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Influence Of Confucianism In Chinese Society

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Chinese society was patrilineal, patrilocal, and patriarchical. Confucianism, with its emphasis on traditional rituals, extended these ideas through all aspects of social and political life. Master Kongzi saw religious and social rituals as the basis for civilization, and believed that only through such a civilized society could there be a stable and enduring social order. For him, the family was the fundamental unit of society, and families were to be set up in a specific "natural" hierarchy. Fathers were to have authority over their sons; elder brothers had authority over younger brothers; and fathers, husbands, and grown sons all had authority over their female kin. A man’s duty was to have sons to perpetuate the family line, to properly bury him when the time came, and to venerate the male ancestors of the family. A women was honored within the family as the one who bore children and taught them their social place, but she did so only under the authority of her husband and his parents. She also cared for her in-laws, and might continue to do even if her husband died. Therefore, a woman’s standing within her family of marriage depended on her bearing male heirs, and a widow who had not produced sons was worthless to that family. At no time was a women an autonomous individual; rather, she owed respect and obedience at all times to her parents, her husband and in-laws, and eventually, to her grown sons.
During the Han dynasty, aristocratic men and women did not

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