Confucius and Chinese Culture - Essay Example

Confucius and Chinese culture According to Confucius, every relationship has a dual nature of responsibility, and accordingly the obligation. The mother is responsible for her son, Father for children, Teacher for students. However, men are superior, more powerful and intellectual as compared to women. Confucius was not able to give a proper place to women in the society, in his teachings and Confucius culture. The Chinese culture is greatly influenced by the Confucian ideals and this influence affects social relations to a great extent, even in the modern times. According to Confucius, society could become stable only when the five basic relationships are being fulfilled which are, the relation of Love (among father and son), relationship of righteousness (among emperor and minister), relationship of virtuous demeanor (among husband and wife), relationship of order (among elder and younger) and relationship of faithfulness (among friends).If we closely administer these virtues, we see that out of the five, three occur in the family system. He was the great devotee of the family system and it is also the basis of today’s family system in China (Spence pp134-139). The family system has an extended impact on the whole town, city and society of China. The order is strictly followed as, for instance, younger has to obey the elder whether the elder is from his family or from outside the family. Even today, Chinese people pay special respect to their elders (Spence pp 74-96). The death of woman Wang is a piece of literature that provides a high exposure to Chinese norms, society and cultural values back in the seventeenth century. According to Spence, the obligation of the people to the government is very high. To support the government, they have to pay taxes. Even when there were natural calamities, the people of the village had to pay taxes. The rule of the emperor is to be judged by the virtue and it is not hereditary. According to Confucius, the ruler must rule wisely and with moral attitudes. The ruler should be just in his working and virtue must be his core conduct. If the society is being ruled by a wise and just leader and ruler, the society is harmonized, stable and flourishing and it cultivates moral and ethical values. When the government understood the condition of the village, firstly they divided the tax in installments and later on forgave the taxes to be paid. But it was too late (Spence pp 33-58). The modern Chinese society is prospering mainly due to the autonomy that their political system provides. Chinese production market, for instance, is growing at a remarkable pace. The government provides the basic necessities to their citizens at low costs. The rulers, hence, are following the principles of Confucius wisely and with high moral attitude. Conscious considered woman as morally and intellectually defective. He was the strong opponent of women subordination. Regardless of this fact, the principles he provided were significantly influential in maintaining harmony, peace and stability in an economy. In ‘the story of woman Wang’ women are portrayed as liable to perform household chores. As a widow, they are given high value and respect if they remain loyal to their husbands even after he passes away. Women are severely punished, in Spence’s accounts, if they use their right to freely move around, choose their partners or try to change their lives. They are punished and eventually killed by one or the other men in Chinese society of 17th century. However, the modern Chinese society regards female counterparts as respectful, loveable and respectful yet free to make choices. The Chinese society and the business market is an open case of female participation except households. The households and other family related issues, however, still work under women supervision and women are still held responsible for household works. Filial Piety is yet another value of Confucius. Confucius is also heard of saying “Filial Piety is root value of all virtues”. Filial Piety says that son should live with their parents after marriage less than one roof. Respect is provided to father and parents as long as they are alive. The will and power of parents is supreme in the house. If the wife is not obedient to parents, the son could divorce her. In recent Chinese culture also, the first son born is obliged to provide shelter, food and medicine to father in their old age. Confucius is strong supporter of family system and in the recent Chinese society; parents are a supreme power in the family. In traditional Chinese culture, the greatest regret the son could have is to lose the opportunity to serve his parents in their death-bed. For this very reason, there are no old age homes in China contrary to the Eastern countries (Spence pp134-139). Traditional Chinese culture is male – centered. More power is given to the male as compared to females. When the woman in the novel ran away from his husband and her husband came to know his place where she was hiding, he brought her home and beat her. He even plotted her murder (Spence pp 59-76). Females are less intellectual as proposed by Confucius. According to old pictographs (ancient Chinese characters), the women are showed sitting in their homes. On the other hand, the males are pictured with labor and fields. There were also cases where female infants and children were infanticide and daughters were even sold to brothels (Spence pp 20-21). Even today, Chinese women are mostly responsible for the educational success of their children (Spence pp 59-76). They are also bearing most of the share of domestic work. In contemporary Chinese culture, women not only have to share the entire domestic work load but also have to manage the educational level of their children. In recent Chinese culture, women are committing suicide in their old age as they cannot bear the workload with the old age troubles they face. Women with 65+ of age have the most suicide rate in today’s China. Confucius ideas are still remembered and followed in most of the China at different levels throughout the society. Although many of his teachings are highly applauded like in strongly supporting the family system, the role of ruler and kinship of the ruler to wise men instead of passing on to next of kin, taking care of one another, giving respect to each other and respect to elder, but when it comes to the role of women in Chinese culture, his teachings are dilapidated. Gender balance is not supported by Confucius at all. The women were not given their share in the inheritance of the wealth and land of father. Women increased work load and liabilities to their natal family has been more desiring by him. Even in today’s China, women are not freed of their obligation. Their duties and hardships are not recognized at all. In the Confucius teachings, the women always have to be obedient either it would be father, husband or the elder son of the family. References Spence, Jonathan D. The death of woman Wang. Penguin books, 1979. Read More