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“Little Quilted Vests to Warm Parents' Hearts”: Redefining the Gendered Practice of Filial Piety in Rural North-eastern China*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 June 2009

Lihong Shi
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Abstract

This article explores the transformation of the gendered practice of filial piety in China, which traditionally places sons at the centre and relegates daughters to a peripheral role within their natal families. Based on my ethnographic fieldwork in a rural community in north-eastern China, this article suggests a transformed opinion on filial piety, considering daughters as more filial, as is vividly expressed by the Chinese saying “A daughter is like a little quilted vest to warm her parents' hearts.” Meanwhile, elderly parents have modified traditional standards of filial practice to encompass a desire for an expression of intimate care, respect and practical support from adult children. Further examination suggests three major factors contributing to the transformation of the gendered practice of filial piety: reinterpreted intergenerational relations, women's increased filial practice to their natal parents, and an increased desire of the elderly for an emotional bond with their children.

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 198 , June 2009 , pp. 348 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2009

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10 To protect the privacy of my informants, I use pseudonyms for their names and for the name of the village.

11 I adopted the Chinese government's criterion of 15–49 for women's reproductive ages. I interviewed only married women within this age range. The survey of 248 couples of reproductive age included couples from Lijia village and a neighbouring village.

12 In rural China, the administrative units are the village, township, county, city and province. The village is the smallest unit and the province is the largest.

13 All interviews were conducted privately with the elderly parents, without the presence of their married children. Of the 34 informants 14 were couples and were interviewed separately.

14 Lijia village is located about 4 km away from the local county seat where many peasants seek non-agricultural employment, such as working in construction sites and restaurants. In addition, there is a brick kiln outside Lijia village where a large number of Lijia residents seek employment. According to my interviews with Lijia daughters who have chosen to move back to Lijia village after marriage, the accessibility to these job opportunities was the major reason for their decision.

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16 Another major expense is a deceased parent's funeral. In Lijia village, according to tradition, sons are responsible for the expense of the funeral home services and a feast for guests. Daughters pay for the expense of hiring a mourning band. The child who holds the funeral feast also keeps the gift money received from guests. Therefore, in some cases in Lijia village, several children have competed to hold a parent's funeral.

17 In 2006, the currency conversion rate between the US dollar and the Chinese yuan was 1:7.8.

18 See also Cohen, Myron, House United, House Divided: The Chinese Family in Taiwan (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976)Google Scholar; Charlotte Ikels, “Settling accounts: the intergenerational contract in an age of reform,” in Davis and Harrell, Chinese Families in the Post-Mao Era, pp. 277–333.

19 After Yulan was adopted, she and her biological parents remained in contact. Her biological parents, who remained married and had several more children, visited her several times, but she visited them only once.

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22 In Lijia village in 2006, the most suitable ages for marriage were 20 to 22 for a man and 19 to 21 for a woman.

23 A dowry includes money and household items, such as small electric devices and bedding items. Some brides spent part of their bride wealth on household items and counted them towards their dowry. The average amount of a dowry in 2006 was between 5,000 and 10,000 yuan, only a fraction of the amount for bride wealth.

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