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China and Lao Tai-tai
Seventeenth century China had become a "closed country", in effect limiting how much of the "outside" world was allowed into China. In essence China had closed its doors to missionaries and all who would try to push western culture (Christianity, alcohol, opium, etc) onto the Chinese people. Tradition was very important to the Chinese. With the passage of the "unequal treaties" in the nineteenth century the doors were once again opened for missionaries-thus paving the way for an influx of western idealization. New (modern) ways of thinking emerged, greatly impacting the lives of traditional Chinese households, an example of this is the Yin family, written by Ida Pruitt, born to missionary parents in China but still having very close ties to the Chinese people.
Traditional ways of doing things and living were thought to be the best. With modernization came a cultural crisis during the Qing dynasty. What principles were to be taken from the West while holding to traditional Chinese values became the key question. The unanimous answer of the Chinese youth being: "East for essence, West for practical Use". This is a resounding theme in Old Madam Yin. The Yin family was very much from a traditional background. The social ranking and male hierarchy was very much a prevalent factor in the life of Lao Tai-tai, "The Chinese family system was organized around the kinship of men" (vi). A family tree was not traced by the female, but rather by the male-the wife being the property of the husband. A woman in Chinese society was dependent upon a male: whether it is her father, husband, brother or son. Divorce was generally not tolerated, and remarriage was frowned upon. In spite of this, Lao Tai-tai remarried after her first husband died, and rose to great wealth with her second husband whom she loved more than the first.
A great homage and respect of ancestors was to be paid. "There were five generations that each man hoped to be able to venerate-his father and mother, his grandfather and grandmother, and the three generations preceding them"-though a family was merely required to "worship" three (34). Age was also an important factor within Chinese society.
Lao Tai-tai comes in contact with Ida Pruitt because of her wish to adopt a baby boy for her second son's wife. They already had a girl, but it was expected that they should also have a son-for he would carry on the family line.
Yan Zhitui states that, "women take charge of family affairs, entering into lawsuits, straightening out disagreements, and paying calls to seek favor...the government offices are filled with their fancy silks." (Differences between north and south, 111). Yet, even in the Qing dynasty women were still restricted by and expected to uphold more traditional ideals, especially in the public eye. So, in the end, through her virtue, Hsi-Liu’s two children we able to become upright. Here, there is a split between what a woman is supposed to be according to old Chinese tradition, and the realities facing women in Tancheng. The loss of her husband, and economic hardship had forced His-Liu to behave in a different way, as if she were usurping the power from the eldest son so she could teach the two boys a lesson about being good family members. While she still maintains the ideals of bearing children, and being loyal to her husband, even after he dies, out of necessity she is forced to break from Confucian ideals of being only concerned with the domestic issues. This too put her at odds with the more traditional society around her, as the villagers pitied her sons, but vilified the Hsi-Liu for being so strict with them (Woman Wang, 65). Had she remarried, she would have been looked down upon even more because she would had broken her duty to remain faithful to her deceased
China was not only patriarchal, but also patrilineal. This means that family descent could only be counted through the men. Woman were not able to pass on lineage or surnames except under very rare circumstances. Ancestor worship was very important in this culture, and only the
Confucius believed that proper behavior within all types of relationships was dictated by a hierarchy that should be honored and preserved in order to maintain harmony within oneself and the rest of society (Bulliet 86). Zhao respected and supported these ideas in her own writings as she regularly makes reference to the notion that relationships between married men and women should be guided by the principles of yin and yang. According to Zhao, “as Yin and Yang are not of the same nature, so man and woman have different characteristics”, hence while the yang is firm and strong, the yin must be flexible and gentle (Zhao). Her advice to her daughters and the rest of her female audience was meant to help them avoid the shame that came with breaking the rules of society and promote a happy, harmonious lifestyle. To Zhao and most others, the inequality that existed between men and women was an inherent and necessary quality of traditional Chinese life. The historical context in which Zhao lived gives sufficient information to understand her position and motivations in Lessons for a Woman, nonetheless, her views on education add a unique dimension to her
The pursuit of a comfortable living or wealth caused a lot of men to venture into the West leaving behind his or her homeland and families. Chinese labors faced conflicts in their homeland;
First, an aspect that remained constant throughout Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties includes family systems. Respect towards elders and ancestors was demanded at all times. According to Confucius, “there are no wrongdoing parents,” meaning that no matter how abusive or irritating a parent may be, there is no circumstance in which respect can wane. In addition, there was a constant cycle of patriarchal hierarchy, passed through sons before daughters, and the eldest son having the chief privileges. Another aspect that remained constant throughout the pre-classical
June-May fulfills her mother’s name and life goal, her long-cherished wish. She finally meets her twin sisters and in an essence fulfills and reunites her mother with her daughter through her. For when they are all together they are one; they are their mother. It is here that June-May fulfills the family portion of her Chinese culture of family. In addition, she fully embraces herself as Chinese. She realizes that family is made out of love and that family is the key to being Chinese. “And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood.” (Tan 159). Finally, her mother’s life burden is lifted and June-May’s doubts of being Chinese are set aside or as she says “After all these years, it can finally be let go,” (Tan 159).
The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When Liang Heng and Judy Shapiro fell in love in China during 1979, they weren’t just a rarity they were both pioneers at a time when the idea of marriages between foreigners and Chinese were still unacceptable in society.
All through time, successive generations have rebelled against the values and traditions of their elders. In all countries, including China, new generations have sought to find a different path than that of their past leaders. Traditional values become outdated and are replaced with what the younger society deems as significant. Family concentrates on this very subject. In the novel, three brothers struggle against the outdated Confucian values of their elders. Alike in their dislike of the traditional Confucian system of their grandfather, yet very different in their interactions with him and others, begin to reach beyond the ancient values of Confucianism and strive for a breath of freedom. Their struggles against the old values lead to pain, suffering and eventually achievement for the three of them, however at a harsh price for two brothers.
...Mencius, and Chu Hsi emphasises the practice of filial piety and in their literatures and proclamations they made the rituals clear. The practice was widely spread where even in literature such as “Dream of the Red Chamber”, “The Classic of Filial Piety”, and “Six Records of Floating Life”, which all demonstrated the rules and examples of filial piety where the family members demonstrated filial roles towards the elders in the family. In terms of education the children showed filial piety through high education which meant greater reputation for the parents. Those who were successful in their education and career the society praised not just the children but the parents as well, which meant a lot to the parents. Also in the politics, it was essential for the society to show loyalty and respect to the ruler as the ruler held the greatest importance in the society.
However, this “ladder of success” was not as simple as it seemed. First of all, the class of both families will be a huge barrier. We are not even talking about freedom to love here, there is no such thing in late imperial China. Although we can’t say that love doesn’t exist even in such systems, such as Shen Fu and Chen Yun, but most marriages are not about love. Rather, it was about exchange of values. For example, when two families want to become business partners, the parents of the family will have their son and daughter married, so the two families will have closer bonding which made the business much easier. In this sense, we can see that the couple is simply a tool. In the same sense, the families which has not much “values” can only have marriages with the same class of families. Meaning for a women to climb up the ladder of success is not quite possible as the class of her family is a huge deciding factor for marriage in the
Firstly, the relationship expectations in Chinese customs and traditions were strongly held onto. The daughters of the Chinese family were considered as a shame for the family. The sons of the family were given more honour than the daughters. In addition, some daughters were even discriminated. “If you want a place in this world ... do not be born as a girl child” (Choy 27). The girls from the Chinese family were considered useless. They were always looked down upon in a family; they felt as if the girls cannot provide a family with wealth. Chinese society is throwing away its little girls at an astounding rate. For every 100 girls registered at birth, there are 118 little boys in other words, nearly one seventh of Chinese girl babies are going missing (Baldwin 40). The parents from Chinese family had a preference for boys as they thought; boys could work and provide the family income. Due to Chinese culture preference to having boys, girls often did not have the right to live. In the Chinese ethnicity, the family always obeyed the elder’s decision. When the family was trying to adapt to the new country and they were tryin...
Kingston uses the story of her aunt to show the gender roles in China. Women had to take and respect gender roles that they were given. Women roles they had to follow were getting married, obey men, be a mother, and provide food. Women had to get married. Kingston states, “When the family found a young man in the next village to be her husband…she would be the first wife, an advantage secure now” (623). This quote shows how women had to get married, which is a role women in China had to follow. Moreover, marriage is a very important step in women lives. The marriage of a couple in the village where Kingston’s aunt lived was very important because any thing an individual would do would affect the village and create social disorder. Men dominated women physically and mentally. In paragraph eighteen, “they both gav...
The Buddhist brought with them the concept of multiple gods and Buddha’s “spiritual state to provide the power for humans to make the transition into death and the afterlife successfully” (Corduan, 2012, p.410). Confucianism brought the obedience of the child to the parent into Chinese mainstream life, plus the “social stratification and codes governing dress, actions and communication” (Corduan, 2012, p.409). Taoism introduced the balance of forces in harmony in spirits in the form of yin and yang, thus creating that balance of nature and humans (Corduan, 2012). Christianity influenced Chinese life both socially and economically by introducing the concepts of “love for one’s neighbor, self-discipline, and trust” (Lu, 2014, p.2) as both essential and beneficial (Lu, 2014). All of these together with the traditional Chinese religion, give the Chinese culture it’s popular religion
The celebration of a young man entering the adult life is also celebrated within Confucianism. Because the ancestors have such a large importance in Confucian traditions, this family ritual is seen as the presentation of the youth to his ancestors (Oxtoby and Segal 463). Often held for a young man between the ages of fifteen and twenty, this ‘capping’ c...
...ying in a marriage since divorce was frowned upon during that era. Her decision was a succession for all expectations put on a woman and wife by society.