Chinese+Family+Life

Imagine if every family only had one child because the government would not let families have more than one child. This is how life in China is, most families only have one child, sometimes two, but only with certain exceptions. The Chinese have been run under a type of government called communism, since the early 1900s. Since then, the government has taken control of many parts of Chinese life. One way the government has done this is by making the One Child Policy law, which limits families to one child each. The One Child Policy law is designed to decrease China’s overgrown population, however this policy carries both negative and positive effects on the society. To start with, the overall reason why China made this policy was to decrease the once rapidly growing population. “The policy has reduced China's population by 250 million.”(Li Rui, 1). This population decrease was exactly what China needed as it struggled to support the people of China. As China struggled to support all of its people, the declined number of births positively affected social, economic, and environmental problems. This basically means that less people to feed will save more money which could be spent on other problems. However, this policy did not only turn out for the better, some predict that worse is still to come. Although most of China follows the One Child Policy, some are lead to believe that negative effects will come from it. As mentioned before an estimated 250 million births have been prevented in China since 1979. Now some people think that there will not be enough people to produce a big enough population if everybody is o nly to have one child, as well as a few other problems, “If a child can’t care for their parents and grandparents or if that child can’t survive, the oldest generation could find itself destitute" (Pros and Cons: One Child Policy). This means that there may not be enough people of the younger generations to support the older generations. Supporting the older generation is a custom to Chinese culture, if this One Child Policy continues part of the culture for the respect of the older generation may happen to disappear. The One Child Policy in China could bring a negative side but some also believe that it carries, with it, a positive side as well. After the Chinese Cultural Revolution came to an end, China started to focus more on education and realized its importance, now education is very important to the Chinese culture. The One Child Policy greatly effects education simply because it is easier to educate the youth of China if each family only has to worry about one child. This is because education is expensive in China, so only paying for one child to go to school makes it much easier on families. The One Child Policy definitely helps China in positive ways. Whether it is the pros or cons that come to mind when thinking about the One Child Policy, would you want the government to control such aspects of your life? Even though the Chinese government needed to decrease its population that could not be supported, it is up to you to decide if you think this is a positive or negative policy. By: Katie
 * One Child Policy** [[image:http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:c-MekynsYT4koM:http://images.salon.com/mwt/feature/1998/11/src/11china.gif width="112" height="106" align="right" caption="Typical Chinese Family" link="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images.salon.com/mwt/feature/1998/11/src/11china.gif&imgrefurl=http://catholic-dads.blogspot.com/2007/11/china-one-child-policy-problems.html&usg=__fZKypzrv4r0_94CZxnRooX5drks=&h=247&w=260&sz=23&hl=en&start=4&tbnid=c-MekynsYT4koM:&tbnh=106&tbnw=112&prev=/images%3Fq%3Done%2Bchild%2Bpolicy%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den"]]

=RESPECT YOUR PARENTS?!!Can’t you wait until you are an adult and you don’t have to obey your parents? You don’t have to “yes, mom” and “no- thanks.” You can talk any way you want to, wear whatever you want to wear, eat lots of candy and sweets without parents yelling at you. Well, in China they believe in a thing called filial piety. What does that mean? It means that you should always obey your parents, even when you’re a parent yourself! Filial piety is from a guy named Confucius who says that children must respect their parents after they die and have to make sure a baby boy gets the family last name.=

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The man who invented filial piety was Confucius. He was a man who wanted people to act good. He believed that husbands, parents and old people should be in charge of wives, children, and young people (Murphy par. 2). Chinese children must never make fun of their parents or their age, talk behind their backs, or travel far away from them, but must always protect them (Reese par. 5). Confucius probably thought this because when we become adults, we think we know better than our parents, so we don’t have to obey them. Even though this may be true, Confucius said we must obey our parents forever. But if you love your mom and dad, don’t you do the chores and listen to them to show you love them? Obediance should be natural.======

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Filial piety says that when moms and dads die in China, their children (even their grown up children) must still respect them. When children continue showing respect, people say things like, “Wow! He really follows filial piety,” or “She is a good example of Confucius’s belief.” However, the main reason children keep on honoring their dead moms and dads is because they want to say thanks for all the happy times they had, the lessons they learned, and perhaps even the yummy food they ate. But they don’t actually say “thank you” to their parents’ tombstones. Certainly not! They show respect by doing things such as: keeping family traditions, bragging (in a good way) about the amazing things their moms and dads did, or passing on the lessons they learned to their children. Basically, when parents pass away, children continue to respect them by showing others how proud they are of their parents. ======

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Another part of f ilial piety says that the oldest son in every family must get married when he’s older and have a baby boy. The reason they want a boy is because when boys get married they keep their last name, but when girls get married they get their husband’s last name. Chinese people think it is special if the last name is passed on to lots of boys because then their family name is stronger. What if people only have girls? Well, then the father must get another wife, so she can have a baby boy, or he can adopt a boy (Char4U par. 4). If the last name is not passed on, then it is a shame to the the entire family, but if it is, then the son has completed one of his most important jobs of filial piety. ======

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Obviously you can tell there are a lot of parts to filial piety. What did we learn? Confucuis believes children should obey and respect their parents when you are a kid and an adult. The Chinese people also respect their parents when they are dead as a way to say “thank you.” And finally, the oldest son in the family must pass on the last name to a boy. If you were a Chinese kid, I don’t think you would be completely free from obeying your parents when you become an adult, but the good part is that by following filial piety, you will automatically respect other people which makes them feel special, too! By: Janine======

Works Cited

Char4U. "Filial Piety: The Most Important Virtue in Chinese Culture." __Char4U__. 2009. 24 Jan.2009 .
"Child Research Net - Cybrary - Archive of CRN Home Page Topics." __Child Research Net Web Site__. 24 Feb. 2009 .

"Chinese Family" Online image, available online at [|] 3/13/09

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"Chinese symbol for respect" Online image, available online at  3/17/09 "Confucius" Online image, available online at  3/17/09 "Examples of Filial Piety (14th Century CE)." __Contents of Reading About the World, Vol. I__. Ed. Paul Brians. 18 Dec. 1998. Washington State University. 24 Jan. 2009 .======

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Murphy, Andrew. "The Family Hierarchy Imposed by Chinese Confucianism." __Socyberty__. 19 Jan. 2008. 24 Feb. 2009 .====== "One-child policy -." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 24 Feb. 2009 .

"Pros and Cons: One Child Policy." __About Life__. 24 Feb. 2009 .

Reese, Robert. "Filial Piety in Chinese Religion." CaSaWoMo. 2003. 28 Feb. 2009 . "Respecting Elders" Online image, available online at  3/13/09