Biographies of Exemplary Women

Biographies of Exemplary Women is a classical Chinese biographical work compiled by the Han dynasty scholar Liu Xiang, with later association to Huangfu Mi. It gathers 125 short accounts of women regarded as models in ancient China, drawing on early historical sources rather than telling a single continuous story. The book is built as a sequence of compact biographies, so its focus is on character, conduct, and social values as they were framed in an early Confucian setting.

It suits readers interested in early Chinese history, biography as a literary form, and the way classical texts were used for moral education. This is not a narrative novel, but a book to read piece by piece, especially if you like historical writing that mixes record, selection, and ethical framing. What makes it distinctive is its long afterlife as a standard teaching text for women in traditional China, which gives it a place both in literary history and in the history of education.