Reading 1001 discussion

Sorry, this is so late. I am late this year to reading these books.

My question:

How important is hierarchy in this installment? What events do we see that can be attributed to hierarchical relationships? Do you think this contributes (or will contribute) to the family's decline?

Everything is hierarchy. Confucian ethics, as I understand it, is all about the duties owed in the web of one's relationships.

I hink the family's decline is due more to out of control spending intended to convey and sustain a particular image, rather than any given hierarchical relationship.

I agree with John that it is difficult to attribute hierarchy to the decline of the family because the whole society is so hierarchical. When I sold Mandarin robes (from the late nineteenth century, mostly), it was interesting to see how the badge of rank, which was so important, was subtly changed by the wives or mothers doing the embroidery to make the symbol more like that of the rank above.