Nüxue 女學

Nüxue 女學 "Lessons for girls" is the earliest Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) textbook for girls. It was written by Lan Dingyuan 藍鼎元 (1680-1733), courtesy name Yulin 玉霖, style Ren'an 任菴 or Luzhou 鹿洲, and is 4-juan long, corresponding to four chapters.

All chapters are enriched with quotations from ancient books demonstrating how a wife could be perfect in the Confucian sense. Yet the book also stresses that learning was an indispensable factor for the education of a girl. A women without proper knowledge could not fulfill her duties in the right way. Only when educated in the right way a wife would be able to serve her husband, to look after her sisters-in-law, to abstain from jealousy, to manage the household economically, and to educate her children in the right way.