When Love Surpasses Confucian Rules
In Shen Fu's, "Six Records from a Floating Life" he writes an autobiography of his life, everything from the love affair with his wife to the trials and tribulations that he experienced throughout his time. He writes in a very candid style not particularly seen in that period of Chinese Literature. Throughout the first half of the book he describes the relationship that he has with his wife and eventually her death, which changes him forever. However, regardless of how much love he had for his wife, her actions according to the timeframe, could be looked at in both a positive and negative fashion. The topic of my essay will focus on Yun's actions and how she appears to obey some Confucian rules and at the same time defies others. During the, first three chapters of the story, Shen Fu cites situations in which conflict arises due to some of her actions, whether they are intentional or misconstrued as disrespect. In this essay I will provide examples of rules that Yun seems to !value and others that she seems to defy. In the first part of the essay I will show some of the rules that she appears to value, following instances when she does not value Confucian rules.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Although, Fu describes his wife in very affectionate terms and even applauds her devotion to him and the fact that she tries to be a proper Confucian wife, she is not without her faults. In the next section of this essay I will show Confucian ideals that seemed less important to Yun than others. Nonetheless, to the reader Yun's actions may have seemed trivial, considering that time period it was disrespectful. Her choice of which Confucian rules to follow and which ones to not follow seemed to be a central point to the problems that Fu and Yun faced. Despite the fact that her actions were considered lazy and disrespectful it must be noted that at no time does Fu himself state his displeasure with her. So it can be concluded that he to felt as she did or at least seen the intentions in her actions. However, himself attempting to be filial and not trying to cause more problems he never explained Yun's actions to his mother or father and took up some of the blame. By doing this he showed exactly how much he loved his wife. According to the customs of the time Fu could have easily divorced his wife solving all the problems that appeared to stem from her. Yet, he chose to remain with her even though it meant that they would now have to struggle even more than they did bef! Problems for Yun continue when she goes ill. After falling ill, Yun is looked at by her relatives as lazy, because she is constantly in bed tending to herself and drains what little money that Fu has on finding a treatment for her ailments. Another Confucian ideal that Yun seemed to value is that of "Learning How to Work/Rising Early [to begin household work]" or what these two ideas embody, not being lazy. From the onset of their marriage, Yun tried to show that she was a worthy daughter-in-law. This is seen right after they got married. She gets up to start the household work, even after Fu beckons her to stay in bed with him. She tells her husband that she does not want to be thought of as lazy and continues to dress, to do the household chores. By doing this she also shows what Ruozhao calls, "Serving One's Parents-in-law" (Rouzhao, 829). She continues her belief of
Some common words found in the essay are:
Shen Fu, Yun Fu's, Fu Yun, Parents-in-law Rouzhao, Regardless Yun, Ritual Decorum, Literature Throughout, Learning Work/Rising, Song Ruozhao, Additionally Fu, confucian rules, yun's actions, yun appears, confucian rule yun, confucian rule, rule yun, appears value, marriage yun, confucian wife, yun value, proper etiquette,
Approximate Word count = 1504
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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