The stress and dissemination of the Confucian duteous concepts——On the rise of virtuous women in the west of Fujian in the Qing Dynasty

In the Qing Dynasty,a huge community of virtuous women sprang up in the west of Fujian.Though the official awards and family education were among the reasons of their emergence,the stress and dissemination of the Confucian duteous concepts was actually of more importance.Since the Song Dynasty,because of the special social and historical background,the west of Fujian has been deeply influenced by the Confucianism in the Song and the Ming Dynasties.With the extreme development of the Confucian duteous concepts in the Qing Dynasty,the ethical atmosphere in the west of Fujian became more and more serious.Consequently,virtuous women emerged in large numbers in this area,including women of moral integrity,women of chastity,women staunch with moral integrity and so on.