Many of these women endured torture and a few chose suicide for defending their reputation. Their being abused was regarded as a humiliation by later generations of historians in ancient China.

These rules were taught at homes and schools, and used as tools to enslave and suppress women in ancient China. It was not until Chairman Mao made his famous assertion that "women hold up half of ...

Throughout ancient China's history, each dynasty imposed restrictions on women, notes Li Qian, vice-president of Huanyu and the producer of Phoenix: The Story of Her. "Although these constraints ...