ACPA Statement Regarding Anti-Asian Violence

We join the many associations in their statements in condemning violence against Asian Americans and Canadians. We stand in solidarity with the victims of the Atlanta shooting and the victims of other hate crimes. Given the rise of xenophobia and racism in past years, we have witnessed drastically increased numbers of attacks, both physical and verbal, against members of the ethnic Asian community. Many of these attacks are perpetrated against the most vulnerable individuals in the community, such as the elderly and those who do not speak English. We have a moral obligation to speak up for these marginalized persons so their own voices may be heard.
The Atlanta attack is but one example of how racism and sexism, poisonously intertwined, lie at the heart of anti-Asian violence. As an association of Asian philosophers and philosophers who study Asian philosophy, we want to draw our colleagues’ attention to a body of philosophical work by female Asian philosophers on topics related to their moral pursuit, their moral agency, and their liberation.
The list below is by no means comprehensive, instead, it is an invitation to those who are familiar with this body of literature to introduce the relevant works to us; it is also an invitation to those who might be interested in including these works into their teaching syllabus or research.
Primary Literature
Ban Zhao (45 AD -117 AD)
“Lessons for Women”
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
The Song Sisters (? - 820/825)
The Analects for Women
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
Empress Xu/ Empress Ren Xiao Wen (1362 –1407)
“The Teaching for the Inner Court”
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
Madam Liu (16th Century)
“Short Records of Models for Women”
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
Im Yunjidang(1723-1793)
"The Way to Become a female Sage: Im Yunjidang's Confucian Feminism". Kim Sungmoon, Journal of the History of Ideas. University of Pennsylvania Press. 75 (3): 395–416. doi:10.1353/jhi.2014.0026. JSTOR 43289674. S2CID 144228529.
He Yin Zhen (1884 – 1920)
“On the Question of Women’s Liberation”
“The Feminist Manifesto”
The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory
Lydia H. Liu, Rebecca E. Karl, Dorothy Ko, Columbia University Press
Some Secondary Literature
The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy and Gender
Ann Pang-White edit, Bloomsbury
Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation
Li-Hsiang Lisa Rosenlee, SUNY
Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty
Robin Wang, Hackett Publishing
A Postcolonial Theology of Life: Planetarity East and West
Jea Sophia Oh, Sopher Press.
The Association of Chinese Philosophers in America
President: Suk Choi (Professor of Philosophy at Towson University)
Vice President: Jing Iris Hu (Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University, Montréal)
Secretary/Treasurer: Mercedes Valmisa Oviedo (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg College)
The Atlanta attack is but one example of how racism and sexism, poisonously intertwined, lie at the heart of anti-Asian violence. As an association of Asian philosophers and philosophers who study Asian philosophy, we want to draw our colleagues’ attention to a body of philosophical work by female Asian philosophers on topics related to their moral pursuit, their moral agency, and their liberation.
The list below is by no means comprehensive, instead, it is an invitation to those who are familiar with this body of literature to introduce the relevant works to us; it is also an invitation to those who might be interested in including these works into their teaching syllabus or research.
Primary Literature
Ban Zhao (45 AD -117 AD)
“Lessons for Women”
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
The Song Sisters (? - 820/825)
The Analects for Women
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
Empress Xu/ Empress Ren Xiao Wen (1362 –1407)
“The Teaching for the Inner Court”
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
Madam Liu (16th Century)
“Short Records of Models for Women”
The Confucian Four Books for Women: A New Translation of the Nü Sishu and the Commentary of Wang Xiang
Ann Pang-White, OUP
Im Yunjidang(1723-1793)
"The Way to Become a female Sage: Im Yunjidang's Confucian Feminism". Kim Sungmoon, Journal of the History of Ideas. University of Pennsylvania Press. 75 (3): 395–416. doi:10.1353/jhi.2014.0026. JSTOR 43289674. S2CID 144228529.
He Yin Zhen (1884 – 1920)
“On the Question of Women’s Liberation”
“The Feminist Manifesto”
The Birth of Chinese Feminism: Essential Texts in Transnational Theory
Lydia H. Liu, Rebecca E. Karl, Dorothy Ko, Columbia University Press
Some Secondary Literature
The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Chinese Philosophy and Gender
Ann Pang-White edit, Bloomsbury
Confucianism and Women: A Philosophical Interpretation
Li-Hsiang Lisa Rosenlee, SUNY
Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty
Robin Wang, Hackett Publishing
A Postcolonial Theology of Life: Planetarity East and West
Jea Sophia Oh, Sopher Press.
The Association of Chinese Philosophers in America
President: Suk Choi (Professor of Philosophy at Towson University)
Vice President: Jing Iris Hu (Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University, Montréal)
Secretary/Treasurer: Mercedes Valmisa Oviedo (Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Gettysburg College)