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Home › Forums › Summer Institutes › Gender And Generation In East Asia, Summer 2019 › Session 1 - August 5, Yunxiang Yan, UCLA
Kathrin Simmons.
cgao
Post-Patriarchal Intergenerationality and the Remaking of Motherhood: The Interplay of Generation and Gender in Chinese Neo-Familism
Please download and read the attachments below in preparation for Professor Yunxiang Yan's lecture.
Marcos RicoThis article follows a nurse Wang Rui as she tries to balance her job in a hospital and her social life, while trying to find Mr. Right. Wang Rui, dream of going to the United States and study to become a medical doctor. Eventually Wang Rui finds Mr. Right, giving up on her dream of going to the USA and becoming a doctor. It shows us the struggles that Wang and her husband face as they try to raise a family in modern China.
I find it interesting how Wang Rui and Li Han had to improvise and be flexible to achieve their goal of having a Middle Class family, while keeping both sets of parents happy. Li Han works long hours to provide for his family, while his wife takes care of the baby and the household. Eventually, Wang Rui will be going back to work, while juggling the housework and raising a perfect child ( hopefully with the help and support of her parents and in-laws).
Scott CraigI absolutely loved the lecture. There was so much information. I have watched Crazy Rich Asians a few times, I never fully appreciated the cultural nuiances of family and generations. After this lecture I am going to watch the movie again and look for the roles of the matriarch, family over self, etc. It is so interesting to see how culture can influence so much of a person's thinking, outlook, etc.
Diana CoreyBefore reading to prepare for this session, I had never heard the term "familism" before. This lecture and these readings have given me something extra to add into my lessons on family. I teach a unit on family in my beginner Chinese classes and introduce some aspects of Chinese family culture in the process. I am now thinking about ways that I can incorporate what I am learning about gender and generation in the family structure, and adding the vocabulary word "familism" alone places extra emphasis on how integral these family structure traditions and changes are in Chinese culture. I will be revisiting a family unit in a more advanced class this fall and am very excited to go deeper with them into what the Chinese family structure looks like.
Frederic VialAs I mentioned during class discussion/reflection with Mr. Dube, I wish Mr. Yan had the time/opportunity to speak of his own personal experiences as a child with respect to his family as it specifically related to socialism/communist and the affects of the Cultural Revolution he endured. It's clear by his presentation that the patriarchal model that evolved for two-thousand years in China shifts at the start of the 20th century towards a greater focus on the individual - one that is cleary accelerated in 1949 by Mao's Cultural Revolution by offering women a role in the work force and, by extension, the party. I would've welcomed hearing more from Mr. Yan regarding this shift in paradigm during the Cultural Revolution and its aftermath. It's clear to me the sense of collectivism the Communist model offers or claims by suggesting the individual matters is a contradiction that has somehow eluded those who celebrate this ideology. And so, part of what Mr. Yan speaks of is, in reality, a false or fake sense of individualism that Communism promised to hold in high regard by suggesting its ideaology is/was "the way" out of one's miserable circumstance when in reality it simply offered a lateral shift that, most often, was far worse than the current state. The rebellious sense and/or thirst for individualism Mr. Yan speaks of, I believe, is profoundly influenced by a "hang-over" and/or disillusionment with what Socialism/Communism promised. The sense of hope Communism claimed to offer, ultimately, did not materialize. Coupled with technology (i.e. the internet), access to quick information and a growing sense of materialism, this "hang-over" I feel has, perhaps, had more to do with these shifts in China than the questioning of traditional family values of the past.
Diana CoreyI really enjoyed reading this chapter. I can be provided with a wealth of fascinating information, but what really tends to stick with me is personal stories. I agree with Frederic when he said that what he really wishes we could have heard more from Professor Yan is his own personal story.
Donna JamshidnejadThe tradition of familism in China and the rise of the individual is connected to an AP history theme of continuity and change over time. Using primary sources from Confucian scholars over time, combined with documents from the Cultural Revolution and today, students can analyze the continuities and changes over time in Chinese social/familial hierarchies. Leaving the AP guidelines aside, I think a more controversial question regarding women’s power can be posed. Did communism destroy the patriarchy in China? Or... How did women’s roles shift after the Cultural Revolution?
Amy ChenI was genuinely surprised that a female author proposed the inferiorty of women in Chinese culture. The extent to which women were degraded was even more shocking. I never knew female babies were kept underground. The notion that women weren't considered a person until they gave birth to a son is one I know of. Professor Yan also opened my eyes to the fact that Mao called for gender equality during the Culture Revolution which was turned down by men.
Joy ChaoDiana it's a great idea to use what we learned today to teach the chapter about family members and structure. I was also thinking that this can be coporated into the lessons on one's profession, education and gender equality. These are some topics that my students learn during their 4th year in Chinese where they have aquired a significant amount of vocabularies and their language proficiency ability have increased significantly. I think the topic of "individualism" can also be used in conflict resolution when we teach individual goals and collective effort, especially for collaborative assignments when students have to work together to reach the same goals.
Xiaowei Hunt
Before this seminar I did not know who Ban Zhao was even though I was born and brought up in China. In school we were not taught about Ban Zhao at all probably because curriculum writers/designer for K-12 in China a few decades ago did not think Ban Zhao made a positive impact on women with her "Lessons for Women". I looked up information about Ban Zhao online and found out she was indeed a controversial historic figure in Chinese history. I admire her being a hard-working scholar, a detailed historian and a great mother; however, I do not want to go by her lessons about standards of good women asking for humility, implicit obedience and speaking cautiously.
Petrina JapI enjoyed Professor Yan’s lecture on Chinese familism, and appreciated that he took the time to break down how changes in gender and generations have affected the family institution in China. I was intrigued by the way standards and characteristics of “the exemplary woman” have changed, but simultaneously stayed the same over the years. Considering how much the concept of individualization has affected the way families relate and interact with one another, I expected there to be a dramatic difference in the way gender roles are perceived and defined. However, as Professor Yan noted, the same type of “exemplary women” is present and continues to be encouraged today.
I understand that it is easy to disapprove of the idea that women are continuing to perpetuate this notion/standard today; however, their act of bending to the will of the patriarchy (influenced by both gender and generation) is more understandable when realizing that Chinese families value hard work and emphasize the value of delayed gratification — and have for years! I imagine it’d be difficult to break a pattern and value system that has been ongoing for thousands of years. I am curious to see how people continue to interact with the “exemplary woman” in the years to come.
Marcos RicoI enjoyed professor’s Yunxiang Yan lecture. It was fascinating to hear his explanations and comparisons of our Western ideology to the Traditional Chinese ideology. The part that still resonates in my head, is when he said that China is the only country in the world that has attacked its own traditional system of familism and tried to destroy a traditional family system that had endured thousands of years.
I loved his analogy of how in traditional Chinese ideology, a person is just like a tiny part in the middle of a long rope. Not a full person, just a connecting piece of a very long line. The person is there to ensure that the ancestors continue to have descendants.
Deanna WiistI thoroughly enjoyed the lecture this morning with Professor Yunxiang Yan. There was so much to think about and unpack after this morning’s session. One of the most intriguing moments for me was when he talked about how the concept of eternity in China was linked to reproductive success. That was a powerful insight into Chinese culture. Eternity. That’s as big of a deal as it gets. I spend a lot of time with my students studying demographics, pro-natalist and anti-natalist policies, and demographic transition and economic development; however, sometimes it’s difficult for students to grasp the cultural nuances or societal implications of a policy within a specific country. The knowledge that I gained today will help me better help the students appreciate the changes within China.
When considering the concept of eternity and reproductive success, it’s possible to have deeper understanding and more appreciation of how revolutionary a policy like One-Child really was. Even if China was moving naturally in the direction of reduced fertility, an explicit policy and an accelerated time frame are different and have the potential to upset society and cause anxiety. The policy was getting at the psychological heart of the Chinese people. It’s also a lesson in the adaptability of people to a new normal and demonstrates unintended consequences. Chinese new-familism shows that adjustment to new policies and changing economic conditions, but consequences that no one in government probably anticipated.
Deanna WiistI could appreciate the struggle here too. The personal story of Wang Rui and Li Han helped me get a sense of the challenges and pressures within China today when it comes to finding a spouse. I was struck by the difficulty and expense of raising a child in modern China. Stories like theirs also bring home the universal desire we all have to be loved, achieve some small success, and do a good job on behalf of our kids.
Wow, what an amazing connection of ancient Chinese female writer, Ban Zhao with her seven lessons for women with the modern popular film "Crazy Rich Asians¨ presented by Preffsor Yan from UCLA this morning. He actually deepened our thoughts about the gender, age, and generations in China even though i was born and raised there, I really never thought through all what happened from now and then in pursuing our happiness, which conflicting our traditional social norms and proprieties. Ban Zhaoś sever lessons for women "humility( Beirou); Husband and wife; respect and caution; womanly conduct; singlemindedness; implicit obedience; Harmony and relatives¨ acutally set up rules for our behaviors to be a perfect lady, but we actually lost our happiness and freedom as we believed "Freedom is an opportunity for us to live the life we want to live in¨, which really put me into deep htinking of the roles I play in this modern society. Of course, I am an extremely traditional Chinese woman influenced by those "Three Odediences and Four Virtues¨, which restricted my hebaviors and thinking, but I pursue and enjoy freedom as well. I think this is a great topics I´d like to introduce and discuss with my 10th graders.