quality:corruption
Before the Chinese Communist Revolution

Before the Chinese Communist Revolution, women were generally restricted to the traditional gender roles of wives, concubines, or prostitutes. Female oppression stemmed partly from Confucian beliefs about gender roles in society (such as filial piety), ideas which remain influential. Wives were expected to be subservient to their husbands, kowtowing to their husbands. Concubines had less choice than married women, and were kept as mistresses by men for sexual services or to produce children. Prostitution frequently resulted from women being sold into brothels by their parents. Legal during the Qing dynasty, there were few laws regulating prostitution; as a result, prostitutes were similar to slaves and lacked legal rights.