The Chinese History

Chinese History
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Chinese History
The Confucianism ideals were very influential during the Qing dynasty’s era, from the 17th century to the 20th century (Schoppa p.57). The ideals played a huge role in defining the ways of life of the Chinese society, and in particular the Qing dynasty. Part of the significant values that Confucianism sought to address was family values. The family was, and still is, an essential social unit in the Chinese society. The Qing dynasty used the philosophies of Confucius to describe how family relations should be conducted (Schoppa p.61). The one particular relationship that was shaped by Confucianism was the parent-child relationship. This relationship was so pivotal that it formed an important pillar of the history of the Qing dynasty. The parent-child relationship meant that children were supposed to show obedience to their parents, as this was deemed as the glue that held the family together. If the family was going to remain strong, the society was also going to be strong; hence, a lot of emphasis was placed on children being obedient and submissive to their parents. The idea of establishing a strong bond between parents and children was known as Filial piety. Filial piety is a long-standing Chinese tradition that was widely practiced during the Qing dynasty, and continues to influence the lives of the Chinese even to date (Schoppa p.70).
However, it must be understood that there are challenges to the parent-child relationship that affected the long-term relationship between parents and their children. Though it is a tradition that was deeply rooted in the Qing dynasty’s regime as a fundamental practice of maintaining social order in the families, there are challenges that are worth mentioning. The major challenges in this relationship are the aspects of subordination and observing rituals for obligatory purposes without attaching meaning to it. During the Qing dynasty’s rule, much of what the parent-child relationship resulted into was increased subordination and performing rituals that were not resonant with purpose and meaning.
Increased Subordination
Filial piety was such an important practice in the Qing dynasty, and for such parents insisted that they needed to be respected and obeyed by their children (Schoppa p. 73). In this arrangement, the parents were more significant, and the society could not take anything less than conformity from the children to fit the ideals of the society. The parents were superior to the children in every aspect of social and cultural socialization. The Qing society believed that a child had no choice but to do as the parent says, or to perform his duties, as a child, as the society highlighted (Schoppa p. 68). It is this kind of strict adherence to societal standards that resulted to subordination. The system of increased subordination meant that a child was deemed as inferior to the parent. In as much as the parent-child relationship formed the cornerstone of the Qing dynasty’s way of life, as far as familial relations were concerned, the heightened subordination erased the dignity of the children because they did not have the opportunity to make decisions or choice...