Throughout the history of China, female oppression has been apparent.  One example that is commonly heard of is foot binding.  Among the working and merchant classes, where women are needed to do strenuous physical labor, the feet are free but the bonds that keep women in their place are equally strong.  Zhang Yimou vividly expresses female oppression in several of his films; he shows a tortured female of the past in the film "Ju Dou" and allows the emergence of female power in his contemporary film "The Story of Qiu Ju."  Both females are subject to represent objects, either that of oppression or of power.

        "Ju Dou" expresses a woman's struggle against her social placement, clearly seen as an object of oppression.  The figure of Ju Dou exposes the oppressions that arise from social traditions...