Influence Of Confucianism In Japan

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Japan’s modern day society was greatly influenced by the integration of Confucianism and the samurai. However, the influence was not distributed equally, nor fairly between both sexes. The Confucian ideals not only change women’s social status in Japan being subservient to men, but also erased their identity as a human being with individual rights. Before Confucianism became an integral philosophy for Japan during the Edo period (1602-1868), Japanese women exercised multiple freedoms. Women could own and inherit property, be highly educated, hold a family position in feudal Japan, and become a female samurai. “They were expected to control the household budget and household decisions to allow men to serve their lord.” In fact, Japan was considered mainly as a matriarchal society until Buddhism, Confucianism, and the Samurai ethic influenced the culture. This change came about when the Tokugawa Shogunate came to power and the government embraced Confucianism. The main ideology that was emphasized was the supreme position of male authority and a new hierarchal structure from matriarchal to patriarchal. With the rise of the shogunate came
Instead, she must wait calmly and gently before speaking to him. Due to these evils, a man possessed the ability to divorce his wife if “she does not obey his father and mother; she is lecherous, jealous, has a nasty disease, is barren, talks too much, or steals,” or punish her should she display the

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