Confucianism and Raise the red Lanturn
What has happened to Confucianism. For a long time, Confucian was accepted as the idea that a healthy society depended on a solid traditional family. Confucius himself, for example, called for people to put principle above selfish desires. People supported hierarchy. The rulers moral example would inspire the people to live good lives. But one begins to detect a new theme emerging in society especially amongst the Chinese reformers: the theme of individualism oppose to familialism. Today, would the Confucian family be more and more aware of abuse to women and children? The rituals and traditions can be seen as both positive and negative. The ways in which women suffered affirm that some rituals were abusive. There are multiple signs indeed that something has gone badly wrong with the Chinese family traditions that led to family instability. To begin with, one of the major problems that hindered the Chinese family is customs and rituals. On the other hand, some of these family traditions allowed the family to flourish as a group. In the movie Raise the Red Lantern, many types of customs and rituals were shown. For example, according to the master's tradition, lanterns are lit outside the house of which the master chooses to join
In a Confucian family having a son was most important. This allowed the family to continue to grow. It also gave the mother a proper place in the family. In Raising the Red Lantern Songlian lied and said she was pregnant. During the time she was pretending to be pregnant the Master stayed with only her. She had meals in her room. She felt very powerful. This announcement had a positive effect on Songlian life. But when the doctor revealed she was not telling the truth, her life became very negative. This was a very serious and wrongful thing to do in Confucian society. He had her lanterns covered. This meant the Master know longer visited her. Another tradition that was seen at the household was visitations. When Songlian arrived she was told she must visit the other sisters. This particular ritual seems positive. It gave the women time to talk and get to know one another. Some secrets and lies were discovered at some of these visits; which then turn visitations into a negative effect on the family life. But if one were not present at dinner, all the others would gossip and create problems within the family. One night when the Master is at Songlian room she persuades him to allow her to have her meal sent to her room. This makes the other sisters very angry because she is breaking a family regulation. In Raise the Red Lantern, the fourth mistress, Songlian, decided to drink very heavily to celebrate her birthday. This action by her went against the Confucian rule of not drinking to celebrate ones birthday. There is one exception to the rule is the birthday of those who are beyond their sixty-first year, which should be celebrated by their sons and grandsons drinking to their health (Document 2 p. 69). Songlian drinking had a negative effect on herself and the third sister. While she was drinking heavily she mentions an affair between the third sister and t
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Approximate Word count = 1267
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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