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Specifically concerning the Song dynasty, I recommend reading The Inner Quarters by Patricia Ebrey which explores the social and power relations between men and women in the family and business during this period. While it can be said the Neo-Confucian philosophy of the time reinforced patriarchy, women found informal sources of power through the increasing division of labor and their participation in the production processes of an emerging commercial economy.

The full title: The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period by Patricia Buckley Ebrey

Do you read Mandarin? If so I have a few sources for you that I dug up:

http://data.book.hexun.com/chapter-4212-2-11.shtml

This source talks about a few influencing factors about the Tang dynasty and why women had more equality at this time including:

• Stability of society after the conflicts of previous dynasties.
• Influx of a variety of minority cultures that have more equality for women.
• Opportunities of education for women in families with educated men.

It also specifically talks about how Wu Zetian's "manly" habits and interests and position of power did not develop in a vacuum, and that these trends were existing before she took up being educated and horseback writing and all that.

The full text of this book which is about Wu Zetian in general is here:

http://www.wakbook.com/Article/1x0000000002/113240x11485/

This is a published biography, but not published through one of the research universities.

http://social.ntue.edu.tw/monograph/96year/%E9%99%B3%E5%AE%B6%E7%A7%80%E8%80%81%E5%B8%AB/%E5%91%82%E5%AE%9C%E8%8A%B3.pdf

Here's another thesis published by the National Taipei University of Education. This one has a number of great primary sources cited in it if you care to dig a little further, regarding:

• Histories of different dynasties and gender roles in them.
• Roles of the mother.
• Confucian ideas of the woman as "trouble" that must be suppressed.

Since this is a homework post I don't think I'll go into engaging the text or analyzing it because I'm not sure that would comply with the rules.