scholarly journals A COURTYARD HOUSE – SIHEYUAN 四合院 AS THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE TRADITIONAL CHINESE FAMILY

2020 ◽  
pp. 207-217
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Wesołowski SVD
Keyword(s):  
Ming Dynasty ◽  
Family System ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Chinese Family ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Short Contribution ◽  
The Family ◽  
South Axis ◽  
Courtyard House

A Chinese courtyard house, called in Chinese siheyuan, equipped with a single entrance and with one or more open courtyards encompassed by one-storey buildings, represents traditional house dwelling in China. Throughout Chinese history, courtyard dwelling was the basic architectural pattern used for building governmental (palaces and offices) and family residences, and religious compounds (temples and monasteries). In this short contribution, the author depicts a standard traditional Beijing court house from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) which would normally host an extended family of three and four generations. The physical construction and spatial structure of the traditional Chinese courtyard house were deeply rooted in ancient Chinese philosophical thought. The Chinese used fengshui (wind and water) principles to harmonize themselves with their environment in order to secure prosperity, longevity, and family blessings. From the viewpoint of fengshui, a basic courtyard house compound was not only a dwelling place, but also a structured and complicated vision of the cosmos that should function as an ideal container of qi (life energy). The fundamental north-south axis which rhythmically and continuously guarantee the vital flow of qi and the square shape of a courtyard house which means near to the earth, should promise health, prosperity, and the growth of the family. The fengshui system (nowadays mostly associated with Daoism) in the context of a Chinese courtyard house was intimately combined with China’s strict social and family system (Confucianism). The structure of the Chinese traditional family – and the author calls it “Confucian familism” – i.e., the Confucian conviction of family as a model for the whole state. This rigid and hierarchically structured family system, which had been the basis of Chinese society in imperial China for over two thousand years, has been reflected in courtyard house compounds. At the end of this contribution, the author mentions the efforts of present-day architects to find a way to revive traditional courtyard housing for modern times.

This Seed Will Bear No Fruit

2019 ◽  
pp. 262-283
Author(s):  
Friday A. Eboiyehi
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Family System ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Western World ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Developed Countries ◽  
Old People's Homes

The continuous increase in the number of older people and the gradual erosion of the extended family system which used to cater to them are alarming. While older people in much of the developed countries have embraced old people's homes as an alternative, the same cannot be said of older people in Nigeria who still believed that it is the duty of the family to accommodate them. The chapter examined the perception of older people about living in old people's home in some selected local government areas in Osun State, Nigeria. The study showed that their perception about living in old people's home was poor as many of them still held on to the belief that it was the responsibility of their family members to house them as it was done in the olden days. Although a few of the interviewees (particularly those who are exposed to what is obtained in the Western world and those with some level of education) had accepted the idea, many preferred to live with their family rather than being dumped in “an isolated environment,” where they would not have access to their family members. Pragmatic policy options aimed at addressing this emerging social problem were highlighted.

Patrilocality and Early Marital Co-residence in Rural China, 1955–85

1992 ◽  
Vol 130 ◽  
pp. 378-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Lavely ◽  
Xinhua Ren
Keyword(s):  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Nuclear Family ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Chinese Family ◽  
Family Farming ◽  
Family Household ◽  
Family Economy ◽  
The Family ◽  
Extended Households

The story of the rural Chinese family household in the post-Mao period is generally told in one of three ways, which might be labelled modernization, tradition restored, and demographic determinism. Modernization parallels the family theories of classical sociology: economic development and education tend to undermine extended family living arrangements by instilling nuclear family preferences, while the relaxation of migration restrictions allows young men to seek their fortune away from home. “Tradition restored” sees collectivization as having undermined the foundation of the extended family household, the family economy. The return of family farming has, in this view, restored the conditions under which the extended family can flourish. The demographic determinisi view assumes that family preferences persist but that demographic structures change. Rising life expectancies and declining fertility should increase rates of family extension, since smaller families mean that there will be fewer brothers available to live with a surviving parent. Thus as the birth control cohorts come of age, the prevalence of extended households should increase.

Alice in Wonderland

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-60
Author(s):  
Ruthellen Josselson
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Musical Instrument ◽  
Chinese Family ◽  
Chinese Society ◽  
Chinese History ◽  
Knowing How ◽  
Alice In Wonderland ◽  
Western View ◽  
Chinese Food

This chapter details the author’s interactions with the wider Chinese society and her efforts to understand what she saw and experienced. She tried to understand Chinese history through Chinese eyes, putting aside her Western view. Authentic Chinese food was new to her and she was impressed by Beijing as an ultramodern city. A visit to a Chinese home gave her a view of Chinese family life. The author learned that “speaking English” has levels and that one can read English without knowing how it sounds. She also came to appreciate the beautiful sound of the erhu, a musical instrument that she hadn’t previously encountered.

Reviews: German Sociology, Essays on the Sociology of Culture, on the Diversity of Morals, Reason and Unreason in Society, Social Problems at Midcentury, the Proper Study of Mankind, Family and Neighbourhood, the Large Family System, Family, Socialization and Interaction Process, the Family as Process and Institution, Family Cases in Court, the English Penal System, the Delinquent Child and the Community, American Families, Family and Kinship in East London, Understanding Minority Groups, When Prophecy Fails, the Study of Groups, the Torment of Secrecy, the Nature of Conflict, the Unconscious Motives of War, the Pursuit of the Millennium, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, the School Teachers, Eleven-Plus and All That, Irish Folk Ways, Rural Depopulation in England and Wales, Parliament in India, Studies in Rebellion, Social Policies for Old Age, Psychology in the Soviet Union, Instinct in Man, John Stuart Mill the Man, Chinese Family and Marriage in Singapore, Neurotic Interaction in Marriage

1957 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-314
Author(s):  
C. A. Mace ◽  
John Eros ◽  
Joseph K. Folsom ◽  
John Barron Mays ◽  
Robert M. Frumkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Family System ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Chinese Family ◽  
Sociology Of Culture ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family And Marriage ◽  
German Sociology

scholarly journals Exploring the Impact of Father’s Demise among Female Adolescents

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-142
Author(s):  
Rabia Farooqi ◽  
Ayesha Khan
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Family System ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Female Adolescents ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
The Family ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

The present study is intended to explore the impact brought about by parental demise among female adolescents. Moreover, examining the societal role, particularly the part played by the family system, after the death of a father and its effect on an adolescent’s life perception. Data was collected through in-depth interviews from 4 adolescents aged between 17-19 years, accumulated by a purposive sampling method and analyzed through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings demonstrated that adolescents who encountered the loss of their fathers face numerous problems impacting their emotional, cognitive, and behavioural well-being. The absence of parents brings a drastic change in an entire life affecting their mental health leading to low self-esteem, depression, anxiety as well as emotional sufferings. The major issues highlighted during the study were life disruption, financial crisis, lack of support in terms of both financial and emotional aspects from extended family. Moreover, the family system played a detrimental role in the adversities encountered. Furthermore, participants stressed that children having both parents attained support, attention, emotional bonding, and encountered fewer social, psychological, and emotional issues. They constantly grieved the parental loss and faced a lack of care, that significantly affected their well-being. These findings help in understanding the problems associated with lack of parental bonding in connection with father’s loss, whereas its long-lasting impact spread throughout one's life.

Conceptions of the Family in the Sung Dynasty

1984 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Ebrey
Keyword(s):  
Family System ◽  
Chinese Family ◽  
Sung Dynasty ◽  
The Family ◽  
Family Practices

The values and premises underlying the Chinese family system can be seen as an amalgam of several partially contradictory strains of thought, each with its own history and vocabulary. While ideas tied to the classical tsung model remained at the level of high ideals, seldom even emulated, notions related to the family (chid) and the continuity of the patriline were highly pervasive and would seem to account for much of the uniformity in Chinese family practices. In this article the ways these strains of thought reinforced or countered each other is examined through an analysis of texts written in the Sung (960–1279) period, a time of social and intellectual ferment when it was common to write on family matters with considerable candor.

scholarly journals Fertility Differentials by Family Type

1974 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehtab S. Karim
Keyword(s):  
Family System ◽  
Extended Family ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Family Type ◽  
Human Society ◽  
Socialization Process ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Child Bearing ◽  
Decision Making Unit ◽  
The Family

The family is one of the basic social institutions of human society. The behaviour of individuals is to a great extent moulded by influences within the family not only during the socialization process at early ages, but also after they have reached maturity. The way in which the family system operates has important demographic consequences. Reproduction takes place within the family, and fertility is affected by the combination of events occurring within and shaped by the prevailing family system in a society. The family is an important decision-making unit, and in societies where the extended family system1 is prevalent, decisions by couples regarding fertility behaviour may be strongly influenced by the larger family network. Hill [11, p. 271-72] has identified some crucial decisions made over the reproductive career of a couple. He suggests that these decisions are largely influenced by the parents and other relatives concerning (a) when to marry, (b) how soon to have first child, (c) whether to use birth control and method to be used, (d) when to have second and later children, and (e) when to stop child bearing. Davis and Blake [4] point out certain intermediate variables which an individual learns during the sociali¬zation process, e.g., acceptability of universal marriage, permissibility of sexual abstinence, the long absence of either spouse and the frequency and timing of sexual intercourse, etc. All of these have direct bearing on fertility in the long run.

A System for Modifying the Family System

1991 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 522-523
Author(s):  
Michael J. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Family System ◽  
The Family
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