chinese family family and lineage - university of...
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ChineseFamilyFamilyandLineageSocialChangeinAsiaClarkW.SorensenMarch30,2017
Dagongmei打工妹 inglobalizedChinal PunNgaiasks,“WhatkindofworkingclassiscreatedwhenglobalizedcapitalturnsChina
into‘theworld’sworkshop’?”l Note:2005publicaPon,fieldwork1990,1993,1995-6(IntroducPon,footnote2)
l Girlsareconstrainedby:l ChangingsocialregulaPonandpoliPcalengineeringbythepartystate—especiallyregulaPonson
residenceandmigraPonl MarkePzaPonandglobalizaPonformedbythecollaboraPonoflocalauthoriPeswithforeign
capitall Patriarchalfamilysystemwheretheyaretreatedbythestatenotasautonomousindividuals,but
asgenderedholdersofaparPcularsocialstatus
l Beforewegetintodagongmei(femalecontractfactoryworkers),then,IwanttointroduceyoutotheChinesefamily,andthechangingPRCregulatoryenvironmentanddeclineoftheworkunit(danwei单位)asasocialidenPty
Charlo]eIkelsonChineseFamilyl TradiPonal(“feudal”)Chinesefamily“well-regulated”p98
l Wholemoreimportantthananypart(e.g.anyindividual)l Eachperson’sstatusdefinedaccordingtogeneraPon,relaPveage,andgender
l 大哥，大姐， 二哥，小弟，小妹l Descenttracedthroughthemalelinel “livingmembersofafamilywereregardedascruciallinksbetweenitspastanditsfuture,andthefailuretoperpetuatetheselinks(byfailingtoproducesons)wasregardedasthe‘mostunfilialact’.”
l Idealof“fivegeneraPonsunderoneroof”,butactuallymostfamiliessmall
MauriceFreedmanonChinesejointfamilyl Chinesejointfamily—”whereparentsandallmarriedsonsmaintainedacommonunitoflivingwasinaminority...occurringmainlyamongthewealthy”p43
l “Povertyanddiseasekeptthefamiliesofthehumblevillagersdowntosmallnumbers.”
l Duetopovertythepoorwouldnotbringintwodaughters-in-law,butsendallbutonesonoutintotheworldtoliveseparately
l NB—analysisofthefamilysystemisdifferentfromthequesPonofhowdemographyandpossession(ornot)ofpropertyinteractswiththefamilysystem
Non-corporatefamiliesl MerryWhiteinPerfectlyJapanesecommentsthattheexpression“starPngafamily”in
theUSmeans“havechildren”whereaschildreninJapanareseenas“conPnuing”afamily
l Bothahtudesareaccurateforthecountriesinques4onbecausefolkterminologygenerallyaccuratelyrepresentshowpeopleinasocietythinkabouttheirins4tu4ons
l Americanssay“starPngafamily”preciselybecauseeachnewlymarriedcoupleisanewfamilystarPngout,andsuchafamilybecomecompletewithchildren—thisishowanon-corporatebilateralfamilysystemworks
l Japanese(Chinese,Koreans,Vietnamese)saychildren“conPnue”afamily,becausefamiliesarenotcreatedanddieoffeachgeneraPon(asintheUS)buttrulyconPnueassuccessorsarefoundtoconPnuerolesinthesamefamily
Non-corporatefamilycycle(beginning)
Non-corporatefamilycycle(conPnuaPon)
CriteriaofFamilyCorporatenessl Boundaries
l Ibelongtooneandonlyonecorporatefamily(andIknowexactlywhothemembersofmycorporatefamilyare)—JapanesekosekiandChinesehukouregistraPonsdefinethis
l Househeadl Thereisahouseheadtothisfamilywithpowerandauthorityoverotherfamilymembers(thishaschangedforpost-1947Japan),anda
femalecanbehousehouseonlyiftherearenoeligiblemales
l Succession
l WhenahouseheaddiesthefamilyisconPnuedbyasuccessor—anewfamilyisnotcreated,butrathertheexactsamefamilyisperpetuatedwithanewheadwhostepsintotheshoesofhisfather(normally)andhasauthorityoverunmarriedsiblingsasaconsequence
l Corporatefamiliesideallyhavepropertyl Thispropertytypicallybelongstothefamily(notjusttotheindividualmembersofthefamily).Thisfamilypropertyisdividedaccording
tothefamilysystem,ratherthanaccordingtothewilloftheowner.(Thedetailsvarysomewhatbycountry)l Individualfamilymembersmayalsohavesmallamountsofpersonalpropertythatisnotfamilyproperty.
Chinesejointfamilysysteml So-callednotbecausethemajorityoffamiliesareeverjointfamilies
l IdealofbrothersnotdividingthefamilyunPlakerthedeathoftheparentsisrarelyachieved
l AsFreedmannotesitisachievedmorereadilyamongthewealthythanthepoor(partlybecausewealthymorelikelytohavetwosonstosurvivetoadulthoodandbringinawife)
l HoweverjointfamilyisthemostcomplexandpresPgiousformaChinesefamilyachievesoverthefamilycycle
l MostChinesefamiliesgothroughjointformforatleastashortperiodofPmeeventhoughmostofthePmetheyaren’tjoint—soitissPllcorrecttocalltheChinesesystema“jointfamilysystem”
StagesoftradiPonalChinesefamilycyclel Corporatefamily(jiā家)withmalehousehead(jiāzhang家长）whodeterminesthemarriage
ofchildren(cfIkelsp100)
l Marriagepatrilocal—”thegatesmatchthefamilyisright”mendanghudui门当户对l Marriedwomanincorporatedintotheman’sfamily—Man“takeswife”(qǔqī娶妻),woman“marriesa
husband”(jiàfu嫁夫)l Eachson’snuclearfamilyafáng房 withinthejiā家
l Hypergamy—moneyasaconsideraPonformarriagewasabolishedinmarriagelawof1950butconPnuesinformallyinthePRC(andissPllcommoninTaiwanandSoutheastAsia)l Brideprice(pìnjīn聘金)—fromgroom’sfamilytobride’sfamily
l Inpoorfamiliesusedtoprocureabrideforasonl Inrichfamiliesusedforweddingexpensesorsentbackwithbrideas“indirectdowry”
l Dowry(jiàzhuāng嫁妆)—bridebringsintohermaritalfamilyasmuchas1-3yearsincomeingoods
AlternaPveformsofmarriagel Uxorilocalmarriage(zhāozhuì招贅,zhāoxù招壻)
l “callinauselessparasite”“callinason-in-law”—thiswouldbedoneonlyifafamilyhasdaughtersandnosons
l Thereisnocustomof“adoptedson-in-law”婿養子asinJapan,soeverythingmustbedonebycontract(whatnamesthechildrenwilltake,etc.)
l Ifnochildrenmayadoptoneandcontractamarriagel Sincesonswereexpensive,poorfamiliesmightadoptadaughterandbringinason-in-law
l Childmarriage—daughtersgivenawayatyoungagetobemarried(savesbridepriceanddowry)
Stagesoffamilyforml Elementary(nuclear)
l Marriedcouple(andtheirchildren)
l Steml Onemarriedsonlivestogetherwithhisparents
l Jointl MorethanonemarriedsonlivingtogetherwithacommonbudgetbeforeparPPon
l ParPPon,the“rooms”(fang)ofthejointfamilybecomeindependentcorporatefamilies(jia)
NucleartoStem
JointfamilyandparPPon
ParPPon(fēnjiā分家)l IntheChinesefamilytheparPPonisalegalactinwhichthepropertyisdividedbetweenbrothers,andtheyformseparatejia(corporatefamilies)
l Usuallyathirdparty(outsidethecorporatefamily)isinvolvedl Alegaldocumentiswri]enupspecifyingwhatpropertyeachbrothergetsl IntheruralPRCthedocumentspecifieseachchild’sresponsibilityforhisparents
l Becauselandisnolongerinheritedfilialpietyismoredifficulttoenforcel Ifparentshaveahouseco-residenceispossible(2/3with1son,1/3withdaughter)60%
l 23%livealonewithorwithout“mealrotaPon”chīlúnfàn吃轮饭 l 4%physicalrotaPonlánliúgōngyǎnglǎoren轮流供养老人
Demographyandfamilyl Ageatmarriage,andageatparPPondeterminethecomplexityofChinesefamilyl Ideal—fourgeneraPonsunderoneroof—rarelyachievedinthePRCanymorebecausenobodyhasthepropertytosupportthislifestyle,andhousingisallocatedbythestate
l Real—inmostfamiliesparPPonisshortlyakerthemarriageofthelastsonl Daughters-in-lawagitateforparPPonsotheirfamilieswillbeindependentl PeriodofjointfamilyorganizaPontendstobeshort
l Real—insomefamilieseachsonparPPonswhenhemarriesl SuchfamiliesresemblethestemfamilysystemofKoreaorJapan(althoughsiblingsdidnotusedtobetreatedequallyinKoreaorJapan)
CriPcalrolesinChinesefamilyl Freedman’sviewstructural
l Fatherandson—fatherdominatessonsinrichfamily,butisweakinpoorfamiliesl Brotherandbrother—compePPonandparPPonl Husbandandwife—strongPeinpoorfamilies,butweakinrich
l MargeryWolfemphasizes“uterinefamily”ofmotherandherchildrenl MotherinastructurallyweakposiPoninpatriarchalfamily,soshesecuresherposiPonbytyingherchildrentoheremoPonally
l Motherwillokenintercedewithfatherforchildren,orspiritthechildrenali]lebitofherprivatemoney(candyforchildren,tuiPonfordaughters)
l Father-sonPeokendistantandformal
Class,demography,andfamilyl Before1949womenandchildrenwereconsidered“familyproperty”andcouldbesoldif
necessary
l SystemaPchypergamy—mengenerallysoughtbridesfromfamiliesofslightlylowerwealth(sothewifewouldn’tbeextravagant)—evidenceforthisconPnuingevenintocollecPvizedeconomy(womenmovetorichercommunes)
l Expensesofbridepricemeanrichmencouldmarryearly(andoken),andpoormenmightmarrylate(ifatall)
l InheritancewasequalandparPbleamongsons(daughtersgotdowryatmarriage)
l RichfamiliestendedtobreakupoverthegeneraPonsaspropertyissplitamongmanychildren—”ragstorichestoragsinthreegeneraPons”
Ego-centeredkinshipgroupsbeyondthefamily—thekindred(English)
Patrilinealkinshipgroups
Confucianancestorworshipl Familyancestorworship
l Ondeathdayofindividualupto4generaPonsremovedl Woodendeathtabletsdisplayedonhouseholdaltarwhereworshiptakesplacel Eachfamilyworshipsitsownpatrilinealancestors—daughters’children“outsidegrandchildren”外孙女whodonotbelongtothelineage(Ikels98)
l Lineageancestorworshipl Doneonceortwiceayearatancestraltombs,oratalineagehalll Distantancestorsworshipedl Incasesofalineagehall,usuallyasubstanPaldonaPontothehallassociaPonisrequiredtoenteratabletintothehall
Patrilinealkinshipgroupsl GenealogicallineageswithoutcorporateorganizaPon
l Villageneighborhoodstendedtoconsistofpatrilineallyrelatedcousinsl Mightownaburialgroundtogether,anddogroupancestorworshipacoupleofPmesayearl LunarNewYearl Qingming清明 Lunar3/15
l ThiskindoflineagecommoninNorthChina
l Minimallysegmentedcorporatelineagesl UsuallyalineageestatehasbeensetasidetofinancialancestorworshipandcharitableacPviPesforlineagememebers(schools,selfdefense)
AsymmetricallySegmentedPatrilineagesl FoundchieflyinFujian,Taiwan,Guangdong,andruralpartsofHongKongandMacau(seeIkelsp99)
l WithinadeeplineagesubstanPalestateshavebeensetasideforvariousancestorsl ItisasymmetricalbecauseinanygeneraPononelinemayhaveanestate,andanother
maynot
l InsomevillagesofFujianandGuangdongmostofthelandwasownedbylineages,andtherewouldbenumerousendowedlineagehallsdedicatedtoavarietyofintermediateancestors
l ThisisthekindoflineagethatwouldhavebeenfoundinPunNgai’s“BlueRiver”Hakkavillage—combineskinshipprincipleswithcontrolofwealth