... As a courtesan they merely attempted to achieve self-value and worth in society by behaving as objects of desire.
Confucianism strives to bring harmony to the world and does this through the development of the “Five Relationships”: parent and child, elder brother and younger brother, husband and wife, friend and friend, and ruler and subject. Confucianism has played a prominent role in shaping the social norms and expectations of Chinese society and a courtesan has no proper place among these relationships. ...
In ‘Tu Shih-Niang Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger’ a male student by the name of Li Chia is besotted with the beauty and grace of the courtesan Tu Shih-Niang. ... Shih-Niang sees this new loving relationship as an opportunity to escape from her unkind and greedy procuress, while Li is too afraid of his father’s wrath to truly commit to a mere courtesan. ... Though she was just a courtesan, Shih-Niang was able to exhibit qualities that would be welcome in any virtuous wife. ... Sun Fu says, “If you offend your father and abandon your home for the sake of a courtesan, the whole country will condemn you for being a dissolute and reckless man” (TCS, 156). ... Shih-Niang says, “I escaped from the bitter lot of a courtesan only to be cast aside by you. ...
When Li began this relationship with the courtesan Shih-Niang and squandered all his money he angered his father and soon lost the support of friends and relatives. This happened because his relationship with Shih-Niang took precedence in his life but it had no place among the ‘Five Relationships’ created under Confucianism. ... Unfortunately she loved a man who was unable to create balance and harmony in his life through the practice of Confucianism.
In ‘The Courtesan Li-Wa’ an unnamed young student is sent off to the capital by his father to study for the advanced examinations. Through, a chance encounter with the beautiful and alluring Courtesan Li changes his life and destiny forever. ... The young man’s ill-fated association with Courtesan Li left him poor, sick, and without a family. ... At this time, Courtesan Li has proven to the young man, his family, relatives and the Heavens that she is a good and virtuous woman. ... “Ah that a mere courtesan should comport herself so properly! ...
When this young man begins his scandalous relationship with Courtesan Li he disregards the obligations he has to his family. ... Under Confucianism this man’s relationship with Li had no significance in society; his main obligations should have been to his father and his family. In the end, Courtesan Li was able to gain acceptance from family and relatives to prove that she was worthy of becoming the young man’s wife.
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