Who Rules the Roost in Modern China?

(Compiled by Glenda Gao from GoGo Mandarin)

封建思想“三从四德”在中国实行了几千年。所谓三从， 是指未嫁从父，已嫁从夫，夫死从子；

所为四德，是指妇德，妇言，妇容，妇功。它体现了封建社会“内外有别”，“男尊女卑”的思

想。

The 3 “obeys” and the four “virtues” were practiced in feudal China for thousands of

years. The so-called “obeys” dictated that unmarried women had to obey their fathers,

married women had to obey their husbands and widows had to obey their sons. The four

“virtues” alluded to propriety in behaviour, speech, appearance and accomplishments

(which, for women in ancient China, was mostly defined by their adeptness at

needlework). This symbolized the thinking of the feudal age, whereby husband and wife

had clear-cut and separate roles and the wife was expected to listen to and obey her

husband.

但是，随着社会的发展，这种思想逐渐被抛弃了。事实上，现代中国的女子大都是“半边天”，

而且有过之而无不及。很多 80 后夫妻同工同酬，下班回家后，丈夫做家务是很正常的事，

尤其是在中国南方。

However, with changes and developments in society such attitudes were gradually

abandoned. In fact, in modern China, women “hold up half the sky” and then some!

There is no denying that work compensation disparity between men and women has

reduced greatly in recent years and nowadays it is often the husband who does the

housework after returning home at night. Some Chinese think the pendulum has

perhaps swung too much the other way in that women often rule not just the home but

also the day-to-day life of their husbands. This relatively new social development

(particularly in southern China) has led to the following tongue-in-cheek revision of the 3

“obeys” and the 4 “virtues”:

新的“三从四德”（转载）

太太说话要服从

太太下令要盲从

太太出门要跟从

太太化妆要等得

太太花钱要舍得

太太啰嗦要忍得

太太打骂要受得

The wife’s words must be obeyed

The wife’s orders must be followed without question

When the wife goes out the husband must chaperone her

When the wife is doing her make-up the husband must wait for her patiently

When the wife spends money the husband must provide a willing wallet

When the wife gases on, the husband must keep silent

When the wife throws a fit the husband should bear it stoically.

从这我们可以看出新“三从四德”与旧的“三从四德”大相径庭，这与现代年轻人的教育及其赖

以生存的大环境息息相关，不要忘记现在男女的比率是：120:100.

If nothing else, this shows how attitudes between the genders in China is undergoing

considerable change, especially among the young who are facing change in all aspects

of their lives, in particular given that the male/female ratio is now 120:100.

Best wishes from GoGo Mandarin!