Chinese culture can be seen as a set of specific values and beliefs that honor and prioritize familial ties and authority. Harmony, as the principle governing family connections, continues to hold significance even though Chinese family views are changing in modern Chinese culture as a result of a variety of political, economic, and social issues. Still, one element that remains an integral part of Chinese society is filial piety, which is “the honoring of one’s ancestors and parents,” which is “both valuable in itself and a training ground for the reverence due to the emperor and state officials” (Strayer and Nelson 102). As a result, relationships, such as parent-child and husband-wife, are sacred in Chinese culture, although there are such faults as strong patriarchy and authoritarian approaches.
Relational harmony continues to be the cultural ideal that young Chinese populations strongly support. Human interactions are governed by balance, which is the cornerstone of Confucianism, Taoism, and other Chinese philosophical traditions (Chang 15). According to Confucianism, family is emphasized as the primary component of society with harmonic ties and connection, which has shaped Chinese family interactions for hundreds of years (Chang 15). Confucianism emphasizes interdependence, peace, and filial devotion, and, according to an old Chinese proverb, if the family is happy, everything else will be successful (Jia he wan shi xing) (Chang 15). In this case, members of the family, such as parents and children, know how to act and fulfill their given roles based on the hierarchy of age, gender, and generation, and notably, the virtue of ancestor worship.
Moreover, aside from harmony that is valued in each family, another merit worth mentioning is that family is valued over everything else. Even under the People’s Republic of China, family represents safety and comfort for Chinese people, whereas the outside world represents instability and coldness (Chang 16). The outside world is where hostility finds an outlet since Chinese culture forbids any form of aggression inside the family (Chang 16). The Chinese may feel free to express their aggressive behavior straightforwardly when they communicate with unknown people, such as in experiences in a present big city or in a foreign nation when one is certain that the interaction is informal and momentary (Chang 16). However, aggressive behavior cannot be demonstrated directly toward the family.
Still, the parent-child system is not without faults, and the most significant one involves the dual-factor paradigm of filial piety. On the one hand, reciprocal filial piety is about genuine affection toward one’s caregiver and a long-standing healthy parent-child connection (Li 1). On the other hand, authoritarian filial piety is about adhering to societal responsibilities to one’s parents, frequently by repressing one’s own aspirations to comply with the expectations of the parent (Li 1). Therefore, according to Chinese values, one must often sacrifice one’s own aspirations for the sake of their parents.
Another valuable system within Chinese culture is the husband-wife relationship. The biggest merit of the given system is that it puts emphasis on monogamy and stresses the important and sacred nature of marriage (Gui 2). Moreover, the Chinese expect not only monogamy but also passion between partners, and it is considered the norm (Gui 2). Still, there are major faults with the husband-wife system, such as expectations and judgments of a partner’s filial piety that vary by gender and gender role attitudes. Husbands can demand more from spouses and assess women’s filial piety conduct as lower than it is (Gui 2). Men often have a more conventional view of gender roles. Therefore, husbands set higher standards for their wives’ filial obligations, while wives do the opposite (Gui 2). Consequently, this can be identified as the standards of the patriarchal societal structure.
To delve deeper into the expectations and roles within marriage, women are traditionally expected to be modest but intelligent. Strayer and Nelson (102) provide the quote of Ban Zhao, a Chinese philosopher, who claims that education has always been essential for young women, “not because they were equal to boys, but so that a young woman might be better prepared to serve her husband.” Moreover, it is stated in The Book of Rites, or Liji, a compilation of writings about the social structures, that a son should divorce his wife if his family does not accept her (Gui 2). In turn, he must treat her like his wife in every way till the end of her life, even if he does not like her, but his family says, “she serves us well” (Gui 2). Therefore, a woman’s role in marriage in Chinese society is to fulfill the expectations of the husband and his family.
Hence, although Chinese culture has strong patriarchal or authoritarian tendencies, some connections, such as parent-child and husband-wife, are sacred. Based on the hierarchy of age, gender, generation, and, most significantly, the virtue of ancestor worship, family members, such as parents and children, know how to act and perform their assigned roles. Moreover, in Chinese culture, the husband-wife connection is a vital institution. The main advantage of the current system is that it emphasizes monogamy and the value and sanctity of marriage. Likewise, in the U.S., there is a glue that holds society as well. Such kinds of glue are multi-nationality and freedom, which not only prioritize respecting others but also bring something new from different nations. These elements intensify with time, allowing shared values to become stronger and unbreakable.
Works Cited
Gui, Yongxia. “Expectation and Evaluation of Spouse’s Filial Piety and Marital Satisfaction in China.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, 2021, 595854. Web.
Li, Wendy Wen, Smita Singh, and C. Keerthigha. “A Cross-Cultural Study of Filial Piety and Palliative Care Knowledge: Moderating Effect of Culture and Universality of Filial Piety.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, 2021, 787724. Web.
Strayer, Robert, W. and Eric W. Nelson. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History, Value Edition, Volume 1. Macmillan Higher Education, 2021.
Zhang, Lingfen. Teaching Chinese by Culture and TV Drama. U.S.: Routledge, 2022.