The Existence of Confucianism in spousal relationship nowadays

Abstract

Confucianism promotes "Fuchangfusui (Phu xướng phụ tùy)" which means "A wive must obey everything her husband says''. In Vietnam, the concept of husband and wife relationship is not exactly the same as "Fuchangfusui" initiated by Confucius. Culturally, Vietnam belongs to the group of countries influenced by Confucianism. However, since the feudal period, Vietnamese Confucianists have had many progressive views to affirm the position of wife towards her husband and towards her family. Husband and wife relationship in Vietnam has gained focus on obligations and responsibilities of both husband and wife with the notion that "Women handle household chores, men take care of work outside". This article examines the existence of the Confucianism in husband and wife relationship in Vietnam today. The authors made a comparison between the husband's and the wife's rights of making decisions related to economy and other decision-making rights as well, using descriptive statistical analysis, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM); for this, the authors set up a system of equations and at the same time, to evaluate the extent to which Confucianism elements exist in husband and wife relationship in Vietnam today. The analysis results show that Confucianism still influences and affects family relationship, but its impacts and influences in the era of integration are blurred, not as profound as in feudal times or in the first half of the twentieth century. In other words, the existence of Confucianism still exerts its impacts on a majority of Vietnamese families in terms of husband and wife relationship. However, the perception of family members' standards of behaviors has changed due to the influences of modern industrial society.