Familism in Confucianism - Women's Global Connection

Recommendations

Info

the root value on which many others are built (Wing 1995). In the “Hiao-king”, Confucius is recorded as saying: “Filial piety is the root of all virtue.” “Of all the actions of man there are none greater than those of filial piety.” In Chinese people’s mind, the notion of filial piety prompts sons to love and respect their parents, contribute to their comfort and bring happiness and honour to their name by honourable success in life. Moreover, by developing respect and love for parents and siblings, and learning respect for other people from them, the child develops both self-respect and respect for others. Our body, with hair and skin, is derived from our parents. One should not hurt one’s own body in any situation. This is the starting point of filial piety. (Hsiao Ching, Chapter 1: The Starting Point and the Principles) Filial piety included the obligation of sons to live after marriage under the same roof with the father and to give him obedience as long as he lived. The will of the parents was declared to be supreme even to the extent that if the son’s wife failed to please them, he was obliged to divorce her. If a dutiful son found himself compelled to scold a wayward father, he was taught to give the correction with the utmost meekness. The father does not forfeit his right to filial respect, no matter how great his wickedness. In traditional Asian culture, a son, usually the first born, and his wife were expected to provide for his parents in their old age. According to Lin (1993), the greatest regret a Chinese man could have is to lose the opportunity of being with and serving his parents on their deathbed. Thus, the value of filial piety is as important as the very foundation of developing one’s self and becoming a fully developed human being. Even in current Chinese society, this is still regarded as an obligation for the son, especially the first son. This could affect female’s choices while they are searching for an appropriate marriage partner. To be the first son of a family could be considered as a disadvantage for marriage because the wife of the son is expected to take care of the parents-in-law on daily life and finance. Therefore, when the parents lost the ability to take care of themselves, it is an obligation for the wife to do the caregiving. Sometimes, living with the parents becomes the reason of the discord between the couples. In a study of immigration culture about caregiving (Patricia, Xinwei, Karen & Afaf, 2002), the results led to the finding that through personal growth and finding meaning, the caregivers integrated the caregiver role into their lives and became more connected with their families and within themselves from the interviews of Chinese American women. Although the women were moderately acculturated and influenced by two sets of standards and worldviews, the primary strategies used to manage the caregiving challenges were connecting and calibrating. They reflected what they were educated in childhood to the behaviours. The teaching of values in the original country continually plays an absolute role to managing the behaviours in their lives. Ideal Role for Woman in Chinese Tradition Confucianism delineates proper conduct for everyone, especially women. Fighting women’s rampant “loose morals” in a concerted effort to produce “virtuous women”, Confucianism governed women’s conduct with the so-called three obediences: (1) a young girl should obey her father; (2) a married woman should obey her husband; (3) a widow should obey her oldest son. We can find that two of these obedience directly match two of the five cardinal relationships (parent-child, husband-wife). The third obedience seems to be a paradox. In theory, a widow was expected to obey her son. However, in practice, the son usually obeyed and paid respect to his mother (Kim, 1979).
In order to investigate the world of women and men in Chinese society, we can begin with Chinese characters. As well known, Chinese ancient words were pictograph. They presented the ideas and images of Chinese people had towards the concepts and meaning of that word. The Chinese character for “woman” shows a female figure sitting at home. On the other hand, the Chinese character for “man” is a combination of “field” and “labor”. Therefore, by interpretation, a woman should work inside the home while a man should work outside on the farm (Park, 1986). It is fair to say that the entire social structure was characterized by sexual segregation. Even after marriage, the physical structure of the house facilitated this separated lifestyle, with the husband and wife staying in separate quarters most of the time. The women’s quarter was called the “inner room” and it was in the inner wing. The men’s quarter was called the “outer room” and it was in the outer wing. The inherent symbolism of the language is impossible not to notice (Park, 1986; Kendall, & Peterson, 1983). Traditional Chinese society was male-centered. Sons were preferred over daughters, and women were expected to be subordinate to fathers, husband, and sons. When married, it was a woman who left her natal family and community, and went to live in a family and community of strangers where she was subordinate to her mother-in-law. Far fewer women were educated than men, and sketchy but consistent demographic evidence would seem to show that female infants and children had higher death rates and less chance of surviving to adulthood than male. In extreme cases, female infants were the victims of infanticide, and daughters were sold, as chattels, to brothels or to wealthy families. Bound feet, which were customary even for peasant women, symbolized the painful constraints of the female role. In current Chinese society, the destiny of female would not be so miserable as in the ancient environment, however, female would be the prefer choice when someone has to sacrifice for the family or group. According to the Confucian structure of society, women at every level were to occupy a position lower than men. Most Confucians accepted the subservience of women to men as natural and proper. At the same time they accorded women’s honour and power as mother and mother-in-law within their family. Some examples of “Confucian inspired sayings” as bellow could still be a shackle against women’s growth and self-actualization in modern Chinese society: “A woman’s duty is not to control or take charge.” “Woman’s greatest duty is to produce a son.” “A woman ruler is like a hen crowing.” “Women are to be led and to follow others.” “A woman should look o her husband as if he were Heaven itself, and never weary of thinking how she may yield to him.” Through the years, a whole body of literature was written, educating women on selfdiscipline, etiquette, relationships with in-laws, household management, humility, and chastity. Biographies written about admirable women emphasized their unselfish loyal and self-sacrificing willingness to do anything to help their husband and his family. Although ideology is one thing and the reality of the lives of women often another, the log shadow of basic beliefs about the nature and role of women had far-reaching effects. Conclusion Human beings live in their own webs of significance, which are woven with reference to their own cultural traditions (Geertz, 1973). From the perspective of cultural psychology, social discourse on actions in one’s own culture necessarily has one’s cultural structure of meaning (Shweder, 1991; Shweder & Sullivan, 1993). In addition, the core cultural ideas that profoundly influence people’s ways of thinking also have that culture’s structure of
Page 1 and 2: Familism in Confucianism Nai-Hua, K
Page 3: husband’s. More succinctly, it is
Page 7: Joel, J. K. (2001). Classic Asian p

Familism in Confucianism - Women's Global Connection

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?