Ming China and Japan daily life
..., or sold as servants or concubines. The woman was to be humble, diligent, and submissive to her husband. If she was raped, she would have to commit suicide in order to prove her loyalty to her husband. Marriage was the most important establishment in the lives of the Chinese people. Almost everyone married because it promoted family. Parents would join together to discuss the items that each child would bring to the marriage, and totally excluded the potential bride and groom from any decisions. The bride always joined the husband’s family and she came under the direct control of her mother-in-law and was often treated with cruelty. Her first duty was to bear children. Divorce was very uncommon, but a husband could bring concubines into the house if his wife was unable to bear children. The educational system of the Ming and Qing periods had strengths and weaknesses. Most villages had schools to prepare the boys for the civil service examinations. In the schools, the boys learned to write at least three thousand characters and learned the standard texts of Confucian philosophy, ethics, and history. The education system gave Chinese society cohesion and stability. For girls, education was extremely limited. Rich men occasionally allowed their daughters to have tutors. Most girls simply received training for their roles as wives and mothers, however. Later on, women began to share in education when book publishing and educational facilities increases. However, the amount of literate women still remained extremely low. Health and medical care in China dated back to the third century B.C. The Chinese believed that any medical problem was based on an imbalance in the body’s harmony. Diagnosis was based on visual observation, auditory symptoms, and pulse. The two basic forms of treatment were medicinal and acupuncture. For recreation, the Chinese gambled at cards and number games. They also met at teahouses to exchange news and gossip. The upper classes indulged in alcohol, pipes, and tobacco. Those that could afford to went to the theater. The plays were often based on Chinese history and literature. The Chinese were not impressed with athletic abilities, as riding, horse racing, and other physical activities were seen as evil, and went against the scholarly ideals that they valued highly. The Japanese society was similar and different than the Chinese in many ways. Like the Chinese, women were seen as subordinate. She was also responsible for all children, and also domestic chores. The middle class women had more freedoms, however. They were able to work in the textile and silk industries, in publishing, in restaurants, and in entertainment. Also, for recreation the Japanese enjoyed spending time in teahouses, theaters, restaurants, and brothels, similar to the Chinese. In addition, the Japanese also had kabuki theater, however. Kabuki theater was an art fo...