In the following article, Dr. Hsieh Kao chiao, professor of Sociology at National Chengchi University in Taipei, focuses on those changes that most clearly illustrate the extent of recent transformations in the family. These changes have challenged, altered, and—in some cases— abandoned revered tradition.
Attitudes toward love and marriage, childbearing and socialization, women and work styles, care of the aged, and ancestor worship are all undergoing massive readjustment. Dr. Hsieh assesses these continuing changes, and indicates some of the resulting challenges to Taiwan's social stability and well-being.
The traditional Chinese family was known as an extended family, being comprised of around three generations. An important characteristic of this pattern was the size of the family unit, which typically consisted of a man, his wife and children, his parents, his uncles, and his brothers, together with their wives and children, and all unmarried girls. Thus, several nuclear family units were encompassed within a single household. The most important ties in the Chinese family were consanguineous rather than conjugal. The man lived in his parents' family even after he married, but the woman left her own family after marriage and became a member of her husband's family.
Actually, various kinds of family existed in Chinese societies, including the conjugal or nuclear family, stem family, and extended or joint family [as discussed in the previous article]. While the Chinese desired an extended family for cultural reasons, this value was frequently hindered by factors such as poverty, mortality, and mobility.
But the extended family is now becoming a comparative rarity in contemporary Taiwan for the added reason of modernization. The impact of this process on local families has become steadily greater in recent years, raising major problems of social adjustment as people try to adjust to new realities. As the extended family gives way to more nuclear families, sweeping changes are evident in the ways the family functions as a unit—ways far different from tradition.
Love and Marriage
In Confucian doctrine, marriage is the union of two different surnames, the object of which is to serve the ancestors in the temple and to perpetuate the family. Thus, marriage is traditionally not merely the union of a male and female, but a prerequisite of the extended family system. Because of this, the selection of a marriage partner was important to all members of the family, as the individual selected had the potential for either contributing to the family's welfare or becoming a divisive influence in family affairs. Marriage could therefore not be a mailer left only to the prospective couple; it was an important issue for the entire household.
Due to this line of thinking, marriage was not viewed as a relationship for the couple's personal pleasure, but rather as a contract involving ancestors and descendants. It is clear that the sentiment of love could easily become the deadly enemy of filial obedience. Romantic love was potentially destructive to family life. To avoid the danger of emotional attachments to family stability, the sexes were separated from puberty to marriage in their education and in other spheres. Marriage, including the courtship process, was to be arranged by parents. In times past, if a couple were seen alone, it was taken as a sign that they were either engaged or already married.
In the last two decades, as parental power has weakened and young people have gained increased status within the family, the Western ideas of the equality of the sexes and romantic love have been introduced into society. The signs of change have been evident for more than two decades. For example, a study in 1961 concerning student attitudes toward marriage and the family found that 92 percent of the students favored love as a basis for marriage and 87 percent favored mixed social gatherings, a considerable shift in attitudes from only one generation earlier. Today, only a small number of people would prefer an arranged marriage.
A welcome new viewpoint —"A daughter is as good as a son" has replaced the old adage of "more sons, more happiness."
Although romantic love has taken the place of arranged marriage as the dominant pattern in Taiwan, the trend still encounters the opposition of more tradition-bound parents. A desire for romance on the part of the young has posed a serious disruptive influence on the extended family. Age at marriage has also changed. Traditionally, Chinese couples married when quite young to ensure the family a son. Today, marriage in Taiwan is postponed until much later. In this changing situation, the young are exposed to role conflicts in which there are two often incompatible expectations: those of romantic marriage and those prescribing filial piety.
The pattern of family life has been forced to adapt itself to the characteristics of this environment. Two of the most common alternatives to traditional marriages approaches are: (1) The marriage, whether initiated by son, daughter, or parents, should be agreed upon by both sides. Most of the families in Taiwan favor this pattern. Since the youth are oriented toward new ideas and the modernization of society, and parents tend to persist in traditional patterns, the two generations are often brought into conflict. It is usually difficult for children and parents to agree completely upon a desirable mate, but parents concede more often than do the children. (2) "Chi-ti" (group weddings of several couples at once) and "Kung-chen" (notary public) marriages are the forms most often selected by the couples based on "romantic love." The actual marriage ceremony entails a very simple court procedure. The purpose of this pattern is to avoid the problems of parental economic control and the lack of parental sponsorship, as well as the expense of the old pattern.
Changing social patterns are present far beyond the courtship and marriage stages of a couple's life; radical alterations in the status relationship of husbands and wives are also a fact of contemporary society. Traditionally, there was no precise legal definition of the expected status relationship of husbands and wives in Chinese society. But in custom, the' wife was under the guardianship of her husband, and during the period of their union she could, though sharing in the rank and honor of her husband, do little without his consent. She was expected always to be obedient.
But recent studies suggest that the relationship between husband and wife is no longer dominated by the husband. Decision-making is now shared by wives. Nevertheless, the decision powers of husbands and wives do vary with different family affairs. Studies in Taiwan have indicated that husbands have more power with regard to job selection, and wives have more power over domestic chores, but both now make decisions together about family affairs. This is true particularly in the areas of property and when to have children, how many to have, and their education. Overall, there is a trend toward greater equality of status in family life.
Marriages sometimes fail, and in Taiwan the increasing divorce rate, and changing attitudes toward divorce itself, indicate another major trend. In the not distant past, there were no institutionalized procedures through which a woman could obtain a divorce. Such a decision remained the husband's prerogative, and a divorced woman was viewed as a dishonored person by society. Previously, there were seven justifications for divorce, all of which were considered solely from the viewpoint of the male. Today, women can initiate a divorce, and mutual consent is allowed in granting one.
In addition, the law now admits the following grounds for divorce: bigamy, adultery on the part of either spouse, cruelty of the wife toward the husband's parents, cruelty of the husband toward the wife, desertion, the intention of one spouse to murder the other, incurable disease, insanity, loss of contact with either spouse for over three years, imprisonment for three or more years, and conviction due to a disreputable offense. Through the law, women have derived rights which reduce the dominance of men and alter substantially the husband-wife relationship.
Because wives now have an equal opportunity to initiate divorce, this may partially account for its increasing rate. In addition, according to a study by the author in 1985 about the relationship between the divorce rate and employed women, divorce in Taiwan was related to such factors as women employed in the field of sales, women employed during the early stages of married life, and younger women working in the cities. In short, the conjugal relation has experienced an adjustment problem in response to changes in family structure as well as Taiwan's overall social and economic development.
Childbearing and Socialization
As far as procreation is concerned, it has long been assumed that "a Chinese male takes a wife in order to have children." Therefore, a man was always allowed to have many wives in order to reduce the fear of having no sons. Because the traditional culture of China was dominated by a morality that encouraged a large family, custom and moral precept created a firm obligation to perpetuate the continuity of the family. This furnished a powerful incentive to have children.
But the traditional values placed on procreation have been influenced in recent decades by socio-economic development and the government's family planning policies, expressed by such slogans as "Two children are just enough, but one is not less" and" A daughter is as good as a son." These have replaced the time-honored idea of "more sons, more happiness." In order to adapt to the new environment created by urbanization and industrialization, people have responded to the family planning campaign very seriously, and have changed their childbearing behavior.
For example, the fertility rate in Taiwan has steadily dropped. More than thirty years ago every childbearing woman had an average of five children, but now the average is less than two children. As a result, families of small size have taken the place of large ones as the main type in Taiwan.
Husbands, especially those with higher education, frequently help with chores considered "women's work" by earlier generations.
As families have become smaller, the process of raising children has changed significantly. In the past, the family performed the major functions of rearing and educating children. But this function has been disrupted by changes in the extended family. For example, grandparents and other relatives have disappeared from the nuclear family, couples have fewer children, and frequently both husband and wife work outside the family. Extended families were "labor-intensive" in the socialization of children, but smaller family size has made the traditional ways of rearing and educating children virtually impossible.
Today, the most common child-rearing alternatives are for the wife to quit work and became a housewife, for old parents to live (often temporarily) with the family in order to take care of the grandchildren, for children to be sent to a day-care center, nursery, or kindergarten, or for children to live temporarily with another family. Of these, the latter two are emerging as the most common alternatives. This newly emerging pattern has changed the socialization process in Taiwan family, with the functions of rearing children gradually shifting to more specialized secondary agencies.
Changing socialization patterns have had a significant impact on traditional relationships between parents and children. In earlier times, parents played a considerable role in the education of children, and under powerful parental authority, the relationship between father and children was not characterized by love but by respect, awe, and fear. In this family structure, children tended to be obedient rather than independent. Due to changes in the extended family, parental authority in the education of children is now less severe. One study in 1986 found that while most of the parents surveyed preferred to have considerable control over the education of their children, they exercised it rationally; most of them also did not agree with a freely and severely disciplined approach to socializing children.
Women and Work
Traditionally, a women had substantially lower status than a man; her position was defined with the familiar adage: "At her parents' home she obeys her father, after marriage her husband, when he dies, her son." The woman's purpose in life was to serve her parents or parents-in-law, to please her husband, and to be a self-sacrificing mother to her children. Young girls were taught to help their mother in household tasks and were instructed to be an obedient wife and submissive daughter-in-law. The primary employment for women was domestic work, including child-rearing, sewing, and preparing sacrifices for worship. It was unnecessary for a girl to be educated, for education in China was oriented toward preparing men for public service, and such positions were not open to women.
The main reasons for the inferior status of women can be found in their economic deprivation. Since the woman's world was the home, her life was given over to maintaining the household and child-rearing. Women seldom earned money, and when they did derive some income from domestic work it usually accrued to the husband or father-in-law who could dispose of it as he wished.
Modern opportunities are changing this status of women in Taiwan. Of particular importance are the new educational and occupational opportunities open to women. During recent decades, the educational opportunities for men and women have essentially been equal. Statistics indicate that in recent decades the proportion of women involved in various levels of education has increased faster than men. This change has been particularly pronounced in terms of women attending college, suggesting that men and women not only have acquired equal education, but also that there has been a change in the employment and roles open to women in society.
The Aged
Perhaps one of the most worrisome changes in the family concerns care of the aged. For millennia, status and authority in the Chinese family were reinforced through the veneration of age, which functioned to inspire respect and obedience by the young toward the senior members of the family. It was fell that age was associated with wisdom, and that the elderly had a significant contribution to make to their family and to society. In an agrarian society, personal experience provided much of the source of knowledge and prestige. Thus the esteem accorded the aged provided the source of their status and authority, and imposed strong obligations on the younger members to accept their status and role responsibilities in the family. In this way, the differences resulting from age contributed to the stabilization of the traditional family system.
The relationship between parents and children, particularly father and son, was a typical relation of age and authority. The obligation of children to parents was more important than that of parents to children. Children thus were expected to obey the orders of their parents. The father as a head of family had the right to handle family properties and the obligation to raise and educate children. That the children had to treat their parents with deference and obedience was an important characteristic of all Chinese family life.
Times have changed attitudes toward the aged. For example, the nature of parental control is changing, possibly shifting from a domineering relationship to a more moderate exercising of power. While children usually obey their parent's directions, they are less likely to succumb blindly to parental authority. In fact, parents have generally lost their coercive power, and have even become powerless when dealing with challenges from their children, especially after their children become adults.
Nevertheless, a 1988 study of the aged in Taipei city and county indicated that 50 percent of the senior citizens lived with their children and grandchildren, 24 percent lived with their spouse and children, 11 percent lived with their spouse, and 9 percent lived alone. In other words, three-fourths of the aged over 65 in Taipei live with their children, and only one-tenth live alone. In comparison to the three-tenths of the aged who live with their children in the advanced industrial countries, aged parents in Taiwan seem to be in happier circumstances, although this may be mitigated somewhat by their loss of traditional parental powers.
Modern education seems to account for much of the reduction in parental authority. Formal schooling has raised the status of young people and increasingly has assumed a greater role in the socialization of children. Through the acquisition of new knowledge, skill, and ideas, young persons are becoming more self-reliant, exercise more individual judgment, and are developing inquiring minds-qualities which previously were acquired only through experience and age. As a result of modern education, the younger generation is adjusting more readily than the aged to modern society. Older men, in particular, have gradually been losing their status in the world outside the family as their knowledge and skills have become obsolete. They no longer are the 'gatekeeper' for the occupational opportunities of family members. Modern educational and job opportunities have shaken an important principle of Chinese family life: the supremacy of the older generation over youth. This can be seen as well with regard to the ancestors.
Ancestor Worship
Ancestor worship was an outstanding feature of the traditional Chinese family system. It was perpetuated in China not for superstitious or religious reasons, but rather out of respect and obedience to deceased parents and, to a lesser extent, to more remote ancestors. This institution lies at the core of traditional family life. The lack of such worship affects the intergenerational integration and cohesiveness of the extended family.
The Chinese have long believed that a person would not die if he retained a good name and left a good impression in the memory of his living children. This orientation gave rise to a desire to have many children, contributing to a high birth rate. Children became the vehicle by which one was remembered after death. Emphasis especially was given to male children, for ancestor worship followed patrilineal lines. If the family had no male descendants, insecurity and anxiety would accrue. Children were trained early for assuming the responsibility of serving the ancestors and of maintaining the family lineage under the guidance of parents or elders. It was assumed that the child would be trained in such a way as to strengthen his parental power.
The respect given in ancestor worship was directed to obtaining protection and prosperity, and to averting the calamities which might ensue upon a neglect of such worship. Those who behaved in a way damaging to a family's reputation not only insulted the ancestors, but also would not, in turn, be worshiped after death. Merits accumulated during the lifetime of ancestors influenced the fate of their descendants, and the successes of these descendants provided evidence of the virtues of the ancestors.
A worrisome trend—ancestor worship and maintenance of the family's ancestral shrine are losing their traditional emphasis.
Ancestor rites functioned to serve the ancestors' needs as well as provide security and prosperity for the living. Upon family dissolution into several nuclear units, the brothers commonly set up an 'Ancestor Hall' in the eldest brother's house for worship, which provided a continual reminder that the members had a common ancestor and contributed to family cohesiveness.
As the nuclear family has begun to prevail in Taiwan, the function of ancestor worship has also been challenged. A 1977 study in Taiwan that reported the function of marriage and family in a sample of 1,048 persons indicated that priorities had already shifted considerably: 49 percent of the respondents considered the purpose of marriage to be personal happiness, 28 percent as the establishment of a family, 18 percent as the continuity of the family line by producing a male heir, and 3 percent to have sons as an insurance against the in-security of old age. This study also showed that those respondents with higher education emphasized personal happiness. The trend has continued.
It should be added that modern housing in cities has not been designed to serve the needs of ancestor worship and rites. The small size of apartments has forced fragmentation of families in urban areas, and reserving space for an ancestral shrine is often not practical. Thus, both changes in family structure and housing have reduced the functions of ancestor worship as a means of social control over the young.
Conclusion
As society has changed in Taiwan, family life has deviated from the traditional consanguineous family. A large proportion of families in Taiwan are nuclear, one-fourth of them are stem families, and the extended family has essentially lost its relevance. The factors prompting this change can be explained not only in terms of urbanization and industrialization, but also must be seen in terms of cultural ideology-new attitudes toward egalitarianism, individualism, democracy, and personal achievement. With the rapid diffusion of knowledge, the people of Taiwan are no longer satisfied with the status quo, and seek new social patterns to accommodate change.
As the extended family gave way to the more adaptable nuclear family, other changes also followed in the transition from an agricultural-rural society to one that is industrial-urban. The family in urban Taiwan, unlike its traditional predecessor, is more limited in the basic societal tasks. While many of the older family functions still exist, their scope and relative importance have changed.
The family in Taiwan is no longer a self-sufficient economic and production unit, but it has increased its importance as a consuming unit. This change is the most important divisive function in the extended family. In addition to moving the work place and occupational roles outside of the home, the family has also shifted other functions to more specialized secondary agencies, thereby removing it from being primarily responsible for educational and religious matters.
While the family in Taiwan has already lost many of its earlier traditional Chinese characteristics and has taken on many aspects of the Western family, it remains to be seen what further directions these transformations will take. Whatever happens, it can be expected that local families will go through selective assimilation, sampling all resources whether new or old, natural or foreign, Eastern or Western, as the momentum and extent of modernization continue to build.