Moralist Views in History and Fiction

1
Moralist Views in History and Fiction

• Confucian moralism had great impact on historical
  writing and fictional writing
• Mencius I like fish and I also like bears paw.
  If I cannot have both of them, I shall give up
  the fish and choose bears paw. I like life and I
  also like righteousness. If I cannot have both
  of them, I shall give up life and choose
  righteousness. (6a 10)
• Sima Qian A noble person dies for his bosom
  friends A man can only die once, and whether
  death to him is as weighty as Mount Tai or as
  light as a feather depends on the reason for
  which he dies.

2
Gender in Confucian Moralism

• Men and women had their respective
  roles/identities. Confucius
• When the Great Way was practiced, the world was
  shared by all alike. the young were provided
  with an upbringing and the widow and widower, the
  orphaned and the sick, with proper care. Men had
  their tasks and women their hearts..
• Now the Great Way has become hid and the world
  is the possession of private families..Ritual
  and righteousness are used to regulate the
  relationship between ruler and subject, to insure
  affection between father and son, peace between
  brothers, and harmony between husband and wife.

3
Gender Relations in Confucian System

• Three Bonds and Five Human Relationships
• Three bonds what binds the ruler with the
  minister, the father with the son, and the
  husband with the wife
• Five relationships
• While the relations were originally established
  on the basis of mutual moral obligation, the
  ruler, the father, and the husband are superior
  to the ruled, the son, and the wife.
• The hierarchy became a moral and ethical standard
  in the Han because of Dong Zhongshus new
  interpretation.

4
Yin-Yang Theory Enhances Confucian Moralism

• Yin and Yang principles used to denote gender
  relations
• Yang qian (chien) heaven high honorable
  male activity
• Yin kun (kun) earth low humble female
  tranquility
• Variant applications of the Yin-Yang theory
• Two forces should be equal, complementary, and
  balanced
• Yang should be stronger than or superior to yin,
  hence more numerous than yin
• Imbalance of Yin and Yang
• Less a problem when yang exceeds yin
• More a problem when Yin exceeds yang

5
Symbolism of Yin in Gender Relations

• Liu Xiang (79-8 BC) Biographies of Women (Lienu
  zhuan)
• Records of women notable for their devotion to
  their husbands and for their chastity under
  duress
• Ban Zhao (c. 45-116) Admonition for Girls (Nu
  jie)
• Preaches the cultivation of virtues appropriate
  to womens role humility, subservience,
  obedience, cleanliness, and industry

6
Ban Zhaos View of Gender Relations (1st C)

• Ban Zhaos Admonition for Girls
• Humility let a woman modestly yield to others
  let her respect others let her put others first,
  herself last.
• Husband and wife If a husband does not control
  his wife, then the rules of conduct manifesting
  his authority are abandoned and broken. If a wife
  does not serve her husband, then the proper
  relationship between men and women and the
  natural order of things are neglected and
  destroyed.
• Respect and Caution As yin and yang are not of
  the same nature, so man and woman have different
  characteristics
• Manyangrigiditystrength
• Womanyinyieldinggentleness
• Respect and caution expressed in the use of
  proper words and actions
• Proper words and actions? harmony and
  intimacy?conjugal love
• Sharp words and improper actions?destruction of
  marriage?separation

7
Ban Zhaos View of Womanly Qualification

• A woman ought to have four qualifications
• Womanly virtue (fu de)
• Guard carefully her chastity, control
  circumspectly her behavior, in every motion to
  exhibit modesty, and to model each act on the
  best usage
• Womanly words (fu yan)
• Choose her words with care, avoid vulgar
  language, speak at appropriate times, and not to
  weary others with much conversation
• Womanly bearing (fu rong)
• Wash and scrub filth away, keep clothes and
  ornaments fresh and clean, wash the head and
  bathe the body rgularly, and keep the person free
  from disgraceful filth
• Womanly work (fu gong)
• With wholehearted devotion to sew and to weave,
  to love not gossip and silly laughter, in
  cleanliness and order to prepare the wine and
  food for serving guests

8
Lady Zhengs View of Gender Relations (I)

• The book of filial piety for women (8th
  C)circulated widely in Ming and Qing times
• Continued the legacy of Ban Zhao (referred to as
  Lady Ban)
• Follow the way of the wife and utilize moral
  principle to the best advantage
• Serving parents-in-law is their priority
• Reverent in correcting inside matters,
  principled in her dealings with the outside.
• Sets an example of rectitude and virtue for
  husband to copy
• Takes the initiative in being reverent and
  yielding so that husband is not competitive

9
Lady Zhengs View of Gender Relations (II)

• Bring order to nine relations
• Not neglect husband, nor husbands concubine,
• Not mistreat sisters-in-law, nor servants
• Not insult lower-ranking family members, nor
  chickens and dogs
• Use wisdom and intelligence properly to help
  husband according to the principle of yin-yang
  interdependence
• Fulfill five requirements (modeled on Confucian
  five relationships)
• Maintain formality (official and ruler)
• Reverence (father and child)
• Right manner (siblings)
• Agreements and trust (friends)
• Flawless words and actions (family)

10
Lady Zhengs View of Gender Relations (III)

• Follow the teachings of the sage
• Purity, obedience, rectitude, straightforwardness,
  gentleness, absence of jealousy, orderliness in
  the inner quarters, absence of contact with the
  outside, and the ability to not be so stimulated
  by sights and sounds that desires are pursued
  recklessly
• Most heinous offense is jealousy
• Husband has a hundred actions, wife has a single
  purpose. For men there is the principle of
  successive marriages, but there is no text
  authorizing women to marry more than once.
• Miss Jiang would rather drown than leave the
  flooded place (because the messenger sent to
  fetch her did not carry a tally)

11
Lady Zhengs View of Gender Relations (IV)

• A wifes moral function
• A husband needs his wife to point out his errors
  just like a feudal lord needs a minister, a
  higher officer needs officials, a gentleman needs
  a friend, and a father need a son to point out
  their respective errors.
• Influence of wifes moral power
• When a husband might do something wrong, a wife
  warns against it. How can following a husbands
  order be considered wise?
• husband can become successful because of wifes
  moral/intellectual advice/persuasion

12
Lady Zhengs View of Evil Women

• Women caused the fall of Chinese dynasties
• The fall of the Xia dynasty was due to the
  concubine of the last king, Moxi
• The fall of the Shang was due to the concubine
  of its last king, Daji
• The fall of the Zhou was due to the concubine of
  its last king, Baosi
• Women caused the downfall of feudal lords
• The calamity befalling Shensheng the crown
  prince of Jin resulted from the slander osf his
  fathers concubine, Linu
• The demise of the last heir of the Liang
  dynasty, Minhuai began with the Jin empress,
  Nanfeng.