■ SLIDE 1- INTRO

People of Chinese Heritage

■ SLIDE 2
I. Social Organization
- Family The family is arguably the most important social institution in China since blood
ties have traditionally been the cornerstone of their society.
- In the old days Chinese wanted a large family at least in part to help work in the fields.
These days Chinese villagers often want one child to go away to work and earn money
while another stays put and maintains the family home in the village.
- Although the One-Child Policy — which restricted Chinese families to one child for 34
years — ended in 2016, many Chinese are reluctant to have additional children because it
is too expensive and troublesome.
SLIDE 3:
● Confucianism and the History of the Chinese Family
- Confucianism is the dominant philosophy and doctrine of proper ethics and conduct of the
Chinese people.
- Confucianism provides a protocol for proper family life. Therefore, the hierarchy of
generation-age-gender defines an individual's status, role,
privileges, duties, and liabilities within the family order
accordingly.

SLIDE 4

- Family members know precisely where they stand in the

family by referring to this order: to whom each owes
respect and obedience.
- People of the elder generation are superior to those of the
younger; within each generation, the elders are normally
superior to the younger; men are absolutely superior to
women.
SLIDE 5
● Traditional Chinese Family (jiā) JIYAAA amd Kinship
- Patrilineality- The term means that descent was calculated through men. This system
depends on the principle of passing on property and status from father to legitimate son. In
other words the inheritance and estate is passed to the oldest son.
- Patriarchal- The term means that the family was hierarchically organized, with the prime
institutionalized authority being vested in the senior-most male, who was considered to be
responsible for the orderly management of the family
 SLIDE 6
- Virilocal (vayrilocal)- relating to the custom of living with or near the husband's family
or tribe.
- Uxorilocality (uksorilocal) is societal system in which a married couple resides with or
near the wife's parents.
- Extended Family- This means that it ideally included a descent (di-sent) line of men and
their wives and children. Famous in the rural areas.
SLIDE 7
■ Gender Roles
- The roles of men, women and children in China are defined in part by tradition but
are not necessarily clearly prescribed and vary a great deal from region to region.
● Grandfather
- At the top of the hierarchical pyramid of a Chinese family is the eldest male of the
house who in most cases is the grandfather.
- He holds the maximum power and responsibility and is the authoritative figure in
the house.
- Whether he is still working or not, he is the one who takes most of the decisions for
others in the house and secures their future.
- Only after he crosses a certain age and can no longer handle responsibilities does
this position pass on to his son.

SLIDE 8
● Grandmother
- Under the grandfather comes the grandmother who too is respected in a typical
Chinese household.
- She looks after the needs of everyone, makes sure children are being looked after
and handles the household chores or the supervision. (especially if mother is
working)
- She mainly has a supervisory role in the house.
SLIDE 9
● Father
- He too holds a position of respect and authority and handles the main duties related
to providing money and finances for the members of the family.
- The father is responsible for looking for ways to secure the future financially.
- Men traditionally were supposed to turnover whatever they made to their wives
who made decisions about how the money was spent.
- SLIDE 10
● Mother
- At the 4th position of a Chinese family comes the mother who may or may not be
a housewife.
- The mother looks after the children, the kitchen and also looks after the
grandparents to ensure their health is good.
- Working mothers may not be able to devote much time to children and in that case
the grandmother takes on the education in China and wellbeing of the children.
- SLIDE 11
● Children
- They are required to study well, concentrate on their learning and help parents and
grandparents with small tasks around the house. They are expected to respect
everyone and conduct themselves well.
- The oldest son has traditionally been responsible for taking care of his parents in
their old age, overseeing all family matters, making funeral arrangements when a
parent dies, and tending the parent's tombs. He also has the responsibilities of
carrying on the family name and receiving his parents’ property and inherited
wealth.
- Female children were considered a bad economic and emotional investment,
particularly in poor families. Their names were seldom proclaimed, for once they
were married and became members of the husband's family, they were known by
their husbands' surnames, or their own surnames prefixed by their husbands'.
Throughout their whole lives, Chinese women were expected to conform to Three
Obediences (san-tsong): obedience to their fathers before marriage, to their
husbands after marriage, and to their sons after their husbands die.
- SLIDE 12
■ Religion
- From the late 1940s onwards, the country has been officially atheist but allows
those who are religious to practice their faith within certain guidelines.
- Atheism is common in China, and although many carry out traditional religious
practices (for example, a day devoted to sweeping the tombs of one’s ancestors),
they feel no particular emotion towards that religion.
- The Chinese Communist Party is officially atheist, but it recognizes five religions:
● Buddhism
● Catholicism
● Daoism
● Islam
● Protestantism
SLIDE 13
- Authorities tightly monitor registered and unregistered groups.
- As of October 16, 2021, More than a half (52.2%) of the population in China
do not identify themselves with any particular religion. Another 21.9% are
followers of the Chinese folk religion or Chinese popular religion, which
includes Confucianism and Taoism (Daoism). About 18.2% are Buddhists,
 5.1% are Christians, 1.8% are Muslims and 0.7% adhere to other religious
organizations.

SLIDE 14

■ Others
- Social hierarchies, “face” and etiquette have traditionally played an important role
in Chinese society.
- These elements of social interaction are reflected in the way people talk and act.