Ban Zhao
~45–116
“Lessons for Women — Han Confucian conduct manual by a female scholar.”
The four dimensions in the 16-axis model where this thinker scores highest. People in this archetype tend to lean the same way.
- RTReverence for Tradition9 / 10
- POPractical Orientation9 / 10
- CECommunal Embeddedness8 / 10
- TETrust in Experience7 / 10
The six thinkers whose 16-dimensional positions sit closest to this one. Useful as next-reading suggestions.
- MenciusHEARTH
Human nature is fundamentally good. The four sprouts of virtue need only cultivation.
- Han YuHEARTH
Tang Confucian revival — orthodoxy of the Dao against Buddhism.
- ConfuciusHEARTH
Cultivate the self through ritual and relation. The good life is the well-ordered life inside a well-ordered community.
- HillelHEARTH
What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. The rest is commentary.
- XunziHEARTH
Human nature is flawed. Ritual and education civilize us. Heaven follows constant patterns.
- Alasdair MacIntyreHEARTH
After virtue. We need traditions and narratives to ground ethics. The Aristotelian tradition lives.
Short exercises in the same tradition as Ban Zhao's thought. Each takes 5–25 minutes.
- The Examen →
Five-step Ignatian end-of-day review — what was given, what was missed, what to take into tomorrow.
- Switch sides →
Argue both sides of a debate, alternating, until you no longer know which side you started on.
- Anticipating objections →
For every position, list the three strongest objections — then answer them.
Three doors lead onward.
- 01 · QUIZThe InheritorFind your archetype — discover whether you'd argue with Ban Zhao or alongside them.CONTINUE ▶
- 02 · COMPAREBan Zhao vs MenciusOn Mull's map Mencius sits closest. See where they agree and where they part.CONTINUE ▶
- 03 · DAILYToday's SparOne philosopher, one topic, five minutes. A new one drops every day.CONTINUE ▶