Essay Example on Confucianism: A Vital Force in Arising China's Social Structures

In the recent past, Confucian has had a vital role to play in China; it influenced people's behavior and social structure. Today, it stretches deeply into facets such as culture, religion, politics, and entirely every aspect of East Asian tradition. In other words, China's life from the 1920s to the 1990s could be described by Confucianism. To expound the ideals of Confucian, social structures such as the family and the government have to work together to peacefully coexist in the world. Family is considered a primary fabric of society whereas the government helps to keep the chambers of the family in harmony. To make it more outstanding, the Chinese propose that when everything within the family is in order, all things traverse. Therefore, an ideal family helps to handle the relationship between husband-wife, father-son, and widow-son, to mention but a few. Confucian is important because it comforts individuals to pay attention to family morals. The paper will discuss in detail and compare and contrast China in the 1920s (Good Earth) and China in the 1990s (Yan's private lives).

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Husband wife relationship was systematic during the 1920s in that the sexist ideology was directed by the filial piety (Buck, 1931). The component stipulated that women must obey their husbands like the way citizens obey their rulers. However, abusive practices such as female infanticides and wife-beating were not common. Women were required to be submissive and bear more sons. At the same time, women were treated more like property and not a person because there was not physical and emotional involvement of both individuals in decision making. Marriage helped to maintain the family lineage and social stability to also increase the economic status of the patrilineal. From the 1990s, a new emphasis on sexuality and relationships has emerged to create an intimacy revolution (Buck, 1931). Both men and women are active agents in marriage, and this has widened the arena of intimacy. There is an innovation in emotional communication and variable indicators, which show that there is greater husband-wife intimacy. For example, despite the fact that women are supposed to obey their husbands, there is a variation in the traditional arranged marriage (Yan, 2003). Women are allowed to intermingle with who they love, and this reduces complications that were experienced in marriage during the traditional era. Moreover, women put their husband's obligations before theirs; thus all women want to follow their husbands and support them. While both husband and wife are at work, the woman can still take the role of a housewife and this is not a problem for them. They believe that the most beautiful place to be is in the heart of their husband.

Also, in the 1920s women were taken second as compared to men who were prioritized in entirely everything they did (Buck, 1931). According to Chinese culture, women were supposed to be submissive to their husbands. Sometimes, when they failed to obey what their husbands could need, they could be hit. Although they could feel as if they are children, it was normal because of the normality of the patriarchal rural organization. For instance, there are instances when Wang Lung was happy because of realizing that his wife feared him; this means that men could be pleased when they expressed their dominance over women (Buck, 1931). Women were not treated equally like any other human being; they could be treated as slaves who would do all work to please their husbands and the whole patrilineal. With time, new changes were experienced, for example, from the 1990s, women could take the nurturing role and they were regarded as important persons for continuity of the family lineage (Yan, 2003). Today, the Chinese have an enduring kinship principle that allows the parents of the son to choose a wife without encountering any disputes. The virtue of the Confucian ethics allows parents to choose the best partner for their son in that they look for a woman good enough to take the position of a housewife. They do so hoping that the coming bride would put his husband's obligations before hers, and at the same time, she could act as an economic eye and welfare of the family.

In the 1920s, the description of a woman was more of a property than a person in marriage and everything was arranged by the parents (Buck, 1931). Men or women were not allowed to marry who they loved. Daughters, in particular, were considered minors in society in that they had no say in the patriarchal Chinese society. The daughter's father was responsible for the upkeep and this was transferred to her husband when they married. Marriage was a pivotal event because most grooms engaged in an arranged marriage and their role was to ensure continuity of the husband's line, contribute to the household economic success, and to care for the elderly. They had marriage rituals, which gave directions on the transfer of the bride from one family to another. As from the 1990s till today, men and women intermingle and marry a person they love (Yan, 2003). Parents could not arrange marriage since family is now considered individualistic enterprise whose members tie only through bonds of sentiment other than the virtue of designated duties. There has been a shift in family dynamics and this reveals how the private and corporate lives are analytical models used to assess different family relationships in the contemporary world. The Chinese new democracy youth league actually encouraged mixed-gender activities, something that altered the old cultural order, which restricted unmarried men and women from interacting (Yan, 2003). Revolutionary changes emerged and changed social norms; in doing so the traditional ideal of gender separation was eliminated.

The rural family organization in China by 1920s looked at the family as the most basic element, which ensured continuity of society (Buck, 1931). For example, in regard to parent-offspring, all Chinese couples were required to have countless sons who would then grow up and ensure continuity of the family lineage. At this period, civil war had taken root, something that forced the majority of the couples to work towards demeaning many sons to endure their heredity. Unfortunately, there was high infant mortality and the death of young adults; this encouraged women to bear as many children as they could. On the other hand, in the 1990s, family composition shifted when the government introduced a child policy (Yan, 2003). It introduced the program to reduce the enormous population that was experienced in China. The focus of the new policy was to respond to economic and political changes, which emerged when people were not prepared. In this sense, it was necessary to accept birth control measures to match market-oriented forms and structures in rural China. There was a suppression of private families and markets since the policies were associated with mobilization collectivism with the aim of expanding the social world of the rural people from the village to the standard community in the market and beyond.

Also, during the 1920s, patriarchal authority was profound; this means, children particularly sons took a practical role in supporting their parents (Buck, 1931). At the same time, they obeyed the annual cycle of rituals, which was reflected by societal traditions. Son's obligations did not stop when one or both parents died. The Chinese ancestral cult taught sons that they could be in charge of the continuity of the generation. Sons were reminded by the ancestral cult of the heavy duties, which the entire male offspring. The responsibility of parents was given less attention, but many times, they could act as models of behavior for their children. The patrilineal values and practices created a belief that males should be poses superior authority throughout the Chinese kinship. However, from the 1990s, a drastic change was experienced in that families started shifting away from depending on their lineage (Yan, 2003). For example, Solomon says that in the Qing dynasty, a father loved his son, but it was hard to express it. Also, the parents' posture and way of life produced anxiety to sons in life. Dependence on children changed in that the father took the role of preparing the sons to face the outside world while the mother took the role of nurturing.

As with Chinese traditions, the place of a man in society was considered profound and important (Buck, 1931). Male status had some authority in that women were not allowed to talk to men unless they were married. The authority of men gave them an obligation to take care of the family even if they were not related by blood. Even in marriage, men were so authoritative to the fact that they were not supposed to be loyal. They treated their women as whores and property and it was not wrong to beat them when they did not obey. With the much author they had, they choose wives for their sons. However, as from the 1990s, the life of the Chinese family has changed to contemporary nature in that the authority of men is portrayed in things such as disciplinary roles and being the head of the family (Yan, 2003). Solomon talks about a father who loved his children but because of his authoritative nature, his children developed acute anxiety and resentment when they saw him. The Chinese ethos justifies the authoritative nature of men in the modern way of parenting. Another variation that helps to explain that there has been a transformation is the analogy that a woman follows a man. A man has a fundamental obligation to actively participate in decision making and also ensure the continuity of his patrilineal family. Also, in today's Chinese society, the absence of a male child will mean that the whole family is out of business. The image portrayed a closed up family, which was essentially dead or on its way to extinction.

Buck (1931) also highlights the theme of hardship where Wang Lung and people in rural china suffered from severe drought due to crop cultivation and destruction of the farmland. The majority of these people were the elderly and it is only their sons who could come to rescue. Also, parents hoped that their children could warm their bones at old age. Children, particularly sons were of great importance since they could assist their parents when they were weak and even sick. Being a male was vital to not only the society but the older persons because men could work with their own hands even though it meant using their energy to solve challenges (Buck, 931). At the same time, the elderly did not sit and wait for things to be done for them, for example, there is a time when Wang's father decided to plow his fields instead of sitting and begging for money. Even if it was a traditional era, the elderly believed in their own competence to earn without being involved in crimes. On the other hand, there was a transformation in the 1990s because the elderly had to take care of themselves (Yan, 2003). Even at their old age, their sons could not themselves in, they, therefore, had to learn how to do things on their own, for example, cooking, washing clothes, and even doing household tasks. However, children could look at the elderly and even comfort them to escape from a miserable life. The old widows who experience challenges remarry despite the stigma and prejudice they experience from rural society. The elderly do not receive anything from their children despite the efforts they put to raise them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, China has experienced drastic changes from the 1920s, which help to explain the transformation seen today. With the Confucian culture, the family was a basic element for continuity of society and it is the males who ensure the existence of patrilineal....