杂志汇中国与非洲

Traditional Chinese society was an agricultural society, and family was the most important social unit with regards to production and consumption. Family is the mainstay of Chinese culture, with traditional Chinese humanism culture and a major part of the Chinese culture originating from the concept of family.

The biggest difference between Chinese and Western cultures is that the Chinese consider family to be most important aspect of their life, while Westerners tend to focus on individualism. In traditional Chinese society, one’s social importance is indivisible from one’s family, be it one’s blood relations or a similar social unit on which one relies. The social identity, value, responsibility, rights and obligations of an individual are all closely related to his or her family clans and relations. Chinese people have gotten used to this traditional concept that has existed for thousands of years and have been very careful to follow these social norms through their words and behaviors.

The importance of family is manifested in some common Chinese words and expressions. Many nouns include the character for family (which is pronounced jia in Chinese), including “public” (gongjia), “state” (guojia), “all” (dajia), “others” (renjia), “self” (zijia), “people of the same family name” (benjia), “farmer” (nongjia), “fisherman” (yujia), “boatman” (chuanjia), “host” (dongjia), “shopkeeper” (dianjia), “merchant” (shangjia) and “expert” (hangjia, zhuanjia). These all reflect the importance of family in Chinese people’s minds.

The traditions observed by Chinese families were born from China’s unique cultural background, and China’s family ethics are different from other countries. First, family was traditionally the major activity sphere of the people, and the belief in the priority of one’s family clan was the core of Chinese family ethic. Family harmony required that individual interests bow to family interests unconditionally. Second, in the Chinese patriarchal system, the order of precedence between relatives was decided by their relation with the father, the dominant figure of the family.

In a word, family was and remains of crucial importance in the life of Chinese people. Chinese people value emotional ties between family members and often say that “blood is thicker than water.” The affectionate feeling based upon ties of blood is an indispensable part of the life of Chinese people.

“Family is the last bay of the soul” is a Chinese expression, which undoubtedly emphasizes that family is one’s most reliable settling place. Although Chinese society is undergoing massive transformations that have led to considerable changes in the structure of Chinese families, many people still honor the traditional view which prioritizes harmony in the family. As such, they are willing to devote more energy to maintaining their household and accordingly, they expect their family to provide more support and assistance in return. Being well aware of the importance of family is an important step in understanding the fundamental values of the Chinese people.

An edited excerpt from The Way We Think: Chinese View of Life Philosophy published by Sinolingua Press