This 2000-year-old book of conduct for women before and after marriage codifies what was normal "proper behavior" long before and down into the later 19th century. What I found fascinating is how closely it parallels European conduct books from the Dark Ages forward, except that reverence of elders takes the place of religious duty, and with a greater level of retiring to the women's quarters. Medieval and Renaissance etiquette books (http://www.archive.org/details/babeesbookmediev00furnrich) hardly change such dictates as "Don't always be gadding about to see people," "Keep your eyes down modestly when in the street and don't talk to men," and "Don't drink much."

You can still find a good deal that is uniquely Chinese in this, from the care with which a woman should cultivate silkworms to how to look after the Great One (your mother-in-law, who ruled a young wife's life more than her husband if they lived with her).