Chen Tu-hsiu The Way of Confucius and Modern Life

Chen Tu-Hsiu, The Way of Confucius and Modern Life This essay discusses the main differences between traditional Confucian values and modern values. Confucian society seems backwards compared with modern society. In the traditional Confucian society, wives must obey every man in the family before she makes any decision on her own. She even obeys her sons. This would never happen in the modern world, especially in the West. Women and men cannot even talk to each other in a normal fashion unless they are already married, or being set up to be married. The author claims that a sister cannot even ask her brother-in-law a question. It is believed to be inappropriate for a woman and a man to speak, and there is even some mention of women covering their faces. Similarly, the author states that in traditional Confucian societies, the children always obey their parents even as adults. In Western society, the grown children are independent and lead their own lives. It is possible to respect ones parents, and love ones parents, without obeying their rules. Other issues that the author discusses include gender roles and norms. Women in Confucian society had no rights. They would ultimately have to serve their in-laws even if they did not like them. In Western society, the wives do not have a position of subservience to anyone. Similarly, a widow can choose to remarry if she wants to. In Confucian society, a woman is forced to do the chastity of widowhood, which means that