#historyandfamily

[all-about-china]

Family Structure and Function

Traditional Chinese Multi-Generational Family pictured above.

I am studying China and with a population greater than 1 billion people, not all family structures can be discussed. I will be diving more in depth of the family lifestyles of Beijing. In China, the traditional family structure is a husband and wife and one child. In 1979, China mandated a one child per married couple rule. In 2016, they passed a low that states that 2 children can be born to a couple. Even with fewer children per couple than Western countries, China has a very family centered cultural. Traditional Chinese families live in multi-generational households with the eldest paternal figure having the utmost respect. It is also known for more modern multi-generational families to live very near to each other instead of with each other. Among respect for one's elders, families also center themselves around an idea called Xiaoshan, which means serving your family with dedication, obedience, and worshipping your ancestors. Children obey their parents and grandparents. Family roots and beliefs stem from the idea of Confucianism. Along with family respect, respect at work is also a high priority in Chinese culture. Economically, Chinese family functions with the same hierarchical respect in the workplace. Both men and women work in China, with Women doing half of the manual labor or traditional 'blue collar' jobs. 

As I touched on earlier, Family is the most important thing in Chinese culture. China is known for its one child policy that was enacted until 2016. With a sibling being outside of the norm, the only child is expected to continue the pride of the family name. Traditional Families wanted their child to be a boy for continuing on the family lineage, giving up for adoption or aborting girls. Therefore, there's a large gender disparity in play in China as well. These key cultural elements are therefore passed down from parents to children and so on. Gender roles are very distinct, with girls giving up their family and moving in with their husbands. Women are responsible for now taking care of their in-laws' family. In fact, the Chinese vocabulary uses different words for marriage depending on if it's the women's or man's family. The women stay home with their child until they're old enough to go to school, and then the mother would go back to work or continue working for her husband's family. Individualism is still on the rise in China, but the collectivism is still popular within the older generations.

 Most Chinese families are not looking to migrate. With a migration rate of around -0.1 /1,000 people, China's families aren't going anywhere. Since family and the paternal lineage is a very strong cultural element, families, men and women are not going to move away from their extended aunt's and uncle's unless something drastic happens economically or financially. In the past 10-15 years, these ideologies have remained strong. With globalization increasing technology and telecommunication, Chinese families can live apart from each other, but is not on the rise in popularity. Chinese family show this pattern. 

-AL