Schuman's Treatment Of Women In Confucianism

Michael Schuman in his book Confucius: And the World He Created expresses that “Confucius [does not](原文是didn’t，要用d[oes no]t嗎？) give [readers] a very detailed explanation of his views on women. In fact, he sa[ys] very little about women in his recorded comments in the Analects” (Schuman 147). Thus, it can be seen that the woman suffers severe marginalisation in Confucianism as she rarely to be mentioned. In addition, in the few discussions of the woman between Confucius and his followers in the Analects, as Schuman states, the comments made by Confucius are not complimentary (147). There is an evident example that Confucius says that “[w]omen and servant are most difficult to nurture. If one is close to them, they lose their reserve, while if one is distant, they feel resentful ” (“Confucius and the Analects (斜體與否？)” 62). Confucius’ remark, according to Michael Schuman, has put the woman in an inferior position. He highlights that:
The mere fact that Confucius bunches women and servants together is enough to offend the modern …show more content…
San-ts’ung refers to the obediences of a woman to her father before marriage, to her husband after marriage, and to her son after her husband’s death. It limits the role of women to one of dependency on men. Ssu-te signifies the four feminine virtues of moral conduct, proper speech, modest appearance, and diligent work . The three obediences and the four virtues have become the most basic moral principles to be followed by women in Confucian teachings. (496)
There is no doubt that san-ts’ung ssu-te in Confucianism explicitly construct a family model for the woman that she has to submit her father, her husband and her first son. Throughout her life, the woman is forced to attach to the man and utterly live her life for her other male family