ChineseFamilyFamilyand
Lineage
SocialChangeinAsia
ClarkW.Sorensen
March30,2017
Dagongmei打工妹 inglobalizedChina
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PunNgaiasks,“WhatkindofworkingclassiscreatedwhenglobalizedcapitalturnsChina
into‘theworld’sworkshop’?”
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Girlsareconstrainedby:
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Note:2005publicaPon,fieldwork1990,1993,1995-6(IntroducPon,footnote2)
ChangingsocialregulaPonandpoliPcalengineeringbythepartystate—especiallyregulaPonson
residenceandmigraPon
MarkePzaPonandglobalizaPonformedbythecollaboraPonoflocalauthoriPeswithforeign
capital
Patriarchalfamilysystemwheretheyaretreatedbythestatenotasautonomousindividuals,but
asgenderedholdersofaparPcularsocialstatus
Beforewegetintodagongmei(femalecontractfactoryworkers),then,Iwantto
introduceyoutotheChinesefamily,andthechangingPRCregulatoryenvironmentand
declineoftheworkunit(danwei单位)asasocialidenPty
Charlo]eIkelsonChineseFamily
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TradiPonal(“feudal”)Chinesefamily“well-regulated”p98
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Wholemoreimportantthananypart(e.g.anyindividual)
Eachperson’sstatusdefinedaccordingtogeneraPon,relaPveage,andgender
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大哥，大姐， 二哥，小弟，小妹
Descenttracedthroughthemaleline
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“livingmembersofafamilywereregardedascruciallinksbetweenitspastandits
future,andthefailuretoperpetuatetheselinks(byfailingtoproducesons)was
regardedasthe‘mostunfilialact’.”
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Idealof“fivegeneraPonsunderoneroof”,butactuallymostfamiliessmall
MauriceFreedmanonChinesejointfamily
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Chinesejointfamily—”whereparentsandallmarriedsonsmaintaineda
commonunitoflivingwasinaminority...occurringmainlyamongthewealthy”
p43
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“Povertyanddiseasekeptthefamiliesofthehumblevillagersdowntosmall
numbers.”
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Duetopovertythepoorwouldnotbringintwodaughters-in-law,butsendall
butonesonoutintotheworldtoliveseparately
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NB—analysisofthefamilysystemisdifferentfromthequesPonofhow
demographyandpossession(ornot)ofpropertyinteractswiththefamily
system
Non-corporatefamilies
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MerryWhiteinPerfectlyJapanesecommentsthattheexpression“starPngafamily”in
theUSmeans“havechildren”whereaschildreninJapanareseenas“conPnuing”afamily
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Bothahtudesareaccurateforthecountriesinques4onbecausefolkterminology
generallyaccuratelyrepresentshowpeopleinasocietythinkabouttheirins4tu4ons
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Americanssay“starPngafamily”preciselybecauseeachnewlymarriedcoupleisanew
familystarPngout,andsuchafamilybecomecompletewithchildren—thisishowanoncorporatebilateralfamilysystemworks
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Japanese(Chinese,Koreans,Vietnamese)saychildren“conPnue”afamily,because
familiesarenotcreatedanddieoffeachgeneraPon(asintheUS)buttrulyconPnueas
successorsarefoundtoconPnuerolesinthesamefamily
Non-corporatefamilycycle(beginning)
Non-corporatefamilycycle(conPnuaPon)
CriteriaofFamilyCorporateness
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Boundaries
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Househead
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Thereisahouseheadtothisfamilywithpowerandauthorityoverotherfamilymembers(thishaschangedforpost-1947Japan),anda
femalecanbehousehouseonlyiftherearenoeligiblemales
Succession
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Ibelongtooneandonlyonecorporatefamily(andIknowexactlywhothemembersofmycorporatefamilyare)—Japanesekosekiand
ChinesehukouregistraPonsdefinethis
WhenahouseheaddiesthefamilyisconPnuedbyasuccessor—anewfamilyisnotcreated,butrathertheexactsamefamilyis
perpetuatedwithanewheadwhostepsintotheshoesofhisfather(normally)andhasauthorityoverunmarriedsiblingsasa
consequence
Corporatefamiliesideallyhaveproperty
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Thispropertytypicallybelongstothefamily(notjusttotheindividualmembersofthefamily).Thisfamilypropertyisdividedaccording
tothefamilysystem,ratherthanaccordingtothewilloftheowner.(Thedetailsvarysomewhatbycountry)
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Individualfamilymembersmayalsohavesmallamountsofpersonalpropertythatisnotfamilyproperty.
Chinesejointfamilysystem
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So-callednotbecausethemajorityoffamiliesareeverjointfamilies
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IdealofbrothersnotdividingthefamilyunPlakerthedeathoftheparentsisrarely
achieved
AsFreedmannotesitisachievedmorereadilyamongthewealthythanthepoor(partly
becausewealthymorelikelytohavetwosonstosurvivetoadulthoodandbringina
wife)
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HoweverjointfamilyisthemostcomplexandpresPgiousformaChinesefamily
achievesoverthefamilycycle
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MostChinesefamiliesgothroughjointformforatleastashortperiodofPme
eventhoughmostofthePmetheyaren’tjoint—soitissPllcorrecttocallthe
Chinesesystema“jointfamilysystem”
StagesoftradiPonalChinesefamilycycle
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Corporatefamily(jiā家)withmalehousehead(jiāzhang家长）whodeterminesthemarriage
ofchildren(cfIkelsp100)
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Marriagepatrilocal—”thegatesmatchthefamilyisright”mendanghudui门当户对
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Marriedwomanincorporatedintotheman’sfamily—Man“takeswife”(qǔqī娶妻),woman“marriesa
husband”(jiàfu嫁夫)
Eachson’snuclearfamilyafáng房 withinthejiā家
Hypergamy—moneyasaconsideraPonformarriagewasabolishedinmarriagelawof1950but
conPnuesinformallyinthePRC(andissPllcommoninTaiwanandSoutheastAsia)
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Brideprice(pìnjīn聘金)—fromgroom’sfamilytobride’sfamily
l  Inpoorfamiliesusedtoprocureabrideforason
l  Inrichfamiliesusedforweddingexpensesorsentbackwithbrideas“indirectdowry”
Dowry(jiàzhuāng嫁妆)—bridebringsintohermaritalfamilyasmuchas1-3yearsincomeingoods
AlternaPveformsofmarriage
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Uxorilocalmarriage(zhāozhuì招贅,zhāoxù招壻)
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Ifnochildrenmayadoptoneandcontractamarriage
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“callinauselessparasite”“callinason-in-law”—thiswouldbedoneonlyifa
familyhasdaughtersandnosons
Thereisnocustomof“adoptedson-in-law”婿養子asinJapan,soeverything
mustbedonebycontract(whatnamesthechildrenwilltake,etc.)
Sincesonswereexpensive,poorfamiliesmightadoptadaughterandbringina
son-in-law
Childmarriage—daughtersgivenawayatyoungagetobemarried(saves
bridepriceanddowry)
Stagesoffamilyform
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Elementary(nuclear)
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Stem
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Onemarriedsonlivestogetherwithhisparents
Joint
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Marriedcouple(andtheirchildren)
Morethanonemarriedsonlivingtogetherwithacommonbudgetbefore
parPPon
ParPPon,the“rooms”(fang)ofthejointfamilybecomeindependent
corporatefamilies(jia)
NucleartoStem
JointfamilyandparPPon
ParPPon(fēnjiā分家)
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IntheChinesefamilytheparPPonisalegalactinwhichthepropertyis
dividedbetweenbrothers,andtheyformseparatejia(corporatefamilies)
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Usuallyathirdparty(outsidethecorporatefamily)isinvolved
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Alegaldocumentiswri]enupspecifyingwhatpropertyeachbrothergets
IntheruralPRCthedocumentspecifieseachchild’sresponsibilityforhisparents
l  Becauselandisnolongerinheritedfilialpietyismoredifficulttoenforce
l  Ifparentshaveahouseco-residenceispossible(2/3with1son,1/3with
daughter)60%
l  23%livealonewithorwithout“mealrotaPon”chīlúnfàn吃轮饭 l  4%physicalrotaPonlánliúgōngyǎnglǎoren轮流供养老人 Demographyandfamily
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Ageatmarriage,andageatparPPondeterminethecomplexityofChinese
family
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Ideal—fourgeneraPonsunderoneroof—rarelyachievedinthePRCanymore
becausenobodyhasthepropertytosupportthislifestyle,andhousingis
allocatedbythestate
Real—inmostfamiliesparPPonisshortlyakerthemarriageofthelastson
l  Daughters-in-lawagitateforparPPonsotheirfamilieswillbeindependent
l  PeriodofjointfamilyorganizaPontendstobeshort
Real—insomefamilieseachsonparPPonswhenhemarries
l  SuchfamiliesresemblethestemfamilysystemofKoreaorJapan(although
siblingsdidnotusedtobetreatedequallyinKoreaorJapan)
CriPcalrolesinChinesefamily
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Freedman’sviewstructural
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Fatherandson—fatherdominatessonsinrichfamily,butisweakinpoorfamilies
Brotherandbrother—compePPonandparPPon
Husbandandwife—strongPeinpoorfamilies,butweakinrich
MargeryWolfemphasizes“uterinefamily”ofmotherandherchildren
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MotherinastructurallyweakposiPoninpatriarchalfamily,soshesecuresher
posiPonbytyingherchildrentoheremoPonally
Motherwillokenintercedewithfatherforchildren,orspiritthechildrenali]le
bitofherprivatemoney(candyforchildren,tuiPonfordaughters)
Father-sonPeokendistantandformal
Class,demography,andfamily
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Before1949womenandchildrenwereconsidered“familyproperty”andcouldbesoldif
necessary
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SystemaPchypergamy—mengenerallysoughtbridesfromfamiliesofslightlylower
wealth(sothewifewouldn’tbeextravagant)—evidenceforthisconPnuingeveninto
collecPvizedeconomy(womenmovetorichercommunes)
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Expensesofbridepricemeanrichmencouldmarryearly(andoken),andpoormen
mightmarrylate(ifatall)
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InheritancewasequalandparPbleamongsons(daughtersgotdowryatmarriage)
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RichfamiliestendedtobreakupoverthegeneraPonsaspropertyissplitamongmany
children—”ragstorichestoragsinthreegeneraPons”
Ego-centeredkinshipgroupsbeyondthe
family—thekindred(English)
Patrilinealkinshipgroups
Confucianancestorworship
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Familyancestorworship
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Ondeathdayofindividualupto4generaPonsremoved
Woodendeathtabletsdisplayedonhouseholdaltarwhereworshiptakesplace
Eachfamilyworshipsitsownpatrilinealancestors—daughters’children“outside
grandchildren”外孙女whodonotbelongtothelineage(Ikels98)
Lineageancestorworship
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Doneonceortwiceayearatancestraltombs,oratalineagehall
Distantancestorsworshiped
Incasesofalineagehall,usuallyasubstanPaldonaPontothehallassociaPonis
requiredtoenteratabletintothehall
Patrilinealkinshipgroups
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GenealogicallineageswithoutcorporateorganizaPon
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Villageneighborhoodstendedtoconsistofpatrilineallyrelatedcousins
Mightownaburialgroundtogether,anddogroupancestorworshipacoupleof
Pmesayear
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l  Qingming清明 Lunar3/15
ThiskindoflineagecommoninNorthChina
Minimallysegmentedcorporatelineages
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Usuallyalineageestatehasbeensetasidetofinancialancestorworshipand
charitableacPviPesforlineagememebers(schools,selfdefense)
AsymmetricallySegmentedPatrilineages
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FoundchieflyinFujian,Taiwan,Guangdong,andruralpartsofHongKongand
Macau(seeIkelsp99)
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WithinadeeplineagesubstanPalestateshavebeensetasideforvarious
ancestors
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ItisasymmetricalbecauseinanygeneraPononelinemayhaveanestate,andanother
maynot
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InsomevillagesofFujianandGuangdongmostofthelandwasownedby
lineages,andtherewouldbenumerousendowedlineagehallsdedicatedtoa
varietyofintermediateancestors
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ThisisthekindoflineagethatwouldhavebeenfoundinPunNgai’s“BlueRiver”
Hakkavillage—combineskinshipprincipleswithcontrolofwealth