Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

200 Issuesdaughters had their feet bound. Daughters in well - to - do families receivedsome education, though not as much as their brothers. 12 Most women hadlittle power in their husband ’ s household and were subject to attitudes – andlaws – about maintaining their chastity and prohibitions against remarriageif they were widowed. 13Two very famous stories with Confucian themes about quite differentwomen come from the imperial age. The first is the story of Yang Guifei,the beautiful concubine of emperor Xuanzong (712 – 55), who was deeplyin love with her. In the face of a rebellion, the emperor was forced to fleethe palace and his military escort demanded the head of Yang Guifei. Theysaid that she was the cause of the emperor ’ s misrule and this rebellion;apparently the emperor himself had nothing to do with it. Broken - hearted,the emperor agreed, and, after her death, returned to his throne, saddened,but poetic about it. The second is the story of Hua Mulan ( c .500). WhenChina was divided between the Northern Wei dynasty and the Liang, shewas a great example of filial piety: her ill father was conscripted and herbrother too young, so she disguised herself as a man and went in his place.Her chastity was preserved because no one suspected she was a woman.She served brilliantly in the army for twelve years, becoming a general.She returned home and took up her womanly duties. 14 The story of YangGuifei is like the stories in the Confucian classics in which a beautifulwoman leads her emperor to destruction. The story of Hua Mulan is likethe stories of filial piety in which the filial daughter offered her life in placeof her father ’ s.So, if there are no female models among Confucius ’ students, can onelook to women like Ban Zhao and Hua Mulan as examples of a Confucianwoman? Is there a basic message in Confucianism by which to judge thehistory of Confucianism and which would include women? Yes, say some.This is “ education without distinction. ” Some argue that Confucius meantto include women in his view that education should be open to all; otherssay that, even if that was not what Confucius meant, it can now be understoodthat way. Confucians never argued that women were irrational orincapable of morality. So, given the same education, women can becomejust as moral as men. 15 The point is that if education is open to both menand women, then both men and women can study the classics, use self -cultivation, and become gentlemen. In English, the sentence “ a woman canbecome a gentleman ” sounds a little odd given that “ gentleman ” is a wordwith obvious gender expectations, but in Chinese, saying a woman canbecome a junzi works better (even though, as a class of knights originally,it too has some gender expectations).The basic message of Confucianism is that everyone, man or woman,can become an ethical person through education, and everyone can workin society for the betterment of society.