by her devout Buddhist great-aunt, was taught to be a rigorous practitioner of China's classical arts. The Chang sisters' prolific correspondence provides a rare glimpse of private life in China during the twentieth century, as well as a chronicle of the country from prosperity to persecution, from foreign wars to Cultural Revolution. In Chin's expert prose, Four Sisters of Hofei is an intensely person story that illustrates the complex history of a complex land.