Chinese Kinship Systems Essay -- China Chinese Kin Kinship Essays

Chinese Kinship SystemsWorks Cited MissingIt would be impossible to disagree with the statework forcet that Chinese affinity is based on male predominance. In fact this statement may flush be under-emphasizing the control and absolute power that males wield across solely levels of Chinese society. Of course, where their power initi bothy comes from though, is by means of the family or termed differently the jia. It is this all-inclusive or ideal family that cultivates the consistent patrilineal form of control/ demarcation and dictates that residence in said jia is primarily patrilocal. That being said, what I look forward to to be able to create over the following pages is a clearer discernment of the ideal (Chinese) formation of control. This ideal transcription,based on the ideal of male predominance, is describe impeccably in the writings of Baker, Watson and Xiaotong. There are also splendid examples of an ideal jia and its power structure in Wolfs ethnography, The cr ime syndicate of Lim. But Wolfs ethnography also outlines examples whereby the ideal system of dominance is not always put into practice or is only when not as smooth running as the writings of the 3 former anthropologists would have you believe. It is my aim then, to include examples of a patriarchal system encountering problems and realities that are difficult to explain in an ideal sense.There is dwarfish doubt, tally to Baker, that the first and foremost aspect to understanding Chinese families and society at large is the importance placed on male relationships and descent that is traced with a male line. In contrast, women in Chinese society were given over little thought and even less power. They were to be used as reproducers of the male line and to aid in home/farm labour, apart(predicate) from this women had only small amounts of power and responsibility. In fact, the patriarchal system demanded that a wifes only connection with her married mans family be through the husband himself. Her future then, was caught up with his and her sons only, and she is expected to see her husbands interests as paramount in importance (Baker, 1979).Yet, women and childbirth, were essential to the lengthening of the patrilineal system, which started with the birth of a son or sons to any kinship system be they peasant or gentry class. It was considered vitally in-chief(postnominal) in Chinese society, that a wife bare a son as soon as possible not only for the... ...cumstances would be in Chieng-cuas position is still alive and now has a son (Lim A-bok) who is contributing a full share to the family budget. Undoubtedly this ambiguity in structure of the family influences the attitudes of Lim A-pou and her son.This ambiguity was the eventual death of the coupled Lim family. Walls were mounted, positions dissolved and property/wealth were divided up as equally as possible. It was not though, the death of the patrilineal system. Patrilocal residence would conti nue for all of the Lim (future) families, ancestral worship would also continue and male dominance and gender inequality would still reign supreme. In fact very little underneath the surface or socially would change at all, the family would go along a residential and economic unit composed primarily of males. And in order to reproduce itself it would still be forced to import women as brides, and dispose of females born into it by marrying them off to other families. Finally, it would continue to enter heavy stress on relationships through males, and tended to play down those through females, while there was an accompanying stress on the importance of men as opposed to women (Baker, 1979).