The Book named Family primarily illustrates the conflicts between traditional and new ideas during a modern China period. Before the modern period, many Chinese used to live with the idea of collectivism, and against the belief of individualism. In the book Family, the author focuses to illustrate many struggles the Kao family face because the younger generation aimed to reject the old Confucian values, but rather, to restructure the family and to change the society for individual wants and desires.
In the Kao’s family, individualists are viewed as rebels of the family because old generations majorly well liked to conceive a family as one whole, respecting the idea of collectivism. Hence Venerable Master Kao, a very aged man, favors the traditional and collectivism conducts; in fact, one of his wish was to see “four generations under one roof” (Pa Chin, 1972, p. 102). Despite when it comes to the old principles, the most rebellious character in the Kao family named Chueh-hui, a third young Master, strongly demands to fight with his old grandfather and the traditional society for more progressive approaches and free thoughts. Chueh-hui even gets grounded by the cause of his strong claim against the former values. His actions conclusively upsets Venerable Master Kao; nevertheless Cheuh-hui does not make apologies to his grandfather, but continues to argue and talk back. Eventually Venerable Master Kao regrets sending Cheuh-hui to a school because he now believes “school
Marriage Arrangement, but the power of elders still have an important role in some of the major decisions of a person, especially in area of education as it represents social class and considered as a ‘family business’ due to the foundation of Confucianism (G. Huang & M. Gove 2012).
Firstly, the relationship expectations in Chinese customs and traditions were strongly held onto. The daughters of the Chinese
Medieval China, as seen in the Stories from a Ming Collection, was characterized by distinct separations between men and women’s abilities, typical old fashioned family structure, and a desire to advance their social status. Throughout all the stories in this book, it dives deep into different aspects of how men and women are treated, how families were structured and how that affects their lives, as well as the values these people held. A very common trend in the stories was how different men and women were treated and the limitations they may or may not had.
In Ancient China the father of the woman decided who that his daughter would marry. There was no agreement between the two fathers. The father would talk with an astrologer who had a birth chart on every child. By looking at the time and date of their births he would then decide whether or not they would be compatible for one another. The father when then make the decision whether they would marry, the daughter’s thoughts and opinion’s did not count.(9) The woman was required to be completely devoted to her husband. After the marriage a Chinese women was expected to bow to her new in-laws and offer them tea. This showed them that she now belonged to her husband’s family. It was required of her to obey her new
This topic of research and study is important because it not only analyzes, but perfectly displays the evolution changes of family
Women in Ancient China during the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty lived in oppressed lives. Society perceived them as inferior to their husbands and parents-in-law. Their role in the family were to be housewives taking care of their family and maintaining the household chores. They were always under the instructions of their husbands and parents-in-law in they were treated like servants. They also had no control in their personal decisions because they were not allowed to decide who they were going to marry and what they wanted to do in their careers. Parents of daughters would also force their daughters to foot-binding because it would attract potential wealthy husbands. This paper argues that although the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty were known as the golden periods for China, nevertheless, it was overlooked by historians that women during the time were victims of gender inequality because they lived with no control over their personal lives and were expected to be submissive to their husbands.
All through time, successive generations have rebelled against the values and traditions of their elders. In all countries, including China, new generations have sought to find a different path than that of their past leaders. Traditional values become outdated and are replaced with what the younger society deems as significant. Family concentrates on this very subject. In the novel, three brothers struggle against the outdated Confucian values of their elders. Alike in their dislike of the traditional Confucian system of their grandfather, yet very different in their interactions with him and others, begin to reach beyond the ancient values of Confucianism and strive for a breath of freedom. Their struggles against the old values
I agree with the statement “the history of a family begins when a person leaves home” . when Chang left rural tradition behind to make a new life for themselves in the city. The old rules no longer apply, traditional education and family values have little or relevance, and new arrivals in the city have to learn fast and adapt quickly in order to survive and prosper in this strange and often hostile new environment. I saw so many changes for people migration to city .
The family structure has traditionally been the basic unit of Chinese society, where women have long been given the task of the continuation of the society 's core values, in their roles as wives and mothers. While the expected values have evolved with time, from the imperial period to the Communist revolution to the modern day, this responsibility for women has
China is world’s most populous and fastest emerging economy that is seen as a continent in it instead of being part of Asia. In recent years, developed nations have been surprised by the acceleration of development in country that they give examples of success stories based on China’s market. Apart from China’s sophisticated with complex economic and political system, China also demonstrate interesting trends in several different prospects of society that are often neglected by intellectuals. There main focus is always on economic and political reform, But in this essay main focus is on the china’s population and the cultural rituals of family, gender and marriage. To add more, further elaboration will be addressed on the changing trends
Confucianism and Daoism are two influential schools of thoughts that have existed in ancient China around the 6th century BCE. The former, led by the politician and philosopher Confucius, proposed that humans live in society according to a set of predefined rules and that they transform society through political action. Whereas the latter, led by the philosopher Lao-Tzu, promoted the idea of inaction; people should go with the flow instead of taking action to control their lives and dominate their surroundings. Although, at first glance Daoism and Confucianism seem to be two opposing philosophies, a more in depth analysis of two of their key ideas –filial piety and education—reveals that they do share some similarities.
Your last name belongs to the family, and you can’t cut yourselves off from your ancestors.” To this, the young boy answers “Baloney!.” This particular argument not only highlights the cultural differences in their thoughts on the meaning of names but also the different definition of a family each culture has. In the Chinese culture, the family is centered around the veneration of the ancestors and elders are the ones who hold the power within the household due to their wise nature. While in American culture the family is commonly defined as only including the nuclear family members, the mother, the father, and their children. These values clashed during the argument between the grandfather and the child when the child not only disregarded the importance of his ancestors but also disrespected his grandfather to the point where his grandmother had to intervene and by stating “You mustn’t speak to your granddad like that.” The children further display their American interpretation of family when the boy tells the grandfather “This isn’t your home,” and then the little girl follows by stating “You’re just our guests.” This argument clearly displays the clash between family members of different generations dramatized by their
There are varieties of families in the world. People develop different personalities and mind sets because they have their own experience and knowledge gain from their individual families. In this essay, I will contrast and summarize each of nuclear, which is traditional, family and non-traditional families and also compare each of the families and examine how changing in non-traditional and nuclear families will affect people’s behaviors and minds in the view of sociologist and psychologist in order to argue how changing family affect individuals and the society.
China has about five thousand years history which is a very long period of time. Also, the Chinese civilization was growing with these periods of time and it will continues greater than ever. Many wars and unhappinesses were happening during this period. Although, the time has passed, the histories and the civilizations have not passed. These family virtues, serious, working attitudes, sense of justice and the great Confucian tradition have been deeply assimilated into the Chinese people. Some Chinese traditions are different from North American’s. The Chinese culture has many special characteristics which are very interesting for people to learn.
The unique guanxi culture in Chinese society sets its societal framework distinctively apart from the West. Although guanxi is often portrayed as one’s social network, it is much different from the so-called “connections” in Western society. Guanxi is a special social phenomenon in the Chinese societal context. It has survived throughout history and continues to be a prevalent trend because it has its Chinese characteristics and attributes that are not found in other societies. The existence of guanxi in Chinese society originated from the core Chinese value of collectivism. Since centuries ago, Chinese society’s group life and social organization has been based on collective interests. “Familial sentiments and obligations, [which were regarded as ethical relations], extended from the family into society [later on]”. The unofficial, informal networks of familial and kinship obligations provided the social support mechanisms through which peasant families survived in the economy of transition and hardships” (Bian, 2001, p.276). The twin themes of guanxi and the sense of hierarchy mutually enhance each other because private networks thrive through the existence of the principle of giving and reciprocating, which highlights that there is a dependent on a more resourceful party in the relationship. The future of the twin themes in China will continue to be built upon mutual reliance and the looked upon generous favour giver in bridging the connections between multiple parties.