[snowybeagle]

In Zhū YòngChún's (朱用纯) Family Creed (朱子治家格言), there is an article to dissuade interacting with the "Sān Gū Liù Pó" (三姑六婆).

三姑六婆, 实淫盗之媒
The phrase accused them of being agents of wantoness and thievery.
Basically, they were called trouble makers and no decent families would want to associate with them.

In modern usage, Sān Gū Liù Pó is a reference to idle gossiping females in the neighbourhood who stir up disharmony.

But in the past, the term actual referred to females of specific professions.
Some professions were self-explanatory and it was clear why association was undesirable. But others were not.

The Three Gūs (三姑)
尼姑 Ní Gū - Buddhist nun.
道姑 Dào Gū - Taoist priestess.
卦姑 Guà Gū - Female fortune teller, mostly accused of preying on gullible and imposing troublesome instructions.

I suppose for the first two categories, the really devout or pious members would be concentrating on their religious practices or engaging in charity rather than idle interaction with secular folks.

The Six Pós (六婆)
1. 牙婆 Yá Pó - Female broker, more specifically, of human trade (http://cul.news.sina...2-09/49008.html). They are often legitimate, working for officials and the wealthy.
2. 媒婆 Méi Pó - Matchmaker (female). They were accused of tempting the wealthy into taking concubines, or arranging inherently unsuitable matches for profit.
3. 巫婆 Wū Pó - Witch, including charlattans taking advantage of the superstitious. During the Warring States Era (战国), the magistrate in charge of the district of Yè (邺) in the State of Wèi (魏国), Xīmén Bào (西门豹), ended a regional practice of sacrificing virgin brides to a river god, a scam perpetuated by a witch.
4. 虔婆 Qián Pó - Madam of the brothel (http://cul.sina.com....2-09/49000.html). Apparently, the word qián (虔) which means devout had a different meaning in the ancient times, which meant to obtain through coercion.
5. 药婆 Yào Pó - Medicine woman (with questionable practices such as concocting aphrodisiacs and abortion brews for adulteress) (http://cul.sina.com....2-09/49010.html)
6. 接生婆 Jiē Shēng Pó - Midwife

Alternatives titles were
1. 牙婆 Yá Pó - explained above
2. 媒婆 Méi Pó -explained above
3. 师婆 Shī Pó - Another term for practicioneers of witchcraft (http://cul.sina.com....2-09/49004.html)
4. 虔婆 Qián Pó - explained above
5. 药婆 Yào Pó - explained above
6. 稳婆 Wěn Pó - Another term for midwife (http://cul.news.sina...2-09/49007.html)

The term were referring to females of non-respectable professions in general.

Apparently, even the so-called midwives' role went beyond delivering babies.
Official wen Pó had to double up as coroners examining private parts of female corpses, and conduct medical/physical examination of rape victims.
Many non-official wen Pó lacked training and crucial medical knowledge. They could not handle complicated labour, often leading to deaths. They had no hygiene knowledge in handling the mother, infant nor the objects related to childbirth. Occassionally, they performed abortions.

More references :
http://www.maoer.com/xj/xilie/d.htm

This post has been edited by snowybeagle: 12 April 2006 - 08:57 PM

[AhMan]

why is Jie Sheng Bo unwelcomed? strange.

[snowybeagle]

AhMan, on Apr 19 2005, 12:43 AM, said:

why is Jie Sheng Bo unwelcomed? strange.

Refer to the descriptions of their jobs beyond delivering babies in my post.

I suppose it has something to do with the uncleanliness of those tasks.
There are also others which I did not include, but if you can read Chinese, you might want to check up on the websites I listed.

[Yun]

婆 should actually be pronounced as 'po' in Chinese.

[General_Zhaoyun]

Very good explanation, Snowybeagle, now I understand what the "san gu liu po" is literally, despite me hearing this phrase very often.

[snowybeagle]

Yun, on Apr 19 2005, 11:02 AM, said:

婆 should actually be pronounced as 'po' in Chinese.

Aaargh! You're right. Serves me right for "playing" so late at night.

Could any mod correct the title of the thread, please?
I also tried to include the entire phrase from the Creed in the subtitle, but it might be too long to be shown in Chinese.

BTW, anyone can identify with gamers and their wives in today's Singapore's newspaper Strait Times Digital Life section? I feel that way surfing the forums

[AhMan]

hehehe, I intended to write "po" but then i referred to the first post and I thought i was wrong since beagle must be much better than me in Chinese.

[snowybeagle]

snowybeagle is still human, and the post was written and submitted in the unearthly hours *yawn*.

Time to go to sleep soon.

[Inuyasha-sama]

How could you classify the Miao Women who curse their husbands?

[snowybeagle]

Inuyasha-sama, on Apr 13 2006, 10:07 AM, said:

How could you classify the Miao Women who curse their husbands?

These do not come under the traditional classification of Sān Gū Liù Pó.

The Sān Gū Liù Pó is refers to a group of women in specific professions.

The folklore about Miao women is that it is a knowledge passed among the womenfolk, from mothers to daughters, something like a family secret passed along the female lines.

[Liang Jieming]

Very nice! Finally I understand where this term comes from.

Ok, my 2RMB on the subject,

尼姑 Ní Gū - Buddhist nun
道姑 Dào Gū - Taoist priestess

Perhaps another reason to avoid these was because, no matter how un-missionary a religion may be, it inevitably does attempt at conversions or going on and on about the merits of their religion. Same as the modern saying (in cantonese) "Kong Yeh-So" or Speaking Jesus.

[login]

I don't understand why the following two are unwelcomed?

尼姑 Ní Gū - Buddhist nun
道姑 Dào Gū - Taoist priestess

I think what people really dislike is those gossip women.