女慕貞潔
nǚ mù zhēn jié
"women, cherish your chastity and probity"
Another way of translating this is "women should cherish their chastity and probity," but that doesn't change the fact that here we have another edict of control. Throughout Chinese history, most women (or girls, since the Thousand Character Classic was presumably most often read by children) were not in a position to read this line, so it's primarily meant for boys. (Gotta teach 'em early who stands where in society.) When read alongside the next line, the sexism of this one is even more appalling.
貞潔 these days usually just means "chastity," but I opted for a longer description, because the "chastity and probity" referred to here were often expected of widows, to the degree that the virtuous widow became a cult figure of sorts in later dynasties. I'd like to know how much of this was just an elite thing, or whether it was widespread throughout society.
微臣
史大偉
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