Gender Roles in Traditional East Asia

Confucianism is one of the major factors that influenced gender views and perception in traditional East Asia, particularly in relation to the treatment of women in these societies. Confucianism is primarily a teaching that was brought by Confucius, a philosopher, political figure, and educator. The teachings of Confucius formed the foundation of education in the traditional societies in East Asia, especially in China, Korea, and Japan. Confucius teachings affected many things in these societies including fixing gender roles between women and men. Based on these teachings, which influenced nearly every facet of life in the conventional Korean, Japanese and Chinese societies, placed women at a disadvantaged position. The teachings contributed to the development of a patriarchal environment in these societies, which worked to the disadvantaged of women. This paper examines how women exerted power and influence in a patriarchal environment in these three societies and what it teaches us about gender in the traditional East Asia.

Family organization in the traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese societies was primarily patriarchal. The patriarchal family organization in traditional East Asia is evident in the fact that men dominated public aspects of life while women were given private aspects of societal life, which was centered on taking care of the households. For instance, the traditional Chinese society was characterized by male-centered marriage and patterns of inheritance while women played relatively no role in these vital aspects of life (“Connections: Western Imperialism”, p.296). The emergence of the patriarchal environment in traditional East Asia is attributable to the teachings of Confucius, a philosopher, political figure, and educator who fixed gender roles in these societies.

Confucius teachings on how people should interact with others in the society has significant impacts on family organization and societal structures in traditional East Asia. Through these teachings, Confucius provided instructions on the perfect range of human interaction including relations between husband and wife, father and son, the elderly and the young, leaders and their subjects, and between friends. These teachings became the definitive features for determining individual roles in the traditional societies in East Asia. Additionally, the teachings provided the premise for defining and fixing gender roles as part of determining family organization and social structure.

Confucianism privileged the male over the female in traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean societies. Through differentiating gender roles between men and women in the society, Confucius seemingly placed women at a disadvantaged position in the society, while promoting male dominance, which contributed to the emergence of the patriarchal environment in traditional East Asia. Women were required to obey their fathers, husbands, and sons as well as demonstrate the virtues of diligent work, demeanor, behavior, and speech. Based on Confucianism, women were required to obey male figures in the society because women’s roles were centered around the home whereas men’s roles were centered outside the home (Clunas, p.141). For example, in the traditional Korean society, women’s duties at home included carrying meals and alcohol on top of their heads (E-Wha, p.180).

Since women’s roles in the traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese societies were centered at home, medieval documents have very little information regarding women at work or in public spaces (Yasuko, p.99). Actually, there is very limited literature or documentation of female commoners at work in comparison to documentation on aristocratic women who worked in palaces in traditional East Asia. In cases where women had public roles in villages, such roles were restricted in some considerable ways. For example, women’s names did not appear in the payment rosters for shrine land, which was the collective land for the community (Yasuko, p.115). In cases where women contributed financially to the accumulation of shrine land, their contributions were not formally acknowledged on paper. This is an example of women’s exclusion from public obligations, which were male-centered and male dominated. In light of the fixed gender roles by Confucianism (i.e. Confucius’ teachings), the traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean societies gradually delegitimized the capacities of women through excluding them from public obligations and significant public activities. This contributed to the emergence and development of patriarchal environment in traditional East Asia. The devaluation of women in public and restriction of their roles to the home had significant effects on the structure of household relationships and contributed to the emergence of a society where men were the dominant members.

As shown in the analysis of the development of a patriarchal environment in traditional East Asia, its clear that gender roles brought by Confucianism devalued and disadvantaged women while promoting male dominance. Men’s roles at home and in the public sphere evolved to an extent that male figures were the dominant members in the traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese societies. The male-centered and male dominated structure of these societies not only disadvantaged women, but also raised significant concerns among women. These concerns emerged because of the impact of male-centeredness on the structure of relationships at home and in the society (Yasuko, p.115). In light of the male dominance in these traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese societies, women started to negotiate the patriarchal environment as a means of confronting male dominance and dealing with the disadvantaged position they were placed by Confucianism. Women exerted their power and influence in a patriarchal environment in various ways including the following:

One of the ways women in traditional East Asia exerted their power and influence in a patriarchal environment was through using the domestic realm to generate social transformation. The domestic realm provided a suitable environment for women to exert their power and influence in the patriarchal environment through playing a critical role in defining the structure of relationships in the household and the society. Women utilized the domestic realm to bring social transformation in these societies because no women resided inside the city since they resided in suburbs or villages (Polo, 1). Within the domestic realm, women were involved in the administration of the household because Confucianism restricted their roles to taking care of the home. As part of exerting their power and influence and contributing to social transformation, women’s administration of the household was carried out in a manner that was similar to administration of a state. In this regard, peace and prosperity in the household was dependent on the way a wife exerted her influence and authority (Deuchler, p.232). Women were also responsible for keeping the customs pure since purity of the customs was developed in the domestic realm.

Women’s administration of the household was a crucial component for exerting their influence and power in the patriarchal environment. Even though the society was male-centered and male dominated, women in traditional East Asia did not engage in power struggles with their male counterparts, but instead utilized their restricted roles in the household to bring social transformation and change. This involved adopting and implementing the Confucian social tenets and utilizing them as the premise for administrating the household and having more say in the domestic sphere in comparison to their male counterparts. For example, the Korean social scene was transformed by women through exerting their power and influence in the domestic realm where they engaged in household administration in a manner that was similar to administration of the state (Deuchler, p. 232). In medieval Japanese societies, wives of the powerful samurai lords utilized their supervisory authority in the domestic sphere to help their husbands manage property (Yasuko, p.112).

Based on Confucianism, which dominated life in traditional East Asia, women had relatively little to no say regarding marriage. Confucius teachings provided a premise with which men would make decisions and choices regarding marriage. Marriage rules and strategies in these societies was a reflection of the disadvantaged position that women were placed in by Confucianism in the traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese societies. For example, in the pre-modern Japanese society, women had no rights to initiate a divorce and could not refuse a husband’s demand for divorce (Vaporis, p.6). This seemingly complicated the role and voice of women in marriage issues in traditional East Asia.

However, women utilized marriage as a tool for exerting their power and influence in a patriarchal environment through advocating for change in structure of the marriage institution and family relationships. For example, in the traditional Korean society, the pre-Confucian Koryo marriage institution was challenged by the Neo-Confucian legislators of early Choson in order to give Confucian ideology substance (Deuchler, p.232). This contributed to rigorous reform in the marriage institution and rectified unnatural family relationships, which demonstrates how women exerted their power and influence in a patriarchal environment. Additionally, women in upper-status social groups in the traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese societies utilized marriage as a means to enhance the economic and political wellbeing of the family (Pettid, p.75).

The other measure employed by women to exert their authority in a patriarchal environment was involvement in trade. Even though men controlled the capital and were involved in management of the business through exchanging a woman, women were increasingly involved in trade through which they exerted their power and influence. For example, in Southeast Asia, women (i.e. bridegrooms) had the business acumen and liquid funds for trade (Pomeranz & Topik, p.6). In this regard, women utilized their independent spirit, particularly when dealing with European men in relation to trade. Women used their business acumen and liquid funds as bargaining tools for their next ventures or even next marriage with European men. Women exerted their power and influence in a patriarchal environment through engaging in the production, transportation and sale of their commodities (Yasuko, p.118).

Women exerted their power and influence in a patriarchal environment through using their various positions in the society to influence social transformation though their roles were restricted to the domestic sphere. For example, in pre-modern Japanese villages, women had positions or functions in the community’s religious life, which they utilized to generate greater influence through acting as mouthpiece of the ancestor (Tonomura, p.58). Women in upper-class positions or female rulers in the society also exerted their power and influence to promote social transformation. For instance, the queen dowager in Choson monarchy utilized her position to cross boundaries that separated the monarchy and family to exert her authority in the public sphere (Haboush, p.29).

Women’s experiences in negotiating patriarchal environment in the traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese societies provide important lessons regarding gender in traditional East Asia. One of the lessons from these experiences of women in negotiating the patriarchal environment is that traditional East Asia was male-centered and male dominated society. Through Confucianism, the male gender was considered more valuable and significant in traditional East Asia in comparison to the female gender. Societies in traditional East Asia devalued women and seemingly advocated for male chauvinism.

The experiences of women also demonstrate that gender played a crucial role in the formation of social structures in traditional East Asia. In this regard, family organization and relationships as well as social structure were based on male preference with little to no disregard for female preferences and desires. Fixed gender roles based on Confucianism determined social structures in traditional East Asia and made it difficult for women to fight for their rights. Women experienced difficulties in advocating for their rights because societies in traditional East Asia seemingly considered them as second-class humans.

In conclusion, the traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean societies were significantly influenced by the teachings of Confucius, a philosopher, political figure and educator. Confucianism fixed gender roles in these societies by seemingly favoring men over female in terms of family organization and social structure. However, women exerted their power and influence in this patriarchal environment in various ways including using the domestic realm to generate social transformation, through marriage, through involvement in trade, and through various functions and positions. These experiences shows that traditional East Asia devalued female and advocated for male dominance in family relationships and social structure.