Confucian shadows and modern lights: gender representation in Chinese Language textbooks (1978-2024)

For over 2,000 years, China has been shadowed by its Confucian tradition, a period marked by a long-standing history of male superiority and female subordination. Over the past decades, Gender equality has emerged as a fundamental national policy in China, and the social status of Chinese women has been gradually improved, however, do textbooks in contemporary China reflect this social progress? The present longitudinal study aims to contribute to this topic by analyzing the gender representation in primary Chinese Language school textbooks published by the People's Education Press from 1978 to 2024. We have observed that the proportion of female roles and protagonists has have an increasing trend over time, reflecting that women are gradually receiving more attention in textbooks. Nonetheless, the research uncovered deeply ingrained patterns of gender stereotyping, including the underrepresentation of female characters, reinforcement of traditional domestic and professional roles, and limited depictions of gender diversity. In conclusion, while Chinese primary school language textbooks over the past four decades have demonstrated incremental progress in gender equality consciousness, they scarcely reflect the broader societal advancements in gender equality during the same period. The lingering shadows of traditional Confucian gender ideology continue to permeate these materials.