Mongol and Chinese Girls

Jaden LightPrompt: Compare and contrast the role of

women in Mongol culture to women of China in the 13th century

Once upon a time there was a girl named

Arban who lived in Mongolia. She loved to play dolls but

never had anyone to play

with.

There was also a girl named Chen who lived

in China. She also loved to play with

dolls. She always tried to play with her sister but she was too young

to understand what was going on.

One day Chen’s family

moved to Mongolia after

an attack. They moved next door to

Arban’s family.

Arban and Chen soon met and

became friends right away. They soon found out they both loved to play dolls and

finally had someone to play

with.

One day while they were playing dolls they noticed their dolls were very different. Chen’s

doll had her feet bound. Arban asked

why and Chen told her it was because that’s what Chinese women do and it’s required to

find husband.

This conversation lead to a discussion about

marriage. Arban discovered that

Chinese women had no choice in their husband. Their marriages were

arranged by their parents. This was very

strange to Arban because Mongolian

women didn’t have to get married and if

they did they could choose their partner.

They kept talking about their

marriages and their parents and found

that they were very different. Arban’s

parents were seen as equals and would

listen and take advice from each

other.

However, Chen’s

parents were not equals.

Her dad would talk down her

mom.

They continued playing dolls and

kept learning more about each others culture. One day they learned that their moms both were responsible

for cooking, cleaning, and taking care of

children.

Both their moms also had rights to property and had the job of tending

to animals

As the girls kept playing dolls, Chen found religion the most

surprising. In Arban’s religion, shamans could

be both men and women. In fact women were actually preferred

because they could receive messages from other countries more

easily than men. However, in Chen’s

religion only men could be Shamans.

Chen also found it surprising that

Mongolian women sometimes go to war as well. This was so different from what

she knew in her culture.

Every day that Arban and Chen played

they learned more and more about each other’s cultures and were able to share it with their parents.

Every day they found something new they would be eager to

share it at the dinner table that night.

As best friends

"13.6 Pba Mongol Women." 13.6 Pba Mongol Women. Web. 22 Nov. 2015. •

• (n.d.). Retrieved November 22, 2015, from http://web.clark.edu/afisher/HIST252/lectures_text/women_medieval_china.pdf

• "Ancient Mongol Women." Ancient Mongol Women. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

SOURCES