RICHMOND, THE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY IN LONDON

COMPARE THE REPRESENTATION

AND ROLE OF WOMEN IN TWO
CULTURES IN THE EARLY
MODERN PERIOD
How did the culture and depiction of women in Ottoman
Turkey and Qing Dynasty affect their status in society in
early modern period?

Sophia Mutalani
April 11, 2012

Professor Michle Cohen

World Cultural History II 102 B

The key thrust of this essay is to compare and contrast two cultures during
the early modern period (1400-1700).
The purpose of this thesis is to; firstly, shed led on ottoman women in the
Ottoman Empire1 and impugn the western worlds misconstrued ideas about
the Imperial Harem2. The Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire often
erected misplaced fascinations or was treated with disdain, by many
westerners. This is exemplified by an Italian traveler, Luigi Olivero, in his
book Turkey without Harem where he states that; The Harem of the
Mussulmans was the pagan sanctuary of this marvelous wisdom. It was an
institution that permitted man, in addition to maintaining his superiority over
woman, a creature intellectually and biologically of the lower level, a human
sub-production from every point of view, to restrict woman to her primary
duty of furthering the demographic quota .3 They have been several
misconceptions of the ottoman harem, and its meaning under Islamic law,
and what the relative power of its occupants was, with respect to the ruler.
Secondly, this Essay will explore the contributions and status of women in
ottoman politics and the ottoman economy.

Also known as Sublime Ottoman State was a Turkish empire which reigned from 12991923.
2

Harem is from the Arabic word haram which means forbidden; sacred.

Luigi Olivero, Turchia Senza Harem (Turkey without Harem), Turkey 1952.

Lastly, this exposition will examine women in China during the reign of the
Qing dynasty.4 The essay will explore the role and representation of women
in Chinese culture and Xiunu system that was very popular during the Qing
Dynasty.

Women in the Ottoman Empire indeed lived under strict Islamic laws. Islam enforced laws that
created an imbalanced relationship, which favored man in a various number of ways. It was
permissible for men to have up to four wives and they were granted complete authority over
them. Men could divorce women, but the reverse was not allowed. This could be seen a law in
some shape of form that applied to almost every women in Europe and other parts of the world.
The role and status of ottoman women transformed as the ottomans rose to power. The ottoman
harem often ejected images of beautiful sensuous women, in opulent surroundings whose duty
was satisfy the unbridle desire of a Sultan. 5 The Sultans harem was far more than a quarter for
his bed mates. The history behind Ottoman harem women is a much more varied and complex
story, contrary to the fantasies the western mind usually conjured.
The Harem (Seraglio harem) was a scared inviolable polygamous household that contained the
female members of the royal family. It (harem) was several households that made up the seraglio
harem. Members of the harem were classified into categories of importance to the Sultan: Valide
Sultan (Queen Mother), Haseki Sultan (Sultans daughters, princesses), Kadin (Wives of the

Founded by Huang Taiji and reigned 1616-1911

This A Muslim sovereign also The Sultan of Turkey.

Sultan), Ikbals/Odalisques (Sultans favorites), and the rest concubines (servants). The Harem
households comprised of all the women above who guarded by Black Eunuchs.6
Ottoman harem women were groomed and taught languages, arts and poetry, music, gardening,
housekeeping and most importantly reading and writing. Being a member of the harem was seen
as an opportunity, rather than the imprisonment of a woman, as projected by Olivero. Ottoman
Women were afforded opportunities that were not available to women even in Europe. A traveler,
Elizabeth Craven, expressed in her Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople (1789), I
think I never saw a country where women may enjoy so much freedom from all reproach, as in
Turkey.The Turks in their conduct towards our sex are an example to other nations. 7 This
converts the cloistered images of Ottoman women as powerless and caged victims, but rather
were learned women who were not only groomed with lessons in deportment, but also etiquette
in court.
The harem was a community of influential and powerful women, with far more effects on
politics in and outside the Ottoman Empire than one might realize. With the availability of their
own ample resources, these women (ottoman) initiated great projects and charitable works that
transformed Istanbul and its culture. Nadine dOsman Han, defines these women as, a
powerful government within the government, and thus had a structure not

The Valide Sultan was the mother of the ruling Sultan, who held the highest position in the
harem. The Haseki Sultan was the daughters of the Sultan from his wives. These were
followed by kadins who made up the four wives the Sultan was supposed to have according
to Islamic law, kadins held the second highest position. The Kadins were followed by the
Ikbals who were the Sultans favorites, who could ascend to Kadin if they bore the Sultan a
male child. And last were the concubines (cariye, meaning novice in training), who can
referred to as what is termed as a one night stand today. Concubines either served as
servants or entertained the Sultan in his bed chamber. A concubine could also ascend to
powerful positions like Kadin or Valide Sultan if she bore the Sultan a male child.
7

Elizabeth Craven, Journey through Crimea to Constantinople, London, 1789.

unlike that of the Sultan with respect to the outside world.

The Harem of

Ottoman Sultans may have wielded influence behind the structure of the
harem, but their power can be seen through their patronage of important
architectural projects. Hrrem Sultan9 (popularly known as Roxelana in
Europe), was the influential wife of Sleyman the Magnificent I 10, she
pioneered the Haseki Hrrem Klliye in Istanbul, which was a building that
housed a mosque, soup kitchen, schools, a womens hospital and a
bathhouse. Another example is Nurbanu, a favorite of Selim II, who played a
significant role in bringing the peace that ended the War of the Holy League
(1573).
The Valide Sultan, who was considered the most influential body in the
harem, had great power and influence on Ottoman politics. She (Valide
Sultan) acted as her sons (Sultan) advisor, and was often called upon in court
(Ida) to contribute her own opinions, when her son was making hasty
decisions. An example of an influential Valide Sultan is Hadice Turhan Sultan,
mother of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed IV11. Turhan Sultan become known as
what Lucienne Thys-Senocak

calls a defacto ruler of the Ottoman Empire;

she (Turhan) curbed the politics, and cultural agenda of the ottoman court. 12
8

Nadine Sultana dOsman Han, The Legacy of Sultan Abd lhamid II: Memoirs and
Biography of HIH Sultan Selim bin Hamid Han, New Mexico, 2001.
9

Her Imperial Higness, Haseki Sultan (1500/1506-1558), Mother of Sultan Selim II.

10

11

12

Sultan (1494-1566), predecessor was Selim I.

Ottoman Sultan who reigned 1444-1481

Lucienne Thys-Senocak, Ottoman Women Builders: The Architectural Patronage of

HadiceTurhan Sultan, 2007.

The Harem of Ottoman Sultans also played a vital role in the Ottoman
economy. Unlike Europe, women in Ottoman Empire were landholders; they
could inherit and own property and often managed their own finances.
Women were allowed to go out and shop with the protection of Eunuchs and
arrangements were made for merchants to convene at a private mosque.
Women in the harem were not idle sex slaves, but kept themselves occupied
with supervising the education of their children and learning more about
ottoman politics and forming government allies, for the ascension of their
sons to the throne. They took trips in their carriages or enjoyed the
Bosphorus in their luxurious small boats called caique.13 Even slaves,
whether men or women were availed an education, and based on talent and
intelligence, members of the harem were able to ascend to positions of
power and respectable status.
On the end of the spectrum was China, located in Eastern Asia, which had an
Imperial Harem similar to that of the Ottomans, known as the Qing Imperial
Harem. As a symbol of power and strength, emperors (same as Sultan) and
their decedents had a countless number of women throughout Chinese
history. Unlike the Ottoman Harem, which chose women from various
backgrounds (Armenia, Georgia and Russian), the Qing harem used a system

13

Nadine Sultana dOsman Han, The Legacy of Sultan Abd lhamid II: Memoirs and
Biography of HIH Sultan Selim bin Hamid Han, New Mexico, 2001.

known as Xiunu14 (meaning elegant females), which was a system for

selecting imperial consorts.

15

Womens positions in the Qing dynasty were governed by strict rules that
had been in place for years. Women were regarded as lesser beings and
were not considered in any discussion. Men were the people in power,
women held no place in Confuciuss view of the Chinese structure.

16

In

china, a womans life was one of service and silence, Ban Zhao expresses
the duty of a woman as follows, Let a woman modestly yield to others; let
her respect others; let her put others first, herself last. Should she do
something good, let her not mention it; should she do something bad, let her
not deny it.17 Women were subordinate to men, and additional to this, the
Chinese cultural structure segregated men and women into two spheres. The
inner sphere (nei) was limited to the household, and this applied to women,
who were responsible for cooking, sewing, and the nurturing of children. The
outer sphere (wai) was a male domain that comprised of: Politics, trade,
academia and labor.
Chinese womens subordination can be said to have began at birth. The birth
of a boy was often a cause to celebrate, since he would bring prosperity and
14

It was a system for imperial selection of consorts that was done every three years. It was
mandatory that all women in the Manchu region between ages thirteen and fourteen
assemble in the Forbidden City in Beijing for imperial selection.
15

Mark C. Elliot, The Manchu Way: The Eight Banners and Ethnic Identity in Late Imperial
China, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001, p.473.
16

Adrienne Johnson, Taiping Pipe Dreams: Womens Roles in the Taiping Rebellion, 2006,
p.5.
17

Ban Zhao, Lessons for Women, New York, The Century Co., 1932

strength to his family. A girl on the other hand, would later leave (married
off) to become part of another family, and contribute to their lineage, thus
was considered a burden. The inferiority of Chinese women was further
represented by female babies who were placed underneath a crib to show
that a female child was lowly and weak, and should regard it as her primary
duty to humble herself before others. The practice of foot binding 18 which
was another requirement for women in the Qing imperial harem has often
been seen as another inferiority aspect of women in Chinese culture at the
time. A woman living in the Qing harem stated that, for years she crawled
through the house on her hands and knees.19 Nevertheless, women during
this era embraced the culture, since small feet were regarded as a bodily
marker of status and purity and good breeding.

20

Imperial Qing consorts, were confined to the household and seldom went
outside. Similar to the Ottoman harem, Qing women also possessed separate
quarters called the inner quarters, that hid them from guests. These
women were not allowed to be seen under any circumstance, this was
regarded as a sign of purity and chastity. When a family wanted to know
more about a girl who had been suggested for a daughter in law and asked
18

This began as early as the Song Dynasty (906-1279), which was a ritual, initially
performed by mothers on their young daughters (usually five years old). It was the wrapping
of girls feet in a cloth that would make her feet smaller by bending her smaller four toes
underneath her big toe.
19

Ida Pruitt, A Daughter of Han; The Autobiography of a Chinese Working Women,

Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1922, p.22.
20

Susan Mann, Precious Records: Women in Chinas Long Eighteenth Century, Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press, 1997, p.27.

what kind of a girl she was, the neighbors would answer, we do not know.
We have never seen her. And that was praise

21

Whilst Ottoman harem women had some sense of freedom, Qing women
were not provided any greater freedom through marriage, Ban Zhao wrote,
If a husband does not control his wife, then the rules of conduct manifesting
his authority are abandoned and broken. If a wife does not serve her
husband, the proper relationship (between men and women) and the natural
order of things are neglected and destroyed.22 Even when their husbands
died, the expectation of a Qing woman was that she remains faithful to her
husband. Widowed women were often married off to men that were
desperate, since their purity had now vanished; only desperate men would
take interest. Their second marriages were often not advantageous, and
some women resorted to suicide, which later become a tradition that was
celebrated as a symbol of a womans loyalty to her late husband.
Qing women continued to live with little personal freedom and during the
reign of the Qing Dynasty women did not start to experience freedom until
the Taiping rebellion in 1847(18th Century), which changed Chinese culture
drastically.
When the two cultures are compared, it is notable that both cultures erect
certain similarities, for example, the harem which both cultures enforce, as

21

Pruitt, A Daughter of Han, p. 29.

22

Ban Zhao, Lessons for Women, p.84.

a household for imperial consorts. Women in both cultures were seen as

subjects of their respectable empires.
However, when comparing the freedom and status of Ottoman women and
Qing women, it is evident that Ottoman women enjoyed greater freedom and
the availability of an education and an opportunity to contribute to the
Ottoman economy in numerous ways. Qing women seem to have
undertaken the conventional roles and norms that surrounded most women
around the world, during this period. Qing women were seen more as sex
and husband slaves and did not advance to any positions of power even in
the Qing Harem. Qing women were only able to exercise some form of power
and domination in the inner sphere.
On the other hand, Ottoman women (sultans favorites) continued to exude
power and influence; even when they were married off to a government
official (who saw it as an honor, because they [ottoman women] were trained
and groomed in different ways). These women (ex-sultans favorites), were
allowed to visit the palace harem as often as the wished, and in some cases
asked for favors on behalf of their husbands, which were in most cases
granted. Despite its(Ottoman Empire) fall in 1923 the Ottoman harem
survived for such a long period, because harem womens expectations were
met and were availed the opportunity to govern themselves.