Hinduism and Confucianism - Duties

The duties of men and women are usually very different. Usually (when it comes to the household) women are responsible for the care of the children and day-to-day cleaning duties of the home. Men on the other hand are usually responsible for the financial needs of the home. Confucianism is manly focused on the relationships of individuals and society, Confucianism has five main guidelines that dictate these relationships, only one of these guidelines directly affects women. This guideline is the thrid guideline, which dictates the relationship between husband and wife, and reinforces that the husband is the protector of the family, and the wife is the protected homemaker and mother.

The Hindu believes and practices and much more structured, and concise. The Hindu duties are broken down into four stages, starting at birth and moving to death. These stages listed in order are: Student, the first stage were an individual creates a religious foundation for their life. Householder, this stage involves marriage and raising children. Retire, this stage begins when grandchildren arrive and allows the individual to spend more time on religious endeavors. Renunciate, this stage allows an individual to go out into the world and seek answers to his/her remaining questions. Included in the Hindu religion is a set of physical duties (which are said to insure health and long life), these physical duties are called yoga and have been gaining popularity in the rest of the world.

In comparing the practices of these religions, it appears that Confucianism is more concerned with the relationships of the individuals family and society, where Hinduism is more concerned with the individual. I would think that the duties of the men and women of Hindu faith would also be concerned with the family oriented duties, like raising children, and providing monetarily for their families.