Filial piety in contemporary Chinese societies: A comparative study of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China

Abstract

This study investigates the functions and implications of contemporary filial piety in three Chinese societies, namely, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, using large-scale cross-national datasets from the 2006 East Asian Social Survey. Despite the shared Confucian cultural values among these three societies, they have sharply differed in their paths toward modernization and in the development of their sociopolitical structures over the last century. The authors propose that the implications and influences of filial piety tend to be more similar in Taiwan and Hong Kong, but may be different in China because of profound differences in its sociopolitical system. Using the dual filial piety model as the baseline for comparative analyses, the results show that dual filial piety can be found in all three societies, although there are some componential alterations in China. The study also goes beyond the common practice of treating filial piety within the confines of caring for family elders by considering its functional utility to influence an individual’s sociopsychological outcomes. The regression results support the significance of dual filial piety and its close association with various aspects of daily life in contemporary Chinese societies.

How kinship systems and welfare regimes shape leaving home: A comparative study of the United States, Germany, Taiwan, and China

“…Low parental authority favors individual choice for offspring, whereas high parental authority limits it. In China, the normative complex of 'filial piety' legitimizes parental demands (Fricke, Chang, and Yang 1994;Hashimoto and Ikels 2005;Schwarz et al 2010;Yeh et al 2013). To some extent, these differences are a consequence of the respective kinship systems: Whereas the bilineal system in Germany and the United States results in individualized kindred and bilineal inheritance patterns, the patrilineal system in China and Taiwan results in definitive membership, clear kinship boundaries, and unilineal inheritance patterns (Nauck 2010).…”

Making transnational intimacies: intergenerational relationships in Chinese-Western families in Beijing

“…Building lasting intimate bonds At the beginning of this article, we argued that neither the momentous reforms of Chinese society under Communism nor the country's transition to capitalism after 1978 have managed to dislodge filial piety as a central organising principle of family life. While there may today be some variations in meanings and experiences of filial piety (Yeh et al 2013), a substantial body of evidence shows that it continues to be central to how Chinese people imagine and practise intergenerational relationships within families. Our analysis of intergenerational relationships in transnational ChineseWestern families complicates this assessment.…”

Социологическая Модель Управления Семейной Политикой: Теория И Практика (На Материалах КНР)

“…filial piety; кит. 孝 xiào) (Jayakody, Thornton, Axinn, 2008;Yeh, 2013) [6]. Социокультурные и демографические факторы оказали наибольшее влияние на трансформацию семейных ролей: традиционное распределение функций мужа и жены под воздействием процес-сов вестернизации культуры и длительного периода функционирования политики ограничения рождаемости утратило актуальность, особенно в урбанизированной среде (Yeh, Yi, Tsao, Wan, 2013) [7].…”

“…孝 xiào) (Jayakody, Thornton, Axinn, 2008;Yeh, 2013) [6]. Социокультурные и демографические факторы оказали наибольшее влияние на трансформацию семейных ролей: традиционное распределение функций мужа и жены под воздействием процес-сов вестернизации культуры и длительного периода функционирования политики ограничения рождаемости утратило актуальность, особенно в урбанизированной среде (Yeh, Yi, Tsao, Wan, 2013) [7]. Вместе с тем исследователями отмечается улучшение благосостояния семей, по-скольку заметно увеличились возможности занятости как мужчин, так и женщин, происходит пре-одоление бедности, особенно в городских поселениях, возросли возможности доступа семей к распределению благ и получению услуг (Angang, 2005) [8].…”