Traditions of Exemplary Women

This project focuses on the Lienü zhuan (Categorized
Biographies of Women) of Liu Xiang (77-6 B.C.), the
earliest extant book in the Chinese tradition solely
devoted to the moral education of women. The book consists
of biographical accounts of female role models in early
China and became the standard textbook for women’s
education for the next two millennia. This digital archive
serves as a publicly accessible tool for scholarly
exploration of early woodblock editions of the Lienü zhuan
held by the National Library of China, as well as other
early Chinese sources offered here in Chinese and English
translation.