Devin Waugh
Dr. Luo
CHI 331-001
9 October 2013
Clinging
to Confucianism
Since the
beginning of the semester we have had reading assignments like “The Sea of Regret”,
“Diary of a Mad Man”, and “Slave Mother”. Throughout all of these readings each
week I have noticed a trend in the Chinese culture. This trend I have come to acknowledge
is that the Chinese people have always tried to cling their traditional ways
while also trying to adapt to technological advancements, war, imperialism, and
other worldly changes.
The
traditional ways I spoke of in my introduction are the teachings of Confucius.
“Cultural China: The Periphery as the Center” by Tu Wei-ming explains how
Confucianism was the backbone to Chinese intellectualism, thus the backbone to
Chinese culture and how it was lost due to westernization during imperialism.
He states on page 2, paragraph 2, “Western impact fundamentally dislodged
Chinese intellectuals from their Confucian haven. Having lost their moorings in
a society that for most of two millennia had provided a secure and respected
anchorage for their predecessors, they desperately tried to find a niche in a
cruel new world defined in terms of power with or without wealth.” This shows
that these traditional ways and cultural thinking had been lost after two
millennia, thus shattering the way of life for the Chinese people, thus leaving
them confused and as Tu Wei-ming said, “desperate.”
Wu
Jianren shows this desperation in the novel “The Sea of Regret” by using a love
story between two couples during the Boxer Uprising to show the cultural
struggles of China and the Late Qing society. Bohe and Dihua, a young Chinese
couple, were the main two characters of the novel and put in an arranged
marriage at young ages. Arranged marriages were thought of as a Confucian idea
due to its requiring the marrying of two families with different surnames and
to cultivate virtue. This novel shows that these two families were brought
together due to their Confucius or traditional ways that were passed down by
their predecessors. The novel continues after the arranged marriage and the
couple was separated due to the Boxer Uprising. Bohe then became addicted to
opium and later died from it, while his wife, Dihua became a nun after hearing
of his death. This shows the downfall of the traditional ways and the
desperation to hold on to them at the same time. Bohe’s addiction shows the
corruption and loss of the traditional ways due to him not living by the five
virtues of Confucius that he was raised and married by, while his wife, Dihua
clings to her traditional ways by staying honest, faithful, and in general
doing what is considered correct behavior to her husband and her family. This
is shown on page 200, paragraph 4 when Wu Jianren writes about Dihua when she
cuts her hair off, “’Father!’ cried Dihua. ‘My parents-in-law are dead and my
brother-in-law is still unmarried- where would you have me go to preserve my
widowhood? It’s unthinkable to live as a widow in my parents’ home! There was
nothing else I could have done! All I hope is that you’ll look on my leaving
home as if I had married him and were now living as a widow in the Chen
household. My original intention was to put an end to myself, but I was afraid
that you would grieve for me too much, so I chose this as the next best
solution. Show me your love and grant me my wish this one last time!’” This
shows that she is desperate to stay true to the traditional ways and honor her
family the best she can no matter how bad the situation.
Lu
Xun’s short novel called “Diary of a Madman” also shows this desperation to
cling to their traditional ways and Confucian ideals. The novel was the first
of its kind in china due to its sarcastic tone toward Chinese culture and
society. Lu Xun uses this new writing style along with a dark metaphor that
China is a cannibalistic society to represent China’s current cultural state
and the loss of its traditional, moral ways. Lu Xun uses the idea of eating people
to show the loss of Confucius ideals due to cannibalism being meant only for
beasts and not men. Confucian ideals are meant to teach one to overcome their
beast like mind and to stay virtuous. Lu Xan Writes on page 37-38, “’Elder
brother, way back in the beginning, it’s probably the case that primitive
people peoples all ate some human flesh. But later on, because their ways of
thinking changed, some gave up the practice and tried their level best to
improve themselves. They kept on changing until they level best to improve themselves
and kept on changing until they became human beings, real human beings. But the
others didn’t. They just kept right on with their cannibalism and stayed at
that primitive level.’” This shows that the cannibalism is that of a primitive,
beast like action and that one must evolve and think in different ways to
become a true human being and not stay a beast. Lu Xun also writes at the very
end of the novel, “Maybe there are some children around who still haven’t eaten
human flesh. Save the children…” The human flesh is a metaphor for the loss of traditional
views and his hope that somewhere children are still being taught the Confucius
ideals and have not become beasts or corrupted by the state of the Chinese
culture.
Clinging
to the traditional, Confucius ways of the past that the Chinese people lost due
to imperialism, war, technological advances, and political changes can help
instill patriotism in the nation of China. Though with instilling a way of life
and patriotism for a country based on a lost past is difficult with the
constant changes China went through as they developed through the eighteen and
nineteen hundreds.
Work
Cited
Jianren, Wu. The Sea of Regret. New York: Association for Asian Studies, 1997.
Print.
Wei-ming, Tu. Cultural China: The Periphery as the Center. Stanford: Stanford
University Press,
1994. Print.
Xun, Lu. Diary of a Madman. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1918.
Print.
