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The women of Vietnam and women of Japan played two very different roles in society during and around the Tokugawa period. These roles were almost completely opposite. In Vietnam women were very powerful, sexually open and independent. Where as in Japan and other parts of the East Asian community Women were weak and vulnerable devoted servants to the men in their lives. These women were subject to harsh penalty by the law if they broke this loyalty. Authors Rhoads Murphey and Edward H. Schafer address the women of Vietnam while David J. Lu addresses the weak women of Tokugawa Japan. In the following paragraphs I will discuss what each author brings to the table. Vietnamese women according to Edward H. Schafer are thought of as erotic and promiscuous in their behavior. The Chinese believed the level of culture was not as sophisticated in the south as was theirs. As early as the Han period the Chinese thought the female spirit was unnatural and it was unusual that the “wanton female is dominant”. (Schafer 80) To the Chinese the south had always been a place with erotic women. The assumption that these people had not yet learned the proper civilized morals of sexual repression is evident in numerous literary works. The south wa