Pearl of Wisdom

I just finished reading the book, Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck.  It is set in China, of course, early 20th century.  It begins on the 40th birthday of the main character, Madame Wu, wife of a wealthy landowner.   On this day, without any rancor whatsoever,  Madame Wu permanently removes herself from her husband's bed and provides him with a concubine.  She (Madame Wu) is done with childbearing and has chosen this arrangement to provide for her husband's continuing sexual and reproductive needs.

No one else -- her relatives, the servants, her best friend, her husband, nor the concubine -- understands that this arrangement brings Madame Wu peace, not pain.  

But I understand.

From a perspective of nature, a woman in her, well, let's say mid-40's, is past her prime reproductive years.  For a man, reproductive potency continues much longer, into, say the upper 60's.  So, from a perspective of nature, it made sense for Madame Wu to put closure on her sexuality when she was done bearing children and for her husband to have a younger person with whom to continue his reproductivity.   (This was before population explosion and birth control.)

    From a perspective of society, it is beneficial for senior members of society to shift their focus from sexuality and child-rearing to becoming purveyors of wisdom.  This is not something our youth-obsessed culture is particularly good at.  Today our elder citizens strive to look and act young, which our society values, and fail to nurture the wisdom of maturity which our society does not value.  But age inexorably overtakes youth,  and our elders feel useless and discarded, part of the flotsam of a society that prolongs their lives while rejecting their value.

But Madame Wu spends her senior years seeking wisdom, not lost youth.  As the  matriarch of a large and powerful clan,  she applies that wisdom in a remarkably Taoistic manner.  She is respected by her children as well as the villagers, who seek out her wisdom in resolving conflicts.  Nothing disturbs Madame Wu's peace as she subtly resolves the problems and conflicts that arise in her familial and social spheres.  Her calm wisdom seems transcendent, almost mystical, and I think surely she has mastered existing as immutable observer.

Mr Wu, who is busy with pursuits of the flesh, fades into the background.   Sexually potent but socially impotent, he has nothing to contribute to the family or the community.