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Confucianism and its influence upon Chinese society
Confucianism and its influence upon Chinese society
Confucianism and its influence upon Chinese society
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Families were essential in ancient and medieval civilizations. They were the basis of most aspects in historic civilizations. They determined who controlled different aspects of these societies, appointing leaders and rulers to govern over them; much like the familial dynasties of ancient China. They also determined the social status of individuals. Families also let to the extension of lineages, passing down values and beliefs through generations; and they also produced offspring’s that can then serve the societies in which they are born to by advancing technology and serving in their armies. Families would also be created to be merge houses, clans, and other civilizations into one. Indubitably, families were important to these ancient and …show more content…
She was a wealthy Chinese woman that lived in China from 45 - 120 C.E. and whose family had connections to the imperial court in China. Do to her familial status she grew on the strict customs that were present in ancient china. Thus, she wrote Lessons for Women in order to instruct women how to behave in their households. Also, so that they may successfully carry out their womanly duties and learn how they should act when married. But, Lessons for Women also reflects many of the ideals that were based on women during this time period in China (and arguably still continued for many years). Such ideals were those of how a woman should act and be represented in the overall Chinese society. If a woman were to dishonor her household or stray from the cultural norms then she would not be allowed to pass on with their ancestors. This caused pressure since there were many beliefs that were associated women in this time period of China. These beliefs devalued many of the women in this society making them out to be “Unsophisticated, Unenlightened, and by nature Unintelligent” (Lessons for Women, 106). Thus, these belief made women inferior and allowed for males to be the dominant gender in this society. These beliefs also made sure that women did everything possible in order to appease their ancestors and subsequently be allowed in to
Lessons for Women was written by Ban Zhao, the leading female Confucian scholar of classical China, in 100 C.E. It was written to apply Confucian principles to the moral instruction of women, and was particularly addressed to Ban Zhao’s own daughters. As her best remembered work, it allows the reader insight into the common role of a woman during this fascinating time-period. The work starts off by Ban Zhao unconvincingly berating herself, and claiming how she once lived with the constant fear of disgracing her family. This argument is rather implausible, for the reader already knows the credibility of Ban Zhao, and how important her role was in ancient China.
Her unfazed attitude towards society’s expectations of women shocked the country – from marrying more than one man to killing her child to poisoning her family – she became a figure no one else would ever replace. Only her legacy will live on, as well as all the effort she has put into pushing away the boundaries and limits for women, in order to show the world, that women can be just as cruel. Historian C.P. Fitzgerald wrote, “Without Wu there would have been no long enduring Tang dynasty and perhaps no lasting unity of China,” and just with this simple quote, it can be observed that throughout her shocking tactics she used in order to become emperor of China, she indeed succeeded and showed the entire country just how dangerous and cruel a woman can be – completely opposite to the stereotypical expectations in their
Lessons for Women is a short book with seven chapters outing the four virtues a woman must abide by. Those virtues being; proper virtue, proper speech, proper countenance, and proper conduct. The book itself describes the status and position of women in society. Ban Zhao, the first woman historian of China, wrote Lessons for Women. The society that she lived in, ca. 45-120 C.E. Xianyang, Shaanxi province, did not grant women a status equal to of men, because women were generally regarded as unworthy or incapable of a literary education. Ban Zhao’s purpose for writing Lessons for Women was to prepare her daughters to be capable of managing themselves as women and honor a man in a marriage relationship. Ban Zhao’s works motivated women to gain
A family is a group of people consisting of the parents and their children who live together and they are blood related. The family is always perceived as the basic social units whether they are living together in the same compound or at far distance but are closely related especially by blood. Therefore, the family unit has had a great influence on the growth and the character traits possessed by the children as they grow up and how they perceive the society they live in. the family also shapes the children to be able to relate well with other people that are not part of their family and with a good relationship it impacts to the peace achieved in country. This paper addresses the reasons as to why the family is considered the most important agent of socialization. It’s evident that families have changed over time and they have adopted different ways of living. This paper also tackles on the causes of the dramatic changes to the American family and what the changes are. Different people with different race, gender and preferences make the family unit and this makes the difference in marriages. This will also be discussed in this paper.
This would seem to be a relatively accurate description. Though she is self-deprecating, and downplays her intelligence, it is apparent that Ban Zhou is a revolutionary. (Teacher’s comment, ?) Maybe he wants it cited In Lessons for Women Ban Zhao begins by downplaying any intelligence or abilities that she possesses. She calls herself an “unworthy writer, unsophisticated, unenlightened, and by nature unintelligent.” This seems odd that she would put herself down while writing and providing a new interpretation of Confucian writings. By nature a decidedly enlightened and sophisticated undertaking. (Teacher’s comment- not a sentence) Perhaps she does this because even though she advocates the inclusion of women in the educational system of the time, she also is highly aware of the controversial nature of her writings. Chinese society was highly prejudicial towards women and the thought of someone arguing for female inclusion in typically male arenas would have definitely been controversial. Ban Zhao gives the credit of her “limited” abilities to her scholarly father and cultured mother. The basis for Ban Zhao’s writings at this time was primarily due to her concern for her daughter’s well-being and the need to impart upon them the proper manners and expectations for a successful married life. Because Lessons for Women is explicitly for her daughters and since it speaks directly to them, one can assume that her daughters received a fair amount of Ban Zhao’s teachings in their own daily interactions. It would also be fair to assume that her daughters learned, at least on some level, the classics as well as how to read and write. Ban Zhao found it strange that teachings of women were so neglected. Though there was much thought on the education and expectations of men, there was none of women. She believed that focusing on just males, while neglecting females, was ignorant. Without a standard set of
She is an aristocratic woman from the Hans empire who believes women should follow their duties set by society. One of a woman’s responsibilities is to be respectful. Zhao wrote, “Let her bear contempt; let her even endure when others speak or do evil to her.” Women are required to be respectful even if a man is doing or saying evil things. Zhao essay also discusses how women are subservient to men. She states, “They only know that wives must be controlled and that the husband 's authority must be maintained.” Men are supposed to control women and it is the woman’s responsibility to follow his orders. Lastly, she discusses womanly behaviors. She says the four womanly behaviors are “… womanly virtue, womanly speech, womanly appearance, and womanly work.” Women are required to be modest, use appropriate language, to maintain personal hygiene in order to look “womanly” and to make clothes or prepare
She imposed and made sure family traditions were followed. This is important to recall because tradition sometimes is part of keeping an ideology alive. She believed that just as her family followed this tradition, it was her part to do the same. I believe that sometimes women like her oppress other women to be submissive to the society they live in.
From this dynasty came a writer, a female writer, Ban Zhao. After becoming ill she wrote a rulebook for women (Lessons for Women). In this “rulebook” Ban Zhao defines the role of a woman, dictates customs, and traditions for women. It states how a woman should put every male of her family before herself. Ban Zhao’s book, isn’t just for women.
Family roles in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome were a very important part of life.
The women were basically enslaved by their men who decided their fate, their roles in society and above all made them their private property . As such, their roles in summary were gendered and centred on caring for their husbands, cleaning, cooking and looking after their children. Girls were trained in domestic duties such as cotton-spinning, knitting, sewing, cookery, wine-making etc., as part of the preparation for their future domestic role . Traditional Chinese society was patriarchal and as per distinction of patriarchal societies, men had all control. This control extended to women who basically had no voice or rights to protect them from such a society as this was the way of life. It was even a rare occurrence if not outright unattainable for traditional Chinese society to allow their girls to attain formal education. What women learned in those days amounted to nothing more than cookery, sewing, knitting, cotton-spinning and housekeeping . With this background in mind, the roles played by women in traditional Chinese societies as will be discussed in the subsequent paragraphs should not come as a
...ime. Majority of the women in the novel overcame the tough traditions of women treatment in ancient Chinese culture. The ancient Chinese culture believed that women should fall under patriarchy and strict ethics. This gave women no opportunity to move up the social class ladder. Being treated poorly effected would often affect women. Women like Lindo represent the power of escaping the oppressive atmosphere. Lindo decided to leave when she saw the Huang couldn’t control her anymore. Women had to be able to find their own independent identity. Ying-Ying is an example of this since she always wished to be found by someone, but inevitably she realized that she was her solution to finding her wholeness. Today modern women can express their thoughts, independence, and creativity. Aid should be continually provided for liberating women from oppression and discrimination.
Since the beginning of early Confucianism, women in early China suffered oppression. Unfortunately, the religion holds much responsibility for the sexism. Confucius’s answers for the Chinese people’s way of living consisted of sexual discrimination and segregation towards females. Women in China were urged to meet the expectations outlined in Confucian ideals. Such concepts were mainly limited to the men. Thus, Confucianism defined gender expectations. Confucianism stimulated the inequality of women in Chinese culture.
Since the beginning of time, mankind began to expand on traditions of life out of which family and societal life surfaced. These traditions of life have been passed down over generations and centuries. Some of these kin and their interdependent ways of life have been upheld among particular people, and are known to contain key pieces of some civilizations.
Out of the numerous commodities and resources that are scarce on the planet in which we inhabit a family, or even a family system, can never be parallel to even an iota of them. This is due to the fact that everyone, no matter what age at what time period of their life, has a family. That family may not be the cookie cutter family that society imposes on the media world. People develop without knowing their family, people create new families of their own, or they can even find something or someone to call family because of this family will never be scarce. Family is an objective concept to every single person and the definition varies significantly from being as simple as the smallest of toys to as complex as a group of people interconnected
Everyone is born into some form of family, with the family taking the responsibility of nurturing, teaching the norms or accepted behaviors within the family structure and within society. There are many types of families, which can be described as a set of relationships including parents and children and can include anyone related by blood or adoption. Family is the most important, “for it is within the family that the child is first socialized to serve the needs of the society and not only its own needs” (Goode, 1982).