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 ('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 (widow) and 寡人 (the imperial 'I').
