Women as depicted in 18th century Iranian painting.
Throughout the history of Persia, both men and women used make-up, wore jewellery and coloured their body parts. Moreover, their garments were both elaborate and colorful. Rather than being marked by gender, clothing styles were distinguished by class and status.[1] Women in modern Iran (post 1935 "Persia") are of various mixes and appearances, both in fashion[2] and social norm.[3] Traditionally however, the "Persian woman" had a pre-defined appearance set by social norms that were the standard for all women in society.[4] For example, the observations of a late Qajar era orientalist read:
- "The Persian ladies' hair is very luxuriant and never cut. It is nearly always dyed red, or with indigo to a blue-black tinge. It is naturally a glossy black. Fair hair is not esteemed. Blue eyes are not uncommon, but brown ones are the rule. A full moon face is much admired, and a dark complexion (termed Namak) is the native idea of the highest beauty. The eyebrows are widened and painted until they appear to meet, and color is used freely in painting the faces."
Archeological excavations at Shahr-e Sookhteh "Burnt City," a prehistoric settlement in the Sistan-Baluchistan province of southeastern Iran, has revealed that the women of the 4th-3rd millennium BCE community maintained a high level of socio-economic status. Of the seals discovered in graves there, 90% were in the possession of women,[5] who in turn made up over 60% of the population.[6] The distribution of the seals, which as instruments of trade and government represented economic and administrative control, reveals that these women were the more powerful group in their prehistoric society.[5]
"The position of woman in ancient Persia was apparently in nowise inferior to her standing in the Vedic times of early India. As among other oriental nations, however, submission to her lord and master is taken for granted, and the woman who is 'obedient to her husband' comes in for a special meed of praise in the Avesta and elsewhere; but it is perfectly evident, as a rule, there was not that subjection which results in loss of personality and individuality."[7]
The early Achaemenid-era Persepolis fortification and treasury tablets refers to women in three different terms: mutu, irti and duksis.[8] The first refers to ordinary (non-royal) women; the second to unmarried members of the royal family; and the last duksis to married women of royalty. Such differentiated terminology shows the significance of marital status and of a woman's relationship to the king. The tablets also reveal that women of the royal household traveled extensively and often personally administered their own estates.[8] The queen and her ladies-in-waiting are known to have played polo against the emperor and his courtiers.[9] The only limits on the extent of the authority exercised by the king's mother were set by the monarch himself.[10]
Iranian woman as depicted in
Sassanid floor mosaic.
The Persian lady portrayed in five medallions on this bowl has a hairstyle that suggests that she may have been a Queen in the
Sassanid royal family at the time of King Narseh.
In the tablets, "non-royals and the ordinary workers are mentioned by their rank in the specific work group or workshops they were employed. The rations they received are based on skill and the level of responsibility they assumed in the workplace. The professions are divided by gender and listed according to the amount of ration. Records indicate that some professions were undertaken by both sexes while others were restricted to either male or female workers. There are male and female supervisors at the mixed workshops as evident by the higher rations they have received with little difference in the amount of rations between the two sexes. There are also occasions where women listed in the same category as men received less rations and vice versa. Female managers have different titles presumably reflecting their level of skill and rank. The highest-ranking female workers in the texts are called arashshara (great chief). They appear repeatedly in the texts, were employed at different locations and managed large groups of women children and sometimes men working in their units. They usually receive high rations of wine and grains exceeding all the other workers in the unit including the males."[8] In addition, pregnant women also received higher rations than others. Women with new-born children also received extra rations for a period of one month.
A few experts claim that it was Cyrus the Great who twelve centuries before Islam, established the custom of covering women to protect their chastity. According to their theory, the veil passed from the Achaemenids to the Hellenistic Seleucids. They, in turn, handed it to the Byzantines, from whom the Arab conquerors inherited it, transmitting it over the vast reaches of the Arab world.[11]
The Sassanid princess Purandokht, daughter of Khosrau II, ruled the Persian empire for almost two years before resigning. Also, during the Sassanian dynasty many of the Iranian soldiers who were captured by Romans were women who were fighting along with the men.[12]
Persian women are depicted in many masterpieces of Persian paintings and miniatures.[13] These are often used as sources to "trace through the sequence of women's fashion from earlier periods".[14] Drawing a Persian girl dressed in colors with Persian wine at hand has been a favorite style for portraying love[citation needed].
At the Battle of Ctesiphon (363) the victorious Roman soldiers prized young Persian women, seizing them as war booty.[15]
Iranian women as dancers were highly regarded in China. During the Tang dynasty bars were often attended by Iranian or Sogdian waitresses who performed dances for clients. Poets like Li Bai flirted and wrote about them in their poems. Whirl dances were often performed by these girls. Some of these blue-eyed and blond-haired Persian and Greek girls danced in bars and clubs in China during this period.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (Wudai) (907-960), there are examples of Chinese emperors marrying Persian women.[28]
The young Chinese Emperor Liu Chang of the Southern Han dynasty had a Persian lover in his harem.[29][30] He nicknamed her Mei Zhu, which means "Beautiful Sow"(美豬). Liu liked the Persian girl (Mei Zhu) because of her brown skin color, described in French as "peau mate" (olive or light brown skinned). He and the Persian girl also liked to forced young couples to go naked and played with them in the palace.[31][32] and he favored her by "doting" on her. Multiple women originating from the Persian Gulf lived in Guangzhou's foreign quarter, they were all called "Persian women" (波斯婦 Po-ssu-fu or Bosifu).[33] From the tenth to twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Guangzhou, and in the twelfth century large numbers of Persian women lived there, noted for wearing mulitiple earrings and "quarrelsome dispositions".[34][35] It was recorded that "The Po- ssu-fu at Kuang-chou make holes all round their ears. There are some who wear more than twenty ear-rings."[36] Descriptions of the sexual activities between Liu Chang and the Persian woman in the Song dynasty book the "Ch'ing-i-lu" by T'ao Ku were so graphic that the "Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library), Issue 2" refused to provide any quotes from it while discussing the subject.[37] Liu had free time with the Persian women by delegating the task of governing to others.[38]
The Wu Tai Shï says that 'Liu Ch'ang [劉鋹, Emperor of the Southern Han dynasty reigning at Canton, about A.D. 970]. "was dallying with his palace girls and Persian [波斯] women in the inner apartments, and left the government of his state to the ministers."[39][40][41] The History of the Five Dynasties (Wu Tai Shih) stated that- "Liu Chang then with his court- ladies and Po-ssu woman, indulged in amorous affiurs in the harem".[42]
A family of Iranian descent in China was known for the three polymaths it produced, one of them was a woman. Their ancestors adopted the suname Li when they moved to China. She was a poet and her name was Li Shun-Hsien (Li Shunxian), she was known for being beautiful, and had and older brother named Li Hsün (Li Xun) who wrote a book on drugs of foreign lands, and a younger brother Li Hsien (Li Xian). They lived at the court of the royal family of Former Shu in Chengdu (modern day Sichuan). Li Shun-hsien also was a poet. Their family had come to China in 880 and were a wealthy merchant family. Li Hsien dealt with Daoist alchemy, perfumes and drugs.[43]
Of the Chinese Li family in Quanzhou, Li Nu, the son of Li Lu, visited Persia in 1376, married a Persian girl, and returned to Quanzhou with her. Li Nu was the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty reformer Li Chih.[44][45]
The Pahlavi Shahs were the rulers of Iran between 1925 and 1979 and they introduced many reforms concerning women's rights. An example of an early reform introduced by Reza Shah was the 'forced unveiling of women by a special decree on 8 January 1936 which, as the name suggests, involved the police force pulling the hijab away even from religious women, by force.'[46] Women's involvement in society in general increased. Iranian women increasingly participated in the economy, the educations sector and in the workforce. Levels of literacy were also improved. Examples of women's involvement: women acquired high official positions, such as ministers, artists, judges, scientists, athletes, etc. This improvement in the position of women became so ingrained that the conservative Islamic revolution could not completely undo it.
Under Reza Shah's successor Mohammad Reza Shah many more significant reforms were introduced. For example in 1963, the Shah granted female suffrage and soon after women were elected to the Majlis (the parliament) and the upper house, and appointed as judges and ministers in the cabinet.'.[46] In 1967 Iranian family law was also reformed which improved the position of women in Iranian society. It was included in the civil code and was designed to protect wives, children and female divorcees. The general thrust of the reforms were to promote equality between men and women in society.
The Family Protection Laws of 1967 and 1973 required a husband to go to court to divorce rather than simply proclaim the triple talaq of "I divorce thee" three times, as stipulated by traditional sharia law. It allowed a wife to initiate divorce and required the first wife's permission for a husband to take a second wife. Child custody was left to new family protection courts rather than automatically granted to the father. The minimum age at which a female could marry was raised from 13 to 15 in 1967 and to 18 in 1975.[47]
Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution Iran became an Islamic Republic.
During this era of Islamist rule Iranian women have had more opportunity in some areas and more restrictions in others. One of the striking features of the revolution was the large scale participation of women from traditional backgrounds in demonstrations leading up to the overthrow of the monarchy. The Iranian women who had gained confidence and higher education under Pahlavi era participated in demonstrations against Shah to topple monarchy, not knowing that the regime to follow would strip them from their human rights. Hijab became compulsory (although this had not been mentioned during the revolution). The culture of education for women was established by the time of revolution so that even after the revolution, large numbers of women entered the civil service and higher education,[48] and in 1996 fourteen women were elected to the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In 2003, Iran's first woman judge in Pahlavi era, Shirin Ebadi, won Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts in promoting human rights.
According to UNESCO world survey, at primary level of enrollment Iran has the highest female to male ratio in the world among sovereign nations, with a girl to boy ratio of 1.22 : 1.00.[49] By 1999, Iran had 140 female publishers, enough to hold an exhibition of books and magazines published by women.[50] As of 2005, 65% of Iran's university students and 43% of its salaried workers were women.[51] and as of early 2007 nearly 70% of Iran's science and engineering students are women.[52] This has led to many female school and university graduates being under-utilised. This is beginning to have an effect on Iranian society and was a contributing factor to the anti-regime protests by Iranian youth.
Women make up almost 30% of the Iranian labor force, and the percentage of all Iranian women who are economically active has more than doubled from 6.1% in 1986 to 13.7% in 2000.[53][54] As well 27.1% of the ministers in government are women (ranks 23rd out of 125 countries) and 3.4% are parliamentarians (140th out of 157 countries).[55] In 2009 Fatemeh Bodaghi became Vice President for Legal Affairs and a top advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.[56] Maryam Mojtahidzadeh who runs the women's ministry was also selected as an advisor to the president.[57]
At least one observer (Robert D. Kaplan) has commented on the less traditional attitude of many women in Iran compared to other Muslim countries. "In Iran, you could point a camera at a woman ... and she would smile" in contrast to other more conservative places where women may mind this.[58]
However, the Islamic regime has placed a number of restrictions on women's dress and behavior. At the beginning of the revolution, it was announced that women appearing on television would have to wear the hijab, (also known as rousari). A couple of months later it was announced that women working in government facilities and buildings would also be required to wear hijab, and a few months after that that all women had to wear the hijab in public.[59] Separation of the sexes was also instituted so that now, everything from "schoolrooms to ski slopes to public buses" are strictly segregated by gender, though such rules have reportedly been relaxed somewhat in recent years.
Restrictions on women have varied over the history of the Islamic Republic. In the first years after the revolution, females who didn't cover all parts of their body, except hands and face, were subject to punishment of up to seventy lashes or sixty days imprisonment.[60] During the presidency of Mohammad Khatami restrictions became less severe but hard-liners have attempted to roll back reforms of that era. As of late 2011 Women and girls were no longer allowed to ski in the absence of a husband, father or brother—ski resorts having been "something of a haven from the Islamic dress code" and from laws enforcing separation of boys and girls.[61]
There are also women in the Iranian police who deal with crimes committed by women and children.[62][63]
In 1997 women defied the ban on entering soccer stadiums in an act of protest against sex segregation. During the so-called "soccer revolution" an estimated 5,000 women stormed the gates of the national stadium to join 120,000 men in celebration of Iran's national football team which had returned to the country after participating in the 1998 World Cup.[64]
Women in Iran were granted the right to vote in 1963.[65] They were first admitted to Iranian universities in 1937.[66] Since then, several women have held high-ranking posts in the government or parliament. Before the 1979 revolution, several women were appointed ministers or ambassadors. Farrokhroo Parsa was the first woman to be appointed Minister of Education in 1968 and Mahnaz Afkhami was appointed Minister for Women's Affairs in 1976.
Some, such as Tahereh Saffarzadeh, Masumeh Ebtekar, Azam Taleghani, Fatemeh Haghighatjou, Elaheh Koulaei, Fatemeh Javadi, Marzieh Dabbaq and Zahra Rahnavard came after the revolution. Other Iranian women, including Goli Ameri and Farah Karimi hold positions in Western countries.
About 8% of the Iranian parliament are women, while the global average is 13%.[67]
Over recent years, women in Iran, whether Nobel laureates like Shirin Ebadi who became the first Muslim woman to win the prize, or young Ivy League professors such as Maryam Mirzakhani, have "achieved greatly in areas like education, political participation, and social mobilization, and have made great strides in terms of entering different fields of academia". The gallery below is only a random sampling:
-
Akram Monfared (R) and Sāsān-dokht Sāsāni (L) Pilots of the Ghaleh-Morghi Airfield in Tehran. At the age of 20, Sasani became the youngest female pilot ever to fly in Iran. Monfared was the top of her class in flight numbers.
-
Dr. Tal'at Basāri: The first woman to be appointed as Vice Chancellor of a university in Iran. (Jondishapur University)
-
Shahla Solhju.jpg
Dr. Shahla Solh-ju: Co-Director of Pahlavi University's Abu Reihan Observatory.
-
Malileh Farshid: Iran's youngest female architect. She designed the Ahvaz Sports Complex. Her wish was to have it ready for Ahvaz to host the 1984 Olympics.
The movement for women's rights in Iran is particularly complex within the scope of the political and religious history of the country.[68][69] Women have consistently pushed boundaries of societal mores and were continually gaining more political and economic rights up to the Iranian Revolution. Women heavily participated at every level of the revolution; however, within months of the formation of the Islamic republic by Ruhollah Khomeini many important rights were repealed.[69][70] Almost immediately upon assumption of power by Khomeini, women protested the policies of the Islamic government.[70][71]
During the last few decades, Iranian women have had significant presence in Iran's scientific movement, art movement, literary new wave and the new wave of Iranian cinema. According to the research ministry of Iran, about 6% of full professors, 8% of associate professors, and 14% of assistant professors were women in the 1998-99 academic year. However, women accounted for 56% of all students in the natural sciences, including one in five Ph.D. students.[72] In total 60%-65% of the university students in Iran are women.
With the 2005 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Western media claimed that women's rights declined.[73][74][75] However, after Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009, the first female minister was appointed.[76]
The official women's day in Iran is on the birthday of The Prophet's daughter Fatimah. In ancient times, the 29th of Bahman (18 February) was considered Persian women's day and many people still celebrate this day. History of the celebration dates back to Zoroastrian tradition. International Women's Day is also celebrated by Iranians specially by people involved in Persian women's movement.
Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the Iranian government requires women to wear loose-fitting coats or cloaks such as the chador in public, as well as a headscarf that covers the hair. Something loose must be worn to cover the body in order to avoid exposure to men who are not mahram.[77][78][79][80][81][82]
The ordinary headscarf is called rusari روسری in Persian. A type of head covering common among students and government employees is the maghnaeh مقنعه. The maghnae is a "wimple-like head covering", black in color, that is "usually required on college campuses and at other public institutions" in Iran.[83]
Over the past two centuries, women have played a prominent role in Persian literature. Contemporary Iranian poets include Simin Behbahani, Forough Farrokhzad, Parvin Etesami. Simin Behbahani has written passionate love poems as well as narrative poetry enriched by a motherly affection for all humans.[84] Behbahani is president of The Iranian Writers' Association and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature in 1997.
Contemporary authors include Simin Daneshvar, Shahrnush Pârsipur, Moniru Ravânipur and Zoya Pirzad to name a few. Daneshvar's work spans pre-Revolutionary and post-Revolutionary Iranian literature. Her first collection of short stories, Âtash-e khâmush (Fire Quenched), was published in 1948. It was the first collection of short stories published by a woman in Iran. In 1969, she published Savushun (Mourners of Siyâvash), a novel that reflected the Iranian experience of modernity during the 20th century. It was the first novel published by a woman in Iran. Daneshvar was the first president of the Iranian Writers' Association. Shahrnush Pârsipur became popular in the 1980s following the publication of her short stories. Her 1990 novel, Zanân bedûn-e Mardân (Women Without Men), addressed issues of sexuality and identity. It was banned by the Islamic Republic. Moniru Ravânipur's work includes a collection of short stories, Kanizu (The Female Slave), and her novel Ahl-e gharq (The People of Gharq). Ravânipur is known for her focus on rituals, customs and traditions of coastal life.[85]
Perhaps Qamar ol-Molouk Vaziri was the first female master of Persian music who introduced a new style of music and was praised by other masters of Persian music of the time.[citation needed] Several years later, Mahmoud Karimi trained women students— Arfa Atrai, Soosan Matloobi, Fatemeh Vaezi, Masoomeh Mehr-Ali and Soosan Aslani—who later became masters of Persian traditional music. Soodabeh Salem and Sima Bina developed Iranian children's music and Iranian folk music respectively.
Innovations made by Iranian women are not restricted to Persian music. For instance, Lily Afshar is working on a combination of Persian and Western classical music.
Googoosh is one of the most famous Iranian singers. Her legacy dates back to pre-Revolutionary times in Iran, where her fame reached heights equivalent to Elvis Presley or Barbra Streisand. She really became iconic when after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran she was forced to become silent and lived unheard of for more than 20 years. In 2000, she emerged out of Iran, where female rights are still restricted, and in an extraordinary turn of events toured the world. However, her comeback was denounced in Iran and she is since unable to return to her country. She fears arrest in the event she does return and she is currently living in Los Angeles, California in exile among thousands of other Iranians.
Iranian women have played an important role in gaining international recognition for Iranian art and in particular Iranian cinema.
Since the rise of the Iranian New Wave of Persian cinema, Iran has produced record numbers of film school graduates; each year more than 20 new directors, many of them women, make their debut films. In the last two decades, the percentage of Iranian film directors who are women has exceeded the percentage of women film directors in most Western countries.[86] The success of the pioneering director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad suggests that many women directors in Iran were working hard on films long before director Samira Makhmalbaf made the headlines. Internationally recognized figures in Persian women's cinema are Tahmineh Milani, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Zahra Dowlatabadi, Niki Karimi, Samira Makhmalbaf, Mahin Oskouei, Pari Saberi, Hana Makhmalbaf, Pouran Rakhshandeh, Shirin Neshat, Sepideh Farsi, Maryam Keshavarz, Yassamin Maleknasr, and Sara Rastegar.
Iranian writer-director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad is probably Iran's best known and certainly most prolific female filmmaker. She has established herself as the elder stateswoman of Iranian cinema with documentaries and films about social pathology. One of the best-known female film directors in the country today is Samira Makhmalbaf, who directed her first film, The Apple, when she was only 17 years old. Samira Makhmalbaf won the 2000 Cannes Jury Prize for Blackboards, a film about the trials of two traveling teachers in Kurdistan.
In Persian literature one can find references to women as far back as Pre-Islamic times.[87] In some cases, women are mentioned as the potential force behind the failure or success of men[citation needed][original research?]. For example Dehkhoda states that "women are the taste of life" (زن نمک زندگیست), but then warns that some Men may find this taste too strong to bear (کام مرد از این جهت شور است). In verse, Sa'di rephrases[original research?] this as:
زن بد در سرای مرد نکو
A bad wife in a man's home,
هم درین عالم است دوزخ او
can bring hell down to this Earth.
زن خوب فرمانبر پارسا
The honorable, obedient and noble woman,
کند مرد درویش را پادشا
can turn the vagabond into a king.
But many texts elevate the status of women in their writings by using the word lady (بانو) instead of woman (زن) in their verses[original research?], whether narratives or anecdotes. For example in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh one reads:
ببوسید پیشش زمین پهلوان
Kissed the earth at her feet he did, the great hero.
بدو گفت کای مهتر بانوان
Called onto her he did: "oh highest of all the ladies".
Numerous examples from other poets can be seen as well:
عادت بود که هدیه نوروزی آورید
It is a tradition of the free to bring Norouz gifts
آزادگان به خدمت بانوی شهریار
for the lady of our royalty.
---Khaqani
نشنیدستی که خاک زر گردد
Have you not heard that dust turns into gold
از ساخته کدخدا و کدبانو
by the work of the Man and the Lady of the House?
---Naser Khosrow
And many creators of classical verse and prose were women themselves as well. One can mention Qatran Tabrizi, Rabia Balkhi, Táhirih, Simin Behbahani, Simin Daneshvar, Parvin E'tesami, Forough Farrokhzad, Mahsati and Mina Assadi in this group to name nine of them.
- ^ For a reference on Persian dress through the ages see
- ^ For a reference on Iran ethnic costumes see
- ^ For a reference on how Persian women were modernized see:
- Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Parvin Paidar. 1995 p.7
- Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers. Farzaneh Milani. 1992. p.234
- ^ *Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers. Farzaneh Milani. 1992. p.193
- ^ a b CHN Press. "Women Held Power In Burnt City". http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=4402. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ CHN Press. "Female population predominant in 5000-year-old Burnt City". http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=5068. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
- ^ Williams Jackson, A. V. (1896). "The Moral and Ethical Teachings of the Ancient Zoroastrian Religion". International Journal of Ethics 7 (1): 55–62. p. 59.
- ^ a b c Price, Massoume. "Women's Lives in Ancient Persia". http://www.parstimes.com/women/women_ancient_persia.html. Retrieved 2007-01-16.
- ^ Harrison, Frances (September 22, 2005). "Polo comes back home to Iran". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4272210.stm.
- ^ Cotterell, Arthur (1998). From Aristotle to Zoroaster. New York: Free Press. p. 434. ISBN 0-684-85596-8. OCLC 39269485. ""exercised by the Persian king's mother were set by the monarch himself""
- ^ Mackey, Sandra & Harrop, Scott (1996). The Iranians: Persia, Islam and the Soul of a Nation. Penguin. ISBN 0-452-27563-6. OCLC 38995082.
- ^ Dodgeon M. H. and Lieu, S. N. C. (1991). The Roman Eastern Frontiers and the Persian Wars (AD 226-363); A Documentary History. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-10317-7. OCLC 29669928. pp. 24, 67, 184, 197 and 307.
- ^ Toward an aesthetic of Persian painting. Early Islamic Art, 650-1100. Oleg Grabar. p.213-214
- ^ Women's Costume of the Near and Middle East. Jennifer M. Scarce. 2003, p.134
- ^ Robert Browning (1978). The Emperor Julian. University of California Press. p. 204. ISBN 0-520-03731-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=h3S5UkwUelkC&pg=PA204&dq=The+young+Persian+women,+renowned+for+their+beauty,+were+among+the+choicest+items&hl=en&ei=SWgbTbG_OcP98AbK78W9Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20young%20Persian%20women%2C%20renowned%20for%20their%20beauty%2C%20were%20among%20the%20choicest%20items&f=false. Retrieved 2010-10-27.
- ^ Ryōtarō Shiba (2003). Kukai the universal: scenes from his life. ICG Muse. pp. 350. ISBN 4-925080-47-4. http://books.google.com/books?ei=Lt0sTMDoJsWAlAeB66DhCQ&ct=result&id=SbgPAAAAYAAJ&dq=persian+girl+ch%27ang&q=persian+girl. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Victor H. Mair (1996). The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature. Columbia University Press. p. 485. ISBN 0-231-07429-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=UNa4-NkYYjAC&pg=PA485&dq=iranian+dancers+tang+china&hl=en&ei=ktIsTIqxBsT6lwfquZ27Cg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=iranian%20whirling%20girls%20poets&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Amnon Shiloah (2003). Music in the World of Islam. Wayne State University Press. p. 8. ISBN 0-8143-2970-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=S6gwlvp61s4C&pg=PA8&dq=iranian+dancers+china&hl=en&ei=PNMsTL-DKoa8lQfKkvXRCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFQQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=iranian%20dancers%20china&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Edward H. Schafer (1963). The golden peaches of Samarkand: a study of Tʻang exotics. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. p. 23. ISBN 0-520-05462-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=jqAGIL02BWQC&pg=PA23&dq=iranian+waitresses+china&hl=en&ei=btMsTLyKM8WqlAedqMXlCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=iranian%20waitresses&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Naotaro Kudo (1969). The life and thoughts of Li Ho: the Tʾang poet. Waseda University. p. 62. http://books.google.com/books?ei=1uYsTN_dKoT7lwfsgui9CQ&ct=result&id=QyyCAAAAIAAJ&dq=persian+girl+ch%27ang&q=persian+girls. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Eliot Weinberger (2009). Oranges & Peanuts for Sale. New Directions Publishing. p. 117. ISBN 0-8112-1834-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=s6OR4V0M80AC&pg=PA117&dq=persian+girl+ch'ang&hl=en&ei=1d0sTM_mOcLflgeuwsDwCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFIQ6AEwCDge#v=onepage&q=twirling%20girls&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Anne Walthall, James Palais (2008publisher=Cengage Learning). Pre-modern East Asia: to 1800: a cultural, social, and political history. p. 97. ISBN 0-547-00539-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=YukVl8fUr48C&pg=PA97&dq=dancing+girls+persia+china&hl=en&ei=5NMsTIydKYK0lQec48CZCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBDgU#v=onepage&q=dancing%20girls%20emperor%20xuanzong&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Mohammad Adnan Bakhit (2000). History of humanity. UNESCO. p. 423. ISBN 92-3-102813-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=ixCyd2lByggC&pg=PA423&dq=iranian+girls+tang&hl=en&ei=w94sTLftKoW8lQeuo4zsCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFAQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=dancing%20girls&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Jane Gaston Mahler (1959). The Westerners among the figurines of the T'ang dynasty of China. Instituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente. p. 19. http://books.google.com/books?id=7S_VAAAAMAAJ&q=dancing+girls+persia+china&dq=dancing+girls+persia+china&hl=en&ei=F9QsTIjJJ4TGlQfd6oDPCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBzge. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Universiṭat Tel-Aviv. Faḳulṭah le-omanuyot (1993). ASSAPH.: Studies in the theatre, Issues 9-12. Faculty of Visual and Performing Arts, Tel Aviv University. p. 89. http://books.google.com/books?ei=nNIsTLnYGcOblgew5cCnCQ&ct=result&id=jDUrAQAAIAAJ&dq=persian+dancers+china&q=ten+young+dancing+girls+were+sent+from+Persia+to+China+to+entertain. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Avraham Oz, Universiṭat Tel-Aviv. Faḳulṭah le-omanuyot (1993). ASSAPH.: Studies in the theatre, Issues 9-12. Faculty of Visual and Performing Arts, Tel Aviv University. p. 89. http://books.google.com/books?ei=nNIsTLnYGcOblgew5cCnCQ&ct=result&http://books.google.com/books?ei=kdgsTNirMMP_lgePuOiTCQ&ct=result&id=45ZZAAAAMAAJ&dq=ten+young+dancing+girls+were+sent+from+Persia+to+China+to+entertain&q=ten+young+dancing+girls. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Memoirs of the Research Department, Issue 20. http://books.google.com/books?ei=mDcuTLznNcL7lwfPoP3jCg&ct=result&id=eJfWAAAAMAAJ&dq=liu+ch%27ang+iranian+girls&q=waitresses. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Maria Jaschok, Jingjun Shui (2000). The history of women's mosques in Chinese Islam: a mosque of their own. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 0-7007-1302-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=jV9_YvgUmpsC&pg=PA74&dq=wudai+emperors+preferred+to+marry+persian+women+song+families+marry+women+from+arabia&hl=en&ei=5TwuTKeWL4T7lwfJwbnhCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=wudai%20emperors%20preferred%20to%20marry%20persian%20women%20song%20families%20marry%20women%20from%20arabia&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Lombard-Salmon Claudine (2004). Les Persans à l'extrémité orientale de la route maritime (IIe A.E. -XVIIe siècle). Archipel. Volume 68. p. 40. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_2004_num_68_1_3830?_Prescripts_Search_tabs1=standard&. Retrieved 03 mars 2011.
- ^ Archipel, Issues 67-68. SECMI.. 2004. p. 40. http://books.google.com/books?id=4ixuAAAAMAAJ&q=Les+chroniques+52+gardent+le+souvenir+d'une+dame+persane+qui+%C3%A9tait+dans+le+harem+du+quatri%C3%A8me+et+dernier+souverain,+Liu+Chang+glJH+(959-971).+Les+d%C3%A9buts+du+commerce+international+sur+le+territoire+des+souverains+de+l'%C3%89tat+de+Min+sont&dq=Les+chroniques+52+gardent+le+souvenir+d'une+dame+persane+qui+%C3%A9tait+dans+le+harem+du+quatri%C3%A8me+et+dernier+souverain,+Liu+Chang+glJH+(959-971).+Les+d%C3%A9buts+du+commerce+international+sur+le+territoire+des+souverains+de+l'%C3%89tat+de+Min+sont&hl=en&sa=X&ei=xSn6TpPSJarg0QGbuZWwAg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "Les chroniques 52 gardent le souvenir d'une dame persane qui était dans le harem du quatrième et dernier souverain, Liu Chang glJH (959-971). Les débuts du commerce international sur le territoire des souverains de l'État de Min sont" Original from the University of Michigan
- ^ Roger Darrobers (1998). Opéra de Pékin: théâtre et société à la fin de l'empire sino-mandchou. Bleu de Chine. p. 31. ISBN 2-910884-19-8. http://books.google.com/books?ei=Ryr6TvO6G4LX0QHWuf2UAg&id=oQZlAAAAMAAJ&dq=L%27expression+trouvait+son+origine+sous+le+r%C3%A8gne+de+Liu+Chang+%28958-971%29%2C+ultime+souverain+des+Han+du+sud+%28917-971%29%2C+...+Il+avait+pour+favorite+une+Persane+de+seize+ans%2C+%C3%A0+la+peau+mate+et+aux+formes+opulentes%2C+d%27une+extr%C3%AAme+sensualit%C3%A9&q=persane+seize+ans. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "L'expression trouvait son origine sous le règne de Liu Chang (958-971), ultime souverain des Han du sud (917-971), un des États apparus dans la Chine du nord après la chute des Tang, avant que les Song ne réalisent pour leur propre... Liu Chang se rallia au nouveau pouvoir qui lui conféra le titre de Marquis de la Bienveillante Amnistie 17. Son règne a laissé le souvenir de ses nombreuses dépravations. S'en remettant aux eunuques pour gouverner, il prenait plaisir à assister aux ébats de jeunes personnes entièrement dévêtues. Il avait pour favorite une Persane de seize ans, à la peau mate et aux formes opulentes, d'une extrême sensualité qu'il avait lui-même surnommée « Meizhu » (« Jolie Truie »). Il déambulait en sa compagnie parmi les couples s'ébattant dans les jardins du palais, spectacle baptisé « corps en duo », on rapporte qu'il aimait voir la Persanne livrée à d'autres partenaires 18." Original from the University of Michigan
- ^ Historical records of the five dynasties (illustrated, annotated ed.). Columbia University Press. 2004. p. 544. ISBN 0-231-12826-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=bfbcxM9uJm4C&pg=PA544&dq=Because+court+affairs+were+monopolized+by+Gong+Chengshu+and+cohort,+Liu+Chang+in+the+inner+palace+could+play+his+debauched+games+with+female+attendants,+including+a+Persian.+He+never+again+emerged+to+inquire+of+state+affairs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lf75TquRLKnL0QGxneGPAg&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Because%20court%20affairs%20were%20monopolized%20by%20Gong%20Chengshu%20and%20cohort%2C%20Liu%20Chang%20in%20the%20inner%20palace%20could%20play%20his%20debauched%20games%20with%20female%20attendants%2C%20including%20a%20Persian.%20He%20never%20again%20emerged%20to%20inquire%20of%20state%20affairs&f=false. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "Liu Chang, originally named Jixing, had been invested Prince of Wei. . .Because court affairs were monopolized by Gong Chengshu and cohort, Liu Chang in the inner palace could play his debauched games with female attendants, including a Persian. He never again emerged to inquire of state affairs"
- ^ . http://books.google.com/books?ei=wwr6TrmhAcW30AHYtMGeAg&id=rBIUAQAAMAAJ&dq=63+At+the+foreign+quarter%2C+there+lived+of+course+many+foreign+women%2C+and+they+were+called+by+the+Chinese+Po-ssu-fu+M+%24f+jgf+%28lit.+Persian+women%29%2C1%273+perhaps+because+most+of+them+came+from+near+the+Persian+Gulf.18%29+During+the+Five+Dynasties+3%C2%A3+ft+%28907-959%29%2C+Liu+Chang+H%2C+king+of+the+Nan-han+Wi+Wh%2C+had+in+his+harem+a+young+Persian+woman%2C+whom+he+doted+upon+so+much&q=young+persian+woman. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "63 At the foreign quarter, there lived of course many foreign women, and they were called by the Chinese Po-ssu-fu M $f jgf (lit. Persian women),1'3 perhaps because most of them came from near the Persian Gulf.18) During the Five Dynasties 3£ ft (907-959), Liu Chang H, king of the Nan-han Wi Wh, had in his harem a young Persian woman, whom he doted upon so much" Original from the University of Michigan (63 At the foreign quarter, there lived of course many foreign women, and they were called by the Chinese Po-ssu-fu 波斯婦 (lit. Persian women),1'3 perhaps because most of them came from near the Persian Gulf.18) During the Five Dynasties 五代 (907-959), Liu Chang 劉鋹, king of the Nan-han 南漢, had in his harem a young Persian woman, whom he doted upon so much|title=Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library), Issue 2|year=1928|volume=|author=Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Kenkyūbu|editor=|edition=|location= |publisher=The Toyo Bunko |page=34|isbn=|}}Original from the University of Michigan ()
- ^ Walter Joseph Fischel (1951). Walter Joseph Fischel. ed. Semitic and Oriental studies: a volume presented to William Popper, professor of Semitic languages, emeritus, on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, October 29, 1949. Volume 11 of University of California publications in Semitic philology. University of California Press. p. 407. http://books.google.com/books?id=FTcGAQAAIAAJ&dq=At+least+from+the+tenth+to+the+twelfth+century%2C+Persian+women+were+to+be+found+in+Canton%2C+in+the+former+period+observed+among+the+inmates+of+the+harem+of+Liu+Ch%27ang%2C+Emperor+of+Southern+Han%2C%272+and+in+the+latter+seen+as+typically+wearing+great+numbers+of+earrings+and+cursed+with+quarrelsome+dispositions.&q=inmates+harem. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "At least from the tenth to the twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Canton, in the former period observed among the inmates of the harem of Liu Ch'ang, Emperor of Southern Han,'2 and in the latter seen as typically wearing great numbers of earrings and cursed with quarrelsome dispositions."
- ^ Walter Joseph Fischel, ed. (1951). Semitic and Oriental studies: a volume presented to William Popper, professor of Semitic languages, emeritus, on the occasion of his seventy-fifth birthday, October 29, 1949. Volume 11 of University of California publications in Semitic philology. University of California Press. p. 407. http://books.google.com/books?id=MLISAAAAIAAJ&dq=At+least+from+the+tenth+to+the+twelfth+century%2C+Persian+women+were+to+be+found+in+Canton%2C+in+the+former+period+observed+among+the+inmates+of+the+harem+of+Liu+Ch%27ang%2C+Emperor+of+Southern+Han%2C%272+and+in+the+latter+seen+as+typically+wearing+great+numbers+of+earrings+and+cursed+with+quarrelsome+dispositions.&q=inmates+harem. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "At least from the tenth to the twelfth century, Persian women were to be found in Canton, in the former period observed among the inmates of the harem of Liu Ch'ang, Emperor of Southern Han,'2 and in the latter seen as typically wearing great numbers of earrings and cursed with quarrelsome dispositions."
- ^ Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Kenkyūbu (1928). Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library), Issue 2. The Toyo Bunko. p. 52. http://books.google.com/books?ei=eyT6Tve0GePd0QGJn_n8Cg&id=rBIUAQAAMAAJ&dq=659%29%2C+and+after+the+conquest+of+the+Saracens%2C+the+Moslem+ladies+had+a+still+stronger+passion+for+the&q=ear+rings+conquest+saracens. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "17) Concerning the Po-sm-fu $L $f M, ie. the Persian women, Chttang Ch'o 3£$# towards the beginning of the South Sung, in his Chi-lei-pien WM, says: "The Po- ssu-fu at Kuang-chou make holes all round their ears. There are some who wear more than twenty ear-rings." M jW Hfc Sf £w. ... The ear-rings were much in fashion among the Persians in the reign of Sasan ( Spiegee, Erani^e/ie Alterthumskunde, Bd. Ill, s. 659), and after the conquest of the Saracens, the Moslem ladies had a still stronger passion for them (Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, p. 102)." Original from the University of Michigan ()
- ^ Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Kenkyūbu (1928). Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library), Issue 2. The Toyo Bunko. p. 55. http://books.google.com/books?id=rBIUAQAAMAAJ&q=In+the+Ch'ing-i-lu+m+%C2%BB%C2%BB(ed.+of+ttl%26fFSSO+attributed+to+T'AO+Ku+ft+ft+towards+the+beginning+of+the+North+Sung+era,+we+have+a+minute+description+of+Liu+Chang's+licentious+conduct+with+the+Po-ssu+woman,+but+decency+would+forbid+as+to+give+quotations+from+the+book.&dq=In+the+Ch'ing-i-lu+m+%C2%BB%C2%BB(ed.+of+ttl%26fFSSO+attributed+to+T'AO+Ku+ft+ft+towards+the+beginning+of+the+North+Sung+era,+we+have+a+minute+description+of+Liu+Chang's+licentious+conduct+with+the+Po-ssu+woman,+but+decency+would+forbid+as+to+give+quotations+from+the+book.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tiX6Tp6KJ6Lf0QH4-JSRAg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA. Retrieved December 26 2011. "and did not came out to see governmental business." IF1 §§71#il5i$S£$l?;£c 3£ (2L« jfe3B,«/S+ a, SiaitB:*). In the Ch'ing-i-lu m »»(ed. of ttl&fFSSO attributed to T'AO Ku ft ft towards the beginning of the North Sung era, we have a minute description of Liu Chang's licentious conduct with the Po-ssu woman, but decency would forbid as to give quotations from the book." Original from the University of Michigan ()
- ^ Herbert Franke, ed. (1976). Sung biographies, Volume 2. Steiner. p. 620. ISBN 3-515-02412-3. http://books.google.com/books?ei=CP75TsiUKufy0gGWyqSLAQ&id=MZQKAQAAIAAJ&dq=But+Liu+was+free+to+spend+his+days+with+the+Persian+girls+in+his+harem%2C+and+to+oversee+the+decoration+of+his+splendid+new+palaces+with+costly+substances.+It+is+said+that+he+used+3+000+taels+of+silver+in+making+a+single+column+of+the&q=persian+girls+harem. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "During his reign the number of castrati at the palace increased to about 5 000. Great power was also given to a palace beauty named Liu Ch'iung- hsien JäP) 3^ iA* , and especially to a female shaman Fan Hu-tzu ^ fcfi 3~ , who claimed to. . .But Liu was free to spend his days with the Persian girls in his harem, and to oversee the decoration of his splendid new palaces with costly substances. It is said that he used 3 000 taels of silver in making a single column of the ceremonial hall named Wan-cheng tien"
- ^ Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 24. SHANGHAI: Kelly & Walsh.. 1890. p. 299. http://books.google.com/books?id=LVkDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA299&dq=The+II+w+Tai+Slu+says+that+Liu+Ch'any+%5Bg%7C%5D+%C2%A7g,+Emperor+of+the+Southern+I+Ian+dynasty+reigning+at+Canton,+about+AD+1*70%5D,+%22+was+dallying+with+his+palace+girls+and+Persian+%5B-Jj%C2%A3+%5E)f%5D+%22+women+in+the+inner+apartments,&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Y0f5Tv2sGaPp0gGT_a3sBw&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20II%20w%20Tai%20Slu%20says%20that%20Liu%20Ch'any%20%5Bg%7C%5D%20%C2%A7g%2C%20Emperor%20of%20the%20Southern%20I%20Ian%20dynasty%20reigning%20at%20Canton%2C%20about%20AD%201*70%5D%2C%20%22%20was%20dallying%20with%20his%20palace%20girls%20and%20Persian%20%5B-Jj%C2%A3%20%5E)f%5D%20%22%20women%20in%20the%20inner%20apartments%2C&f=false. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "The II w Tai Slu says that Liu Ch'any [g" Original from the University of Michigan
- ^ Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. China Branch (1890). Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for the year ..., Volumes 24-25. SHANGHAI: The Branch. p. 299. http://books.google.com/books?id=saJDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA299&dq=The+W11+Tut+Shi+says+that+Lin+Ch'niia+%5Bg%7C%5D+%C2%A7J%7C.+Emperor+of+the+Southern+I+Ian+dynasty+reigning+at+Canton,+about+AD+U70%5D,+%22%E2%96%A0+was+dallying+with+his+palace+girls+and+Persian+%5Bjjjj+Jjf%5D+%22+women+in+the+inner+apartments,&hl=en&sa=X&ei=bUz5TqD4F6jq0gG9w82FAg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20W11%20Tut%20Shi%20says%20that%20Lin%20Ch'niia%20%5Bg%7C%5D%20%C2%A7J%7C.%20Emperor%20of%20the%20Southern%20I%20Ian%20dynasty%20reigning%20at%20Canton%2C%20about%20AD%20U70%5D%2C%20%22%E2%96%A0%20was%20dallying%20with%20his%20palace%20girls%20and%20Persian%20%5Bjjjj%20Jjf%5D%20%22%20women%20in%20the%20inner%20apartments%2C&f=false. Retrieved January 4, 2012. Original from Princeton University
- ^ Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. North-China Branch (1889). Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volumes 24-25. Kraus Reprint, Ltd.. p. 299. http://books.google.com/books?ei=8Uf5TvHFEMjd0QGqseWUAg&id=0Lg_AAAAYAAJ&dq=The+Wit+Tut+fi%2Fn+says+that+Lin+Cli%27iiiiy+%5B+%C2%A7lj+JJ%7C%2C+fjinperor+of+the+vSontliern+Han+dynasty+reigning+at+Canton%2C+alxnit+AD+5%2970%5D%2C+%22+was+dallying+with+Iiis+palace+girls+and+Persian+%5Bjjfc+%5E%7B%5D+%22+women+in+the+inner&q=persian+women. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "The Wit Tut fi/n says that Lin Cli'iiiiy [ §lj JJ" Original from the University of Virginia
- ^ Tōyō Bunko (Japan). Kenkyūbu (1928). Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko (the Oriental Library), Issue 2. The Toyo Bunko. p. 54. http://books.google.com/books?ei=4Sb6Tv6SPIb30gGy74W5Ag&id=rBIUAQAAMAAJ&dq=22%29+In+the+Wu-tai-shih-cM+2.%5E+jfc%2C12%2C+we+read%2C+%22Liu+Chang+then+with+his+court-+ladies+and+Po-ssu+woman%2C+indulged+in+amorous+affiurs+in+the+harem+The+names+of+Po-li+i%C2%A3+%3Ef+Il+%28+%3D+P%27o-li+JSiflJ%29+and&q=amorous. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "22) In the Wu-tai-shih-cM 2.^ jfc,12, we read, "Liu Chang then with his court- ladies and Po-ssu woman, indulged in amorous affiurs in the harem The names of Po-li i£ >f Il ( = P'o-li JSiflJ) and" Original from the University of Michigan ()
- ^ Joseph Needham (1986). Joseph Needham. ed. Science and civilisation in China: Biology and biological technology. Botany. Volume 6, Part 1 of Science and Civilisation in China. Cambridge University Press. p. 276. ISBN 0-521-08731-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=AkZtcvkvgQAC&pg=PA276&dq=In+the+Former+Shu+State,+in+the+capital+of+Chhengtu,+between+the+years+%2B919+and+%2B925,+one+could+have+met+at+the+court+of+the+reigning+house+of+Wang+a+remarkable+girl+named+Li+Shun-Hsien3,+ornamenting+the+age+by+her+poetic+talent+no+less+than+her+beauty.+Together+with+her+two+brothers,+the+younger+Li+Hsien4+and+the+elder+Li+Hsiin5,+she+came+of+a+family+of+Persian+origin+which+had+settled+in+West+China+about+%2B+88o,b+acquiring+wealth+and+renown+as+ship-owners+and+merchants+in+the+spice+trade.+c+Li+Hsien+was+a+student+of+perfumes+and+their+distilled+attars&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WUP6TtiRGYbf0QGuzqSlAg&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=In%20the%20Former%20Shu%20State%2C%20in%20the%20capital%20of%20Chhengtu%2C%20between%20the%20years%20%2B919%20and%20%2B925%2C%20one%20could%20have%20met%20at%20the%20court%20of%20the%20reigning%20house%20of%20Wang%20a%20remarkable%20girl%20named%20Li%20Shun-Hsien3%2C%20ornamenting%20the%20age%20by%20her%20poetic%20talent%20no%20less%20than%20her%20beauty.%20Together%20with%20her%20two%20brothers%2C%20the%20younger%20Li%20Hsien4%20and%20the%20elder%20Li%20Hsiin5%2C%20she%20came%20of%20a%20family%20of%20Persian%20origin%20which%20had%20settled%20in%20West%20China%20about%20%2B%2088o%2Cb%20acquiring%20wealth%20and%20renown%20as%20ship-owners%20and%20merchants%20in%20the%20spice%20trade.%20c%20Li%20Hsien%20was%20a%20student%20of%20perfumes%20and%20their%20distilled%20attars&f=false. Retrieved January 4, 2012. "In the Former Shu State, in the capital of Chhengtu, between the years +919 and +925, one could have met at the court of the reigning house of Wang a remarkable girl named Li Shun-Hsien3, ornamenting the age by her poetic talent no less than her beauty. Together with her two brothers, the younger Li Hsien4 and the elder Li Hsiin5, she came of a family of Persian origin which had settled in West China about + 88o,b acquiring wealth and renown as ship-owners and merchants in the spice trade. c Li Hsien was a student of perfumes and their distilled attars as well as a merchant,d but he also worked on Taoist alchemy and investigated the actions of inorganic medicaments. e The one who took up the brush was Li Hsiin, for about +923 he produced his Hai Tao Pen Tshao6 (Materia Medico of the Countries beyond the Seas )/ study of 12 1 plants and animals and their products, nearly all foreign, with at least 15 completely new introductions.8 His work as a naturalist was highly regarded by subsequent scholars, and often quoted in the later pandects.11 Li Hsiin was interested in all 'overseas' drugs, whether of the Arabic and Persian culture-areas or of East Indian and Malayo-Indonesian origin."
- ^ Association for Asian studies (Ann Arbor;Michigan) (1976). A-L, Volumes 1-2. Columbia University Press. p. 817. ISBN 0-231-03801-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=067On0JgItAC&pg=PA817&dq=ch'ang+fond+persian+girl&hl=en&ei=5wEsTJesKMT_lgfR5KHnCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFwQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=li%20nu%20married%20an%20arab%20or%20persian%20girl&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Chen, Da-Sheng. "CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS vii. Persian Settlements in Southeastern China during the T'ang, Sung, and Yuan Dynasties". Encyclopedia Iranica. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chinese-iranian-vii. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- ^ a b Pappé, Ilan (2005). The Modern Middle East. Routledge. p. 237. ISBN 0-415-21408-4.
- ^ Wright, Robin B. (2000). The Last Great Revolution. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-375-40639-3.
- ^ Adult education offers new opportunities and options to Iranian women
- ^ http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/edu_gir_to_boy_rat_pri_lev_enr-boys-ratio-primary-level-enrolment
- ^ The Last Great Revolution by Robin Wright c2000, p.137
- ^ Ebadi, Shirin, Iran Awakening : A Memoir of Revolution and Hope by Shirin Ebadi with Azadeh Moaveni, Random House, 2006 (p.210)
- ^ Nature: News Feature
- ^ Law and Women's Agency in Post-Revolutionary Iran
- ^ http://www.payvand.com/news/09/feb/1110.html
- ^ http://www.nationmaster.com/country/ir-iran/dem-democracy
- ^ http://www.iranwomen.org/zanan/english/HomePage/HPDetails3.aspx?id=440
- ^ http://www.women.gov.ir/en/pages/?cid=458
- ^ Kaplan, Robert, D. The Ends of the Earth, Random House, 1996, p.181
- ^ Graham Iran (1980) p. 227.
- ^ Wright, The Last Great Revolution, (2000), p. 136.
- ^ Iran to women: No skiing unless with a male guardian By Thomas Erdbrink . washingtonpost.com . 10 November 2011
- ^ Women Police in Iran
- ^ Iran's thin black line
- ^ Foer, Frank, How Soccer Explains the World, HarperCollins, c2004.
- ^ Reuters Foundation Alertnet.org Iran
- ^ Lorentz، J. Historical Dictionary of Iran. 1995. ISBN 0-8108-2994-0
- ^ On Women’s Day, struggle for equality remains, Kyiv Post (8 March 2012)
- ^ A Brief History of Women's Movements in Iran 1850-2000, Massoume Price, The Iranian, March 7, 2000; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ a b Chronology of Events Regarding Women in Iran since the Revolution of 1979, Elham Gheytanchi, Social Research via FindArticles, Summer 2000; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ a b [1], Nikki R. Keddie, Social Research via FindArticles.com, Summer 2000; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ The Unfinished Revolution, Time Magazine, April 2, 1979; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/290/5496/1485 sciencemag.org
- ^ UN: Hold Ahmadinejad Accountable for Iran Rights Crisis, Human Rights Watch, September 18, 2008; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ Iranian Dissidents at Forum Speak On Ahmadinejad, Women's Rights, , New York Sun, Special to the Sun, October 17, 2007; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ victory on marriage legislation, Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times, September 3, 2008; accessed September 21, 2008.
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8235264.stm BBC: "Iran backs first woman minister", September 3, 2009
- ^ http://www.irantravelingcenter.com/womn_iran_zan_girl_cloth_hejab.htm
- ^ http://persiatours.com/women_iran_picture_street.htm
- ^ http://www.journeywoman.com/traveltales/dresses_smart.html
- ^ http://www.thevillager.com/villager_90/glimpsesofasubtle.html
- ^ http://www.iranian.com/Travelers/2002/April/Five/index.html
- ^ http://www.letsgoiran.com/iran-women-dress-code
- ^ Labi, Aisha (1 August 2008). "Among Scholars, Resistance and Resilience in Iran". The Chronicle of Higher Education 54 (47): A1. http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i47/47a00101.htm.
- ^ The international symposium on Simin Behbahani
- ^ Golbarg Bashi (2005-11-25). "Feminist Ink". Feminist Ink. iranian.com. Archived from the original on 2007-11-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20071111171013/http://www.iranian.com/Bashi/2005/November/Prose/index. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
- ^ Haus der Kulturen der Welt
- ^ Brosius, Maria. Women in Ancient Persia, 559-331 B.C. Oxford Classical Monographs. Oxford University Press (UK), 1998.
- Persian Women & Their Ways Clara Colliver Rice. 1923. Seeley, Service & Co.
- Voices from Iran: The Changing Lives of Iranian Women. Mahnaz Kousha. Syracuse University Press. 2002.
- Veils and Words: The Emerging Voices of Iranian Women Writers. Farzaneh Milani. Published 1992 by I.B.Tauris
- Piyrnia, Mansoureh. Salar Zanana Iran. 1995. Maryland: Mehran Iran Publishing.
- Brosius, Maria. Women in Ancient Persia, 559-331 B.C. Oxford Classical Monographs. Oxford University Press (UK), 1998.
- Farman Farmaian, Sattareh. 1992. Daughter of Persia: A Woman's Journey from Her Father's Harem Through the Islamic Revolution. New York: Three Rivers Press.
- Najmeh Khalili Mahani, Women of Iranian Popular Cinema: Projection of Progress, Offscreen, Vol. 10, Issue 7, July 31, 2006, [2].
- Videos
![[icon]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121206191524/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
