Traditionally, a woman remaining a widow was seen as a virtue.
Tips
culture
Imperial-era Confucian ethics prized 守寡 — refusing to remarry after a husband's death — and the state issued 贞节牌坊 (zhēnjié páifāng, 'chastity arches') to widows who held out for decades. Modern Chinese law has long since dropped the moral pressure.
memory
Literal parse: 守 (guard / observe) + 寡 (alone / widowed). The second character also appears in 寡妇 (guǎfu, widow) and 寡人 (guǎrén, the imperial 'I').
