Recently, there has been a decrease in the value of the institution of the family in society, however, in many countries those families are still preserved that wholeheartedly keep customs and traditions, pass them on from generation to generation and are not influenced by modern society. A real example is a Chinese family.
Modernity
Modern families of China were significantly affected not by culture or historical features, but by the high dynamics of demography. Judge for yourself. How many Chinese are there in the world? According to statistics, every fourth inhabitant of the planet Earth is Chinese. Initially, the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire were glad that they were ahead of all in numbers. But the 20th century was a turning point in the minds of the Chinese people. After all, back in the 50s in China there were about half a million citizens, and already in the early 80s, this figure exceeded one billion. But the catch is that already at that time the country's resources were at the stage of depletion, there were only 800 million of them, but not a billion. Such a critical situation and the possibility of a humanitarian catastrophe forced the country's leadership to articulate for the first time the following principle, which is still paramount: "One family - one child."
Birth control program
While most countries of the world tried to increase the birth rate in every possible way, China was developing a control program that would help to reduce the incredible population growth rate. So the strategy of an only child in a Chinese family began to gain momentum. And in everyday life such a term as “little emperor” appeared. So they call the only baby in the family, literally deifying him. Different families put different concepts into this name. Someone treats with humor, someone with a certain degree of admiration. If we talk about the number of children in a Chinese family, there are two children for every average family. Nevertheless, certain results have already been achieved, and today the country has about 70 million families that adhere to the rule of one child.
Modern families and ancient traditions
Not only the culture of China, but also the life of families has a striking contrast between modern principles of life and the traditions of their ancestors. Of course, the trends of modern culture and the influence of world changes have their own weight in the development of society, however, the Chinese do not plan to abandon the family traditions that have been sacred for thousands of years. You can not say about many other countries. For example, from time immemorial it has been believed that the task of every man who is the head of the family is to live not only for his grandchildren, but also for his great-grandchildren, in order to control their upbringing, and also to prevent his family from being interrupted. As is accepted from ancient times, procreation is precisely the sons. After marriage, the daughter goes to her husband’s family, takes his surname, leaves the parent's nest and cares not about her parents, but about the relatives of the newly made spouse. It has always been customary that every family has a son - a successor to the clan. That is why there are more men in the country than women. This is another tradition of Chinese families.
Large families
It was traditionally believed that a large family in China is grace from above. The absence of children and the sterility of women has always been accompanied by disrespect and a wall of misunderstanding on the part of society and relatives.
A woman who could not bear and give birth to a child was a priori considered a useless hostess. This factor was the most common cause of divorce. Despite the fact that it may seem wild to us, such traditions are preserved in China to this day. The top of respect and nobility is if a woman gives birth to a boy. The birth of sons means that there is someone to share the accumulated knowledge and experience with, that in the future there will be someone to take care of the ancestors.
The girls were indifferent, because all the same, sooner or later they must get married and leave the parental home. This left a significant imprint on the Chinese perception of the family.
Birth control
To many, such customs will seem wild, but they still exist in some regions and rural areas. There are places where women are still disrespectful, and hurry to get rid of born daughters as soon as possible.
It is because of such traditions and customs that it is difficult for the Chinese government to regulate the birth rate, and population growth is only increasing every year. Legislation has contributed to improving the demographic situation in the country and lowering the birth rate, which enshrine various benefits for families with only one child. There is even a special law on family planning. Those who break the law are fined or faced with a high tax system. China should not be condemned for such a policy, because with a sober assessment of the economic situation it is quite difficult to provide such a huge number of people with housing, jobs, food, and this will seriously affect the economy.
It is no secret that large Chinese families do not live richly, many are faced with poverty and unemployment. In large families, parents do not have the opportunity to provide all children with a decent level of education, as this will require too much financial resources. But to get rid of the traditions that have accumulated over the centuries, the state will not succeed.
Chinese wedding
Ancient wedding traditions are especially popular in China. Many families adhere to these customs to this day, because it is not only beautiful and unusual, but also memorable. For example, traditionally, the wedding day is not appointed by the bride and groom, but by a saint or fortuneteller, who, according to the Chinese, are able to determine the exact date that will bring only happiness. The wedding ceremony and preparation for the celebration involves a huge number of rituals and ceremonies, the implementation of which also costs a lot of money. Therefore, preparation takes a lot of time, effort and money. A Chinese wedding is truly an impressive sight.
Regarding age
In China, the age of marriage is determined. Yes, it turns out, and not everything is so simple here. For Chinese women, it is 22 years old, for men it is 24. After the wedding, the newly-married family must obtain permission from the local family planning committee to have a baby. In order to get married, lovers will have to get permission for marriage at work, for which they will have to sweat and undergo a medical examination and interview. If all the steps went perfectly, you can start building a family.
The permission for the birth of a child is valid for a year, if it was not possible to conceive a child for 12 months, you will have to repeat the procedure again. But despite such a seemingly tough policy regarding weddings and childbirth in China, there are a sufficient number of illegitimate babies, early marriages and single parents.
Error handling
It is the responsibility of family planning committees to carry out outreach work primarily with residents of rural areas, where parents are not in a hurry to comply with laws aimed at restricting fertility. Despite the fact that considerable fines are provided for violations of laws, these threats do not have a sufficient impact on rural residents, because there is practically nothing to take from them. Therefore, four to five children in the same family in the old villages of China is normal practice.
Citizens, on the other hand, take a different position and do not themselves seek to have more than one child. Young Chinese families have simple thoughts on this matter: it is better to provide all with one child than not give anything to four. To some extent, Europeans adhere to such views.
Chinese families living in large cities, such as Beijing or Shanghai, are an example of a party setting. Father, mother, one child. This principle is not a whim, but a vital necessity; the state thus takes care of the welfare of the population. And if birth control measures were not taken, the population in China would now be 200 million more. Impressive, isn't it?
