The Role of Family in Modern China

Following the Maoist period (1949–1976), which stressed workplace relations over family ties and the post-Mao era, which restored the family as an important social unit, the family in contemporary China suggests a blended picture of both pre-modern, modern and post-modern characteristics. For instance, the increasing intergenerational relationship accompanied by strong filial piety shows a quasi-return to pre-modern conditions, whereas the freedom of mateselection rather reveals a modern characteristic of Chinese families today. In contrast, China’s current low total fertility rate shows a post-modern feature of the family, albeit as a result of direct state intervention in the private sphere. This blended and compressed characteristic can also be seen in the ambiguous transformation of the private (family) and ‘public’ (defined here as ‘non-private’, such as political, economic and civil society) spheres. However, it can be argued that contemporary China, which offers new perspectives to social sciences for a better understanding of the different paths of modernisation in general, is being characterised by a sort of new modern familism where the family continues to play an essential role in social responsibility and sustainability.

Renouncing the World and Taking Ordination

The 20th century brought different periods in the history of Mongolia including theocracy, socialism and democracy. This article describes what renouncing the world (especially the home and the family), taking ordination, and taking monastic vows meant at the turn of the 20th century and a century later. Extracts from interviews reveal the life of pre-novices, illustrating their family backgrounds, connections with family members after ordination, and support from and towards the family. The master-disciple relationship which was of great significance in Vajrayāna tradition, is also described. As few written sources are available to study monks’ family ties, the research was based on interviews recorded with old monks who lived in monasteries in their childhood (prior to 1937), monks who were ordained in 1990, and pre-novices of the current Tantric monastic school of Gandantegčenlin Monastery. The interviews revealed similarities and differences in monastic life in given periods due to historical reasons. Though Buddhism could not attain its previous, absolutely dominant role in Mongolia after the democratic changes, nowadays tradition and innovation exist in parallel.

The Buddhist Interpretation of the Confucianist Concept of Family

Filial piety is one of the cardinal moral values in Confucianism, and has become a keystone in the Chinese social value system, describing and prescribing the proper functioning of human communities at micro (family) and macro (state) levels. The introduction of Buddhism, which advocates that only those who live in celibacy pursuing the career of a monk can easily have access to the highest truth, challenged the uniformly accepted moral obligations of Confucianism, and initiated a dialogue, sometimes a debate, with the Chinese literati on the differences and similarities of Buddhist and Confucianist ethics. This article offers an insight on how Chinese adepts of Buddhism made efforts to prove not only that filial piety is a requirement for all practitioners of Buddhism as a kind of concession in a social environment where filial piety is a representation of virtuous human existence, but also, by forging Indian scriptures on filial piety and visualisation and commenting on Indian scriptures, that this lies at the centre of Buddhist practice.

Celibacy or Marriage? Dilemmas for Buddhist Monks in Korea

Following the Confucian period of the Chosŏn era, which overshadowed Buddhists and confined them to the margins of society, at the beginning of Japanese colonial rule the possibility of monastic marriage typical of Japanese practice emerged as a viable alternative for Korean Buddhists in the early twentieth century. While the repressive memory of Japanese colonial heritage often appears in the relevant literature about clerical marriage today as the main reason for Korean Buddhists to get married, an analysis of contemporary documents presents us with a much more complex picture. Most notably among Korean intellectuals, one of the most significant personalities of the era, Manhae Han Young’un’s (1879−1944) systematically urged the reform of Korean Buddhism, Chosŏn Pulgyo yusinnon 朝鮮 佛 敎 維新 論 (Treatise on the Restoration of Korean Buddhism). In connection with the presentation and circumstances of the thirteenth point formulated to allow polemics and the practice of priestly marriage, we can see that his Confucian education, personality, and life play as important a part in his reasoning as the ideologies of the era, social Darwinism and modernism, and democracy. But primary sources revealing the daily lives and circumstances of the monks also show that thewillingness to marry was also greatly influenced by the new inheritance rules introduced in the Japanese colonial system.

Passage from Youth to Adulthood in Japan

Coming of age, as one of the major transitions in the human life cycle, marks the threshold between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves the physical and psychological, as well as the social maturity of the individual. The present article discusses the contemporary practice of the Japanese coming of age ritual, known as seijinshiki, which although it is a relatively modern invention, is nourished by a century-long tradition of coming of age rituals as well as by the traditional world-view on the human life cycle. Today, the ceremony is facing a new challenge due to the upcoming changes in the age of legal adulthood in Japan. Seijinshiki is an excellent example of how change is integrated as well as reflected throughout ritual practice. It vividly reflects social processes as well as mirroring several problems that Japanese society has been facing in our own time. The paper will examine some of these problems together with the major changes that affected the various forms of coming of age rites in Japan across history. The paper also demonstrates that ritual continues to be regarded in Japan as a valid social and individual instrument to treat passages in human life.

Wedding Customs in Amdo, Eastern Tibet

A wedding in Tibetan society is the most important family celebration. The quality of the wedding shows the role that a family plays in the tribe, tshowa. The structure and rules may vary in different regions, but the main elements are more or less the same. Preparation and the ceremony itself can take a few days or more, and traditionally it is preceded by a consultation with an astrologer. Only if the parties are well matched according to their horoscopes are they allowed to marry. In my study, I will focus on the marriage customs of Amdo – nowadays most of Qinghai Province, and some parts of Gansu and Sichuan Provinces of China; in particular the structure and the songs and toasts that feature at each stage of the wedding. During the feast the role of certain relatives such as the maternal uncles is extremely important: their repertoire contains a large numberof songs. We can say that the whole wedding is a mapping of hierarchy and filial piety in a traditional Tibetan family.

Teaching Culture through Language

One socio-cultural aspect of the Korean language that foreign learners may encounter early is the extensive use of kinship terms in communicative situations. Korean kinship terms are carriers of important cultural information, thus misunderstandings or even breakdowns in communication are likely to happen if one lacks exposure to the cultural conceptualizations of these terms. Following the paradigm shift towards emphasizing intercultural communicative competence development in foreign language classrooms, the present study explores why teaching kinship terms in a Korean language classroom is important. The study presents an overview of the kinship terminological system and its relation to the cultural concepts and value system of Koreans, examines the current teaching situation of kinship terms primarily through language textbooks, and considers specific aspects that may affect the teaching of these terms. The study finds that insufficient attention is given to kinship terms, even though they are one of the most frequently used terms of address and reference. It is proposed that greater emphasis should be given to teaching kinship terms; furthermore, it is suggested that teachers should actively guide students to acquire the essential cultural knowledge about kinship terms.

Introduction to the Project of the “East Asia” Thematic Group and its Peculiarities

Introduction to the Project of the “East Asia” Thematic Group and its Peculiarities by Ágnes Birtalan, Head of the Research Group.

The Khon Clan and the Sakyapas

Khon Konchog Gyalpo, the main disciple of Drogmi, founded a monastery at Sakya. It was this monastery that gave its name to the whole monastic order of Drogmi. Konchog was a member of the Khon clan, the family that went on to produce the successive abbots or chief lamas of Sakya who have continued as the heads of this order ever since. The succession of abbots within the family was established on the father-to-son or uncle-to-nephew pattern. In the instance of an abbot remaining celibate, it was his brother or a close relative who continued the family line and oversaw the monastery’s worldly affairs; when the abbot died, he was succeeded by one of his nephews. The Sakyas reached the summit of political power when Sakya Pandita and Phagpa won the confidence and favour of Mongolian khans. The Sakyas were appointed as regents of Tibet, whereby Tibet became subject to a single political authority for the first time after the collapse of the monarchy. The aim of this paper is to show the development of the Khon clan, how a minor aristocratic family was transformed into a significant power in Tibet in both historical and religious aspects, through the efforts of some prominent members of Khon family.

Matrimonial Typology in the Mongolian Heroic Epic, J̌angγar

The Mongolian heroic epic J̌angγar cycles include many independent chapters, which are all connected to the deeds of the king, J̌angγar qaγan and his warriors. N. Poppe, A. S. Kichikov, W. Heissig and Rinčindorǰi studied the structure and pattern of the Mongolian heroic epics and agreed that matrimony is a notable pattern in Mongolian epics. The marriage of Qongγor is a classical story which reflects the typology of matrimony. In this article, I analyse the chapters describing different versions of the marriage of Qongγor in Kalmyk, Mongolia and Xinjiang. In the epic, the hero’s marriage follows the monogamous pattern, and a horse and a knife are presented as signs of engagement. This is evidence of the bride-price system. In addition, the custom of competition for the bride and the exogamy are the most notable features of the matrimonial system described in J̌angγar.