日治時期臺灣傳統文人的女性觀

Notions of Female Held by Traditional Literati in Colonial Taiwan

由於1920年代以降，臺灣女性的自我意識開始萌芽，導致婦女投入職場，婦女解放運動開始出現。而傳統文人這一群體，依過往刻板印象，他們深受儒家經典薰陶，對婦女之觀念較為保守，其在新時代衝擊下有何轉變，實為一值得探究的課題。本文乃利用傳統文人的詩文作品和日記，窺探其對女性的看法。傳統文人的固有女性觀是以傳統道德標準要求女性，常歌頌具備貞、孝、節、烈德行之女子，但己身卻蓄妾，且以出入風月場所為風雅，呈現嚴以律人、寬以待己的現象。迨至1920、1930年代後，他們對於女性已有許多較為進步的看法，例如重視女子教育、提倡男女平等、肯定職業婦女、贊同女子體育、獎助女性文人、鼓勵妻女參與公眾活動等。但是傳統文人之間仍存在著個別差異，而且大多數仍固守傳統男主外、女主內的觀念，認為女子受教育之目的在成為「賢妻良母」，女子從事體育之目的在於生育健康的下一代，可見其眼光仍有侷限。

From the late 1920s, self-awareness began to sprout among the female in Taiwan. As a result, more and more women joined the labor force and the women's liberation movement started to take root. Traditional literati commonly held a stereotypical image of female as being deeply influenced by Confucianism,and hence, relatively conservative. How such perspective changed and evolved under the impact of the new era merits further exploration. This paper reviewed the notions of female held by traditional literati as expressed in their poems, prose and diaries. Traditional literati inherently expected high moral norms from female, often eulogizing virtuous women of chastity, filial piety, integrity and courage; while they themselves kept concubines and mistresses and frequented brothels, showing double standards. From the 1920s, their notions of female gradually became more advanced.They began to emphasize female education, advocate gender equality, recognize the contribution of working female, support physical education among female, honor female literati, and encouraged female to participate in public activities. Nevertheless, there was still discrepancy among the literati, with the majority still clinging to the traditional view that 'the male is the breadwinner, the female is the homemaker'. They adhered to the belief that the objective of female education was to turn them into 'capable wives and good mothers' and the purpose of physical education among female was for them to produce healthy children. Such notions revealed that their perspectives still remained narrow and confined.