Group 5 (family) - 28 views
started by lili_teng_foti on 18 Oct 10
started by lili_teng_foti on 18 Oct 10
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started by lili_teng_foti on 18 Oct 10
Family Life:
The traditional vision of family life in China is one of a strong family unit led be the father and husband, who largely has absolute rule and control of the family. Religion plays a major part in defining the roles and responsibilities of family members. Confucianism taught social order and behavior. This control also extended to selection of marriage partners, which was often arranged for the children.
Much has changed today in the family make-up. The father still remains the strong family leader and decision maker. At a minimum, he influences the major decisions of the children. But, normally he no longer exerts absolute control. The father no longer arranges the marriage, although this still exists in some of the most traditional families and in less developed areas. Children select their career fields, again strongly influenced by the father.
Dating does not usually begin until the early twenties. Typically, young adults will date just a few people, perhaps only one, before choosing a partner. The average age for marriage is 25 to 30 year old. The bride will usually wear a long white wedding gown . The bride will not change her name. As in any country, there are strong traditions around the entire process, from selecting partners to proposing to planning the wedding to the wedding itself. Chinese Wedding Customs is an outstanding guide to the process from start to finish.
Children typically live with the parents until marriage. After a brief honeymoon, the newlyweds will move into an apartment. But, it is not uncommon for newly married couples to remain in one of the parents' homes for a short period after the marriage. The newly married couple then move into a small apartment with one or two bedrooms, a bath and cooking/living room.
The couple are allowed by Chinese law one child. There are exceptions to the one child rule, the most common being minority groups, and in areas where there is labor shortage(rural areas and farms).
http://www.chinaunique.com/educate/culture.htm#family
http://family.jrank.org/pages/580/Family-Roles-Role-Expectations-Demands.html
http://family.jrank.org/pages/254/China-Tradition-Persistence-Transition.html
This is an interesting excerpt from the article:
"However, the majority of Chinese parents still use the authoritarian style of parenting where there are strict demands, expectations and a structured code of conduct. This is accompanied by a low level of responsiveness where children are told to obey instructions and not to question their parents"
http://chineseparenting.com/chinese-parenting-styles/
http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/hbfamilism-u.html
First of all, great meeting on Friday and yesterday afternoon. here are all of the websites that I had bookmarked last sunday on my diggo account but hadn't posted it here. Like I said at our meetings, the sub categories that you posted sam are great. I am currently in the process of finishing up my slides on the husband and wives in chinese family. If you come across something interesting, please let me know. For our final presentation, I can combine all of our slides into one presentation. This is important so our class doesnt get bored waiting for each of us to open our emails and presentations. just email them to me pdcand11@holycross.edu Also, for my part, I am trying to find as many pictures as I can and put the least amount of writing possible. let's try to innovate with our presentation to keep people interested. Below are some very interesting videos that has lots of cool information relevant to our presentation. Hopefully it will be helpful to each of you for your sub topics. feel free to call me anytime if you guys need me for anything else 978-761-9757
-YouTube - What do chinese say on divorce
-YouTube - Redefining China's Family: Women
we can explain to our class how the role of women has been changing in China
-YouTube - Redefining China's Family: MIgrant Workers
interesting
-YouTube - Redefining China's Family: Elderly
-Chinese Family Culture, Family Culture in China, China Family Culture
Brief overview of Chinese Family
more from www.kwintessential.co.uk -
In the past, families in China provided every individuals' support, livelihood and long-term security. You needed a family in those days because otherwise there would be no one for you. Today, if a Chinese person does not have a family, he/she is supported by the state. That said, family roles are still prominent in China especially in the country side.
In China, family members are bound, in law and custom, to support their aged or disabled members. The state provides support and benefits only when families cannot. Households combine their incomes to support their families. The size of Chinese families varies by class. For example, government officials have large families while impoverished rural peasants have small families. Couples that are not able to have children, they either adopt or buy infants. The most impoverished people, dont even start their families because they need to provide for themselves when they are old. Families that only have daughters find men willing to marry them and sometimes even move to their families. If they have no property to attract the men for their daughters, families unfortunately end up sellling their daughters to prostitution.
briefly what I have learned on my part:
Traditional attitude towards marriage in China still exists without being questioned. It is expected that you marry. It is the only way that you can have a normal adult life. Also, marriage is expected to be forever (i will present that cool activity to class that we talked about). The wife has to move into the husband's family. She is supposed to be the daughter-in-law. There is a norm in China's families of patrilineal descent and the assumption that the sons will be responsible for their aged parents. The birth control limit set by the goverment is very interesting in China. Also, what i find most interesting, is that the government is even advising people not to marry?!?!?! very interesting situation in China.
Please try to use some information from this site:
http://countrystudies.us/china/51.htm
i think that the information at this awesome site can help us better prepare for those students who decide to mess with us by asking tricky questions....
Regards,
Philippe
Sorry I'm a little late checking in, but yeah I think it would be interesting to look at how dating/courtship is different in the past and now from Western culture. Not only that dating starts later than here, but what a typical date is and how that has changed as going out and clubs and bars have become more popular for people of that age group. Birth control and divorce might be related to this, especially since birth control applies to married life as well as the dating scene I wonder if it's encouraged or if chastity is still valued, and then maybe some ideas relating to the acceptability of abortion and respect for life and how that ties in to the child being kind of a part of the parent. Then with divorce I'd wonder if the one-child law would still apply, or if there's any difference in the husband/wife being allowed to have another child in the future of they remarry.
With regard to gender, it might be interesting to see what is expected of men and what makes them attractive or ideal suitors, and what they had to do to pursue a girl and what the differences are between classes. Were people who lived in an ancient village more free to marry who they wanted, or was there some kind of separation of genders so they wouldn't meet socially? If men are supposed to be the head of the household and make all of those decisions, is there some kind of training or special reading that is supposed to guide them to do what's right, or do they just look to their belief system for guidance, or do they depend on their parents if the whole family unit lives together? I'd be interested to see if there was a male side to foot-binding, and what kind of personality traits were valued in each gender.
It might be interesting to look at how grandparents and young children fit into the family, at what point grandparents stop working and kind of retire into the family, and what are common things parents do with or teach their children. Would very young children traditionally stay home and be taken care of by their mothers, or would wealthier families hire someone to raise the children?
Looking into the tradition of respect for elders would also be pretty cool, I'd be interested to know how much of a role ancestors are thought to be involved in their living relatives' lives, like if they can influence the course of events or something.
-Sara