Introduction to Chinese Family Culture

Joanne Chen2015

CHINESE FAMILY CULTURE

Family is the basic unit of society, while individuals are only one part of the family.

Traditional Chinese Family

Chinese character: Family

jiā

Radical Roof

Pig

http://youtu.be/zUF_B3pN_w8 http://youtu.be/00X3QjsHtmU

1) Honor and shame of one single individual were shared with his family. （集体主义思想）2) Family relations of Confucianism （儒家思想） 3 ） Mutual dependence （相互依赖）4) Shaped by agriculturalism （农业社会思想）5) Concept of harmony （家和万事兴）

Characteristics of Chinese Family

Family TreeFather side

Family TreeMother Side

1. Patrilineal2. Patriarchal3. Prescriptively virilocal4. Kinship Group5. Sharing a common household budge6. Normatively extended in form

Traditional Chinese Family

http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/familism.html

1) Patrilineal (父系 Fùxì)Descent was calculated through men. The failure to produce male offspring was considered

an immoral behavior. 重男輕女 (Man is weighted heavier than woman)

Traditional Chinese Family

2) Patriarchal (宗法 Zōngfǎ)

The family was hierarchically organized.The senior-most male was considered to be responsible for the orderly management of the family. 1.Senior generations were superior to junior generation ( 尊卑長幼 ) 2. Order people were superior to younger ones3. Men were superior to women ( 男尊女卑 )4. Concept of Xiao ( 孝順 , filial piety)

Traditional Chinese Family

3) Prescriptively virilocal ( 嫁夫隨夫 )A strongly held preference and expectation that a newly

married couple should live with the groom’s family. Uxorilocality ( 入赘 ) – sometimes the groom in fact went to

live with the wife’s family, often because the wife’s family had no son.

Traditional Chinese Family

4) Kinship Group (亲属关系 )Members of the family

were related genealogically; either by having common ancestors or by being married.

They had known boundaries and shared activities or resources with each other that they did not share with outsiders.

Traditional Chinese Family

5) Sharing a common household budge (财产公有）The possessions, income, and expenses of all family

members were pooled, and the decisions about resource distribution were the legitimate business of all family members.

Family division is a critical event. ( 分家 )

Traditional Chinese Family

6) Normatively extended in formThe family ideally included a descent line of men and their wives and children.三代同堂 Three-generation families四代同堂 Four-generation families

Traditional Chinese Family

Moderation and harmony中 means --to avoid extremes or one-sidedness 和 means harmony and peace.Tendency to compromise is a product of moderation

and harmonyDue to too often willing to sacrifice one’s right for the

sake of the harmonious order, the result is social conformity. ( 社会一致性）

zhong he

Chinese children are expected to study, work, and live life in a ”proper” manner. Therefor Chinese people’s personalities tend to be both cautious and introverted.

“Family” plays an important role in influencing a person’s decisions in many aspects of his life.

Proper manner

Kids, Listen to your parents

Smaller family units, usually only with parents and children and sometimes grandparents.

Grandparents look after the house and childrenWomen work outside the homeFamilies gather together in holidays such as

Chinese New Year, Ancestor worshipping day, Moon festival and birthdays.

Life in Modern China

• A population control policy of China which was introduced between 1978 -1980 to avoid over population

Began to be formally phased out in 2015.

In rural areas, families were allowed to have two children if the first was a girl

Other exceptions included ethnic minorities and - since 2013 - couples where at least one was a single child

Campaigners say the policy led to forced abortions, female infanticide, and the under-reporting of female births

It was also implicated as a cause of China's gender imbalance

Family Planning – One child policy

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539 336 million abortions under China's one-child policy

Working away from home

• Rapid economic growth have been drawn people to work away from home. • Young adults facing the pressure from family to get married and have children.• Many young Chinese have a hard time to adjust new environment. It is not uncommon for young workers to decide to leave the job to be free from the stress, loneliness of the big cities.

Chinese new year traffic

Why are all Chinese employees more likely to resign after the New Year holiday than at other times of the year?

Why are Chinese employees passive and not prone to take the initiative?

Why do Chinese employees seems to feel an inordinate amount of pressure?

Impact on Business in China Understanding the role of the family in China can help (Western) business to better manage their operations in China and maintain better relationships with their employees.

Chinese Family Quotes

Jiā hé wàn shì xīngHarmony will bring prosperity into the house.

家和萬事興