Class and Gender Hierarchy in Lady Tan's Circle of Women

Introduction: The Interlocking Systems of Class and Gender

In Lady Tan's Circle of Women, Lisa See crafts a world where class and gender are not separate forces but interlocking systems that define every aspect of a woman's existence. The novel's thematic claim is that while fifteenth-century Chinese society imposes an almost immutable hierarchy — based on birth order, marital status, and the Confucian ideal of female obedience — women can still carve out spaces of agency, knowledge, and solidarity within these constraints. Through the journey of Tan Yunxian from girl to elderly matriarch, the narrative shows how class privilege offers some protections while gender subordination remains universal, yet female ingenuity, medical skill, and quiet defiance can shift the balance.

Tracing the Hierarchy Across Three Plot Movements

1. Early Life: The Mansion of Golden Light and the Rules of Obedience

Yunxian’s first lesson in hierarchy comes at age eight when her mother, Respectful Lady, dies from a footbinding infection. The episode starkly illustrates how women’s bodies are simultaneously prized and destroyed by patriarchal customs. Grandmother Ru later teaches Yunxian that bound feet — or “golden lilies” — are both a gift and a peril. The symbol of bound feet recurs throughout the novel as a marker of class: only elite women could afford the crippling process, yet even a wealthy woman like Respectful Lady dies from its complications.

At the Mansion of Golden Light, Yunxian observes the sharp division between wives and concubines. The three concubines — White Jade, Green Jade, and Red Jade — openly compete for the grandfather’s favor, while Grandmother Ru maintains a distant authority. Miss Zhao, the father’s concubine, occupies a vulnerable middle ground: higher than a servant but lower than any wife. When Miss Zhao is taunted by the other concubines, they remind her that she was sold as a “Thin Horse” from Yangzhou. This scene reveals that a woman’s value is entirely determined by the men who own her. Yet within this rigid system, Grandmother Ru subverts gender expectations by becoming a respected physician. She tells Yunxian that a woman must hide her feelings and wait until she is ready to “leap, swim, or fly” — advice that becomes Yunxian’s guiding principle.

2. Marriage: The Garden of Fragrant Delights and the Struggle for Position

After her marriage to Maoren Yang, Yunxian enters the Garden of Fragrant Delights, a compound where every woman is ranked by her husband’s birth order and her own fertility. Lady Kuo, the top wife, rules with an iron fist. Yunxian’s initial years are marked by isolation and pressure to produce a son. She is cut off from her friend Meiling, and her letters go unanswered. The women’s chambers become a microcosm of class and gender hierarchy: aunts, spinsters, widows, wives, concubines, and servants each occupy a fixed niche.

A pivotal scene occurs when Second Aunt, Third Aunt, and Fourth Aunt jockey for influence in the gathering room. The older aunties — with no real power — entertain by telling stories that mock weak husbands, but even their humor is a coping mechanism within a system that leaves them no other outlet. Miss Zhao earlier warned Yunxian that the sisters-in-law would be “vipers,” and indeed they sabotage her with petty tricks. Yet Yunxian slowly begins to exercise agency by using her medical knowledge. She secretly treats the ailing child Yining, and later Spinster Aunt and other women seek her advice. Her healing skill becomes a form of quiet resistance that earns her respect across class lines.

The episode with the eunuch Lin Ta in the Forbidden City further illustrates how gender hierarchy extends even to the imperial court. Eunuchs, though castrated and despised, hold bureaucratic power. The women of the Great Within — concubines and empresses — are hidden away, their lives controlled by the emperor alone. The term “spoutless teapot” for eunuchs and the emphasis on “tailless dogs” underscore how both eunuchs and women are defined by their lack of male potency.

3. Maturity: Breaking Established Customs and the Full Circle of Power

By the time Yunxian is in her “sitting quietly” stage, she has risen to become the matriarch of the Garden of Fragrant Delights. Now she can bend the rules she once obeyed. Her most dramatic subversion occurs when she decides to bring wives and daughters (but not concubines) to the Dragon Boat Festival — a privilege traditionally reserved for concubines accompanying their masters. This move reverses the usual hierarchy, prioritizing wives over mistresses. Lady Kuo warns that it may anger the men, but Yunxian insists. The scene shows that as a woman ages and gains status, she can reshape customs to favor those who were once at the bottom.

Yet the novel does not ignore the costs of maintaining hierarchy. Yunxian herself buys a concubine for her husband, perpetuating the system she once suffered under. The act is pragmatic: she knows that a concubine’s son is still her son. But it also reveals the complexity of female complicity. The symbol of the snake shedding its skin recurs throughout the novel; Yunxian must constantly shed versions of herself to survive — from obedient daughter to struggling bride to powerful matriarch. Her transformation is incomplete because the system remains.

Character and Symbol Connections

Grandmother Ru embodies the tension between Confucian propriety and female agency. She never attends the Dragon Boat Festival to protect her reputation as a doctor, yet she teaches Yunxian to “hide feelings” and strike when ready. Meiling, though a midwife of lower class, becomes Yunxian’s lifelong friend. Their cross-class bond is itself a challenge to hierarchy, though even Meiling is initially forbidden from sharing medical knowledge outside midwifery.

The symbol of blood in the novel links menstruation, childbirth, and death. It is both a sign of life and a source of pollution. Women are defined by their bleeding, yet the shame attached to it limits their participation in the wider world. Lotus-no-mud-no-lotus perfectly captures the novel’s view of women: they emerge from the “mud” of patriarchy and suffering to bloom, but they can never escape the mud entirely.

Complexity and Contradiction

The hierarchy is not static. A concubine like Miss Chen can gain temporary influence by bearing a son, while a barren wife may be discarded or forced to accept a concubine. Eunuchs like Lin Ta hold power over women, but they too are outcasts. The novel also shows that class privilege does not spare women from gender oppression. Lady Kuo, the top wife, must still obey her husband and manage her fear of losing status. Even the wealthy Empress Dowager (in the palace chapter) is confined to the Great Within.

Yunxian’s own choices raise moral questions. She buys a concubine, she defers to Lady Kuo for years, and she preserves family secrets. Her success as a doctor is built on strategic silence. The postscript reveals that her book was reprinted by a great-nephew, but her son died young and her grandson was beheaded — the male line ended. Hierarchy ultimately failed her family, yet her medical legacy survived through a different kind of kinship, her friendship with Meiling.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Question: How does footbinding function as a symbol of both class distinction and gender subordination in the novel? Answer: Footbinding, or “golden lilies,” marks a woman as a member of the elite class, able to afford the painful process, but it also cripples her mobility and creates lifelong health risks, as seen in Respectful Lady’s death. It embodies how women’s bodies are simultaneously idealized and sacrificed within the patriarchal system.

2. Question: What strategies does Tan Yunxian use to gain agency within the rigid hierarchy of the Garden of Fragrant Delights? Answer: She practices medicine in secret, treats children and ailing women, and gradually earns respect. She follows Grandmother Ru’s advice to “hide feelings” and wait for the right moment to act. Later, as matriarch, she breaks customs like the Dragon Boat Festival rule to assert her authority.

3. Question: How does the relationship between Yunxian and Meiling challenge class boundaries? Answer: Meiling is the daughter of a midwife, a lower-class profession, while Yunxian is an official’s daughter. Despite the class gap, they form a deep friendship and later collaborate to help women. Meiling is the one who urges Yunxian to write her medical book, showing that solidarity can transcend hierarchical divisions.

4. Question: In what ways does the novel show women actively reinforcing the gender hierarchy, rather than simply suffering under it? Answer: Yunxian buys a concubine for her husband, continuing the tradition of polygyny. The aunties and concubines compete for male favor, and Lady Kuo enforces strict rules. The postscript notes that Yunxian’s own daughter-in-law follows her duties without complaint. These actions demonstrate complicity within the system.

5. Question: How does the symbol of the “snake shedding its skin” relate to the theme of class and gender hierarchy? Answer: The snake symbolizes transformation and survival. Yunxian sheds earlier identities — obedient child, powerless bride — to become a healer and matriarch. Yet each new “skin” is still shaped by the same hierarchical system, indicating that personal change occurs within, not outside, the constraints of class and gender.