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A Thorough Comparison of the Differences in
the Family
Values Between Chinese and
Western Countries
I. The Definition and
Function of Family Values
II. A Comparison of Family
Values
2. 1 A Comparison of
Marriage
2. 1. 1 A
Comparison of Marital Values between China and
Western Countries
2. 1. 2
The Contradiction in Marriage and Family
Stability
2. 2. The
Comparison of Providing for the Old
Folks
2. 2. 1 A Comparison
of Attitudes and Methods of Providing for the Old
Folks
2.2.2 The Function of
Old People in Family and Society
2. 3 The Comparison of Children’s
Education
2.3.1 .The
Comparison of Methods of Children
Education
2.3.2 The Function
of Young People in the Family and
Society
III. The Comparison
of Family Values in Different Social
Classes
3.1 A Comparison of
the Family Value of the Bottom Class
3.2 A Comparison of the Family Value of
the Middle Class
3.3 A
Comparison of the Family Value of the Upper
Class
IV. The Influence of
Family Values in the Society
A Thorough
Comparison of the Differences in the Family Values
Between
Chinese and Western
Countries
The
role
of
family
is
really
important
in
the
society;
therefore,
different
conceptions
of
family
would
cause
different
social
phenomena,
which
will
have
an
impact
on
social
stability
and
the
national
economy.
The
traditional
concept
is
challenged by
modernization. Through comparing the difference
between the two, it
depicts the
perspectives of different people on family, helps
see clearly the impact on
the society
stability and the national economic development
and thus, to understand
well the
relationship between the person, the family and
the nation, the individual, the
collective body and the
society.
I. The
Definition and Function of Family
Values
1
Family is where one has the first
experience of love, and of hate, of giving, and
of
denying,
and
of
deep
sadness...
Here
the
first
hopes
are
raised
and
met
—
or
disappointed. Here is where one learns
whom to trust and whom to fear. Above all,
family
is
where
people
get
their
start
in
life.
Therefore
we
focus
our
attention
on
family
to
illustrate
cultural
implications,
more
specifically
on
the
importance,
functions and types of
families.
As you see,
families are important for a number of reasons.
First, the family is
charged with
transforming a biological organism into a human
being who must spend
the rest of his or
her life around other human beings. The family,
say Nye and Berardo,
the
primary of basic
institution of any
society… The family is
everywhere, it
is
universal
from
its predominant
religious
views and cultural
history,
the
family is
the primary
caretaker of these views and values and
transmits them to new members of the culture.
Finally, families are important because
they supply all of us with part of our
identity.
The
family
gives
children
knowledge
about
their
historical
background,
information
regarding the
permanent
nature of their culture, and
specific behaviors,
customs
traditions,
and
language
associated
with
their
ethnic
or
cultural
group.
In
short,
the family tells us, and others, who we are and
what groups we are part of.
II. A Comparison of Family
Values
2. 1 A Comparison of
Marriage
2.
1.
1
A
Comparison
of
Marital
Values
Between
China
and
Western
Countries
In China, when western sociologists
speak of the family, they usually refer to the
basic form of the family organization-
the nuclear family of a husband, a wife, and
their
children.
But
in
China
the
concept
of
a
family
is
broader;
it
may
refer
to
a
nuclear
family,
or
to
an
expanded
grouping
based
on
the
nuclear
family.
Chinese
families can
generally be divided into four types:
a.
Incomplete families:
In an incomplete family, one of the spouses has
died
or is otherwise absent, or
orphaned children live together.
b.
Nuclear
families:
A
nuclear
family
is
made
up
of
husband,
wife,
and
unmarried
children.
c.
Joint families: A joint family consists
of two or more nuclear families. It is
often a double-generation family, and
can include the nuclear families of brothers or
sisters who maintain a joint
household.
d.
Enlarged families: An enlarged family
is composed of a nuclear family plus
satellites,
usually
widowed
parents
but
sometimes
more
distant
relatives
or
even
unrelated persons.
There is a wide-spread belief that the
joint family was dominant in China. But
according to investigations, that was
not the case. The joint family was only limited to
the
well-off
city-dwellers
and
rural
landlords
because
in
feudal
society
financial
power was in
the hands
of the head of the
family.
Among urban workers and rural
farmers,
the
proportion
of
nuclear
families
was
higher.
In
fact,
the
enlarged
family
was also popular because family bonds,
which form part of traditional Chinese culture,
2
were very
strong. For example, widows and widowers unable to
live independently
but lived
with their parents, children, or even their
brothers or sisters.
Some
changes
in
Chinese
family
structure
have
appeared
following
social
changes which have
taken place since the founding of new China. Most
obvious are
an
increase
in
the
proportion
of
nuclear
families
and
a
decline
in
the
proportion
of
nuclear families and a decline in
the proportion of incomplete families.
In the third
population
censes in 1983, nuclear families accounted for 67
percent of all families in
Beijing,
Shanghai,
Nanjing,
Chengdu,
and
Tianjin
cities.
An
investigation
in
1988
found
that nuclear families accounted for 73 percent of
rural households in fourteen
provinces.
Several
factors
have
caused
the
increase
of
nuclear
families.
As
a
result
of
political and economic
changes, a family head is no longer the only one
who has an
income. Almost
all adult members are breadwinners.
Most
young people, including
women,
have
achieved
complete
economic
independence.
After
marriage
many
of
them like
to move out of their parents' house and live and
manage on their own. On
the other hand,
many elderly people like to spend their remaining
years in peace and
quiet. They may even
refuse to
take care of their
grandchildren.
In addition,
young
people's
ideas
and
life-
styles
are
quite
different
from
their
parents'
ideas
and
life-
styles. Thus, the generation gap is another factor
promoting the nuclear families.
Even
though
the
nuclear
family
is
in
the
ascendant,
there
are
still
a
sizeable
number
of enlarged families and joint families. Many
married
young people remain
with their parents, partly because of
the housing shortage and the childcare problem in
the
urban
areas.
In
cities
where
housing
conditions
are
tight,
many
young
couples
cannot
find another place to
set
up their own homes.
Although the
government
has
done much to improve childcare, there
are not enough nurseries and kindergartens to
meet
social
need,
and
it
would
be
too
expensive
for
low-income
couples
to
hire
domestic help. Thus, grandparents are
the ideal people to look after children. At the
same time, elderly people need their
children's help in their daily life and when they
are ill.
The ties
of blood between the members of a
family
and socialist
ethics
also
play a part in keeping the members
of joint families and enlarged families together.
The political, economic, and social
changes, including family planning, will no doubt
cause further changes in family
structure.
In Britain, the
concept of the English family is certainly an
elastic one, for it is
almost
impossible to describe it in general. Everywhere
differences in the people are
emphasized by differences in their
language. The Scot’s burr, the Welsh’s fathomless
thicket
of
consonants,
the
fast
and
difficult
London
Cockney,
the
perplexity
of
the
Somerset dialect and the special
Yorkshire vocabulary may be familiar to everybody.
Class differences should not be
neglected. The upper classes (though the number is
small)
have
their
own
way
of
life;
the
middle
class
(well-to-do
businessmen,
professional
people
of
all
kinds)
have
a
rather
different
way
of
life
from
the
upper
class; so do the working class (chiefly
manual and unskilled workers). Despite all this,
we think that British society is based
on family life and the family is a self-contained
economic and social unit with mother,
father and children living together in their own
3
house.
So
marriage
signifies
the
beginning
of
a
new
and
independent
family
and
means a great deal in
British life.
Nowadays it is
quite normal for a girl of 16 to go out with a
boyfriend. Kisses
and
embraces
between
young
men
and
women
are
now
considered
quite
natural
behavior. If they
are together for a long time and know each other
well, the girl will
invite
the
young
man
to
her
house
to
meet
her
parents
because
she
likes
him.
The
young
man
will
also
invite
the
girl
to
his
house
to
see
his
parents
on
the
basis
of
steady
They
will
meet
their
parents
to
tell
the
joyful
news,
ask
their
permission and hope for their
congratulations and encouragement. In fact, the
original
promise to marry is made
privately by the
young couple. The
first step towards the
wedding is
an
engagement
ring which is
placed
on the third finger of the girl's left
hand. The engagement ring given by the
boy is just a public declaration to marry and
a means of discouraging the attentions
of other young men. Then the wedding follows
within a few months or perhaps a year
or two. If either the girl or the boy changes her
or
his
mind
in
between,
the
girl
usually
returns
the
ring;
if
nothing
happens
in
the
meantime, the engagement ring on the
third finger is replaced by the wedding ring of
plain gold.
For
the wedding, many British couples go to church to
have the ceremony, no
matter whether
they are religious or not. Other couples go to a
the ceremony is
less formal.
For the church
ceremony the girl is
usually dressed in
long
white
dress
and
attended
by
her
close
relatives
and
friends.
The
bride
and
bridegroom make considerable promises
of loyalty to each
other, but first of
all the
vicar will ask them whether
each is willing to marry the other. Of course the
answer is
in the affirmative. The bride
is given away by a close relative to her husband,
usually
by her father, which indicates
that the bond of marriage is stronger than any
previous
family bond between the bride
and her mother. After the wedding there is always
a
reception of a light meal to which
all the relatives and friends are
invited.
A British marriage
means the beginning of the
third family
quite distinct from
the previous two.
The newlyweds who have a lot of problems to solve,
even before
the wedding, live quite
separately from them in complete financial
independence. One
of
the
essential
problems
of
any
British
marriage
is
to
find
a
place
where
the
newly-
married couple can live alone.
In America, A remarkable characteristic
of American society is the diversity of
people.
Different
peoples
came
to
America
from
different
nations
and
places
at
different times.
America
is
a
country
that
has
more
emigrants
than
any
other
country
tin
the
world.
It is
estimated that of the population of 250 million,
more than 16 percent were
born in other
countries or are the children of at least one
foreign-born parent. Three
hundred
years
ago,
Europeans,
especially
the
English
people,
came
to
America
in
increasing
numbers
because
of
religious
persecution.
Later,
people
from
Canada,
Mexico,
and
other
Latin
American
nations
came
to
settle
down
in
the
New
World.
Some people from
4
Asia, such as Japanese,
Chinese and Filipinos also crossed the pacific to
look for
a new life in America. Blacks
came mainly from Africa. There are about 29million
black people in America. The American
Indians were the only local people who had
lived there long before America was
discovered.
Since
people
in
the
USA
are
from
different
parts
of
the
world,
they
have
different
social
customs
and
personal
habits.
They
have
different
beliefs
and
some
people
even
speak
their
own
languages
in
their
communities.
They
are
offered
different jobs and get different wages.
Income distribution ranges rather widely. More
than 22 percent of all
American
families
have
annual
incomes
of
$$
20,000
or
more.
But
almost
20
percent receive less than $$
5,000.
When coming to
retirement age, most American workers can leave
their regular
jobs
and
live
on
social
security
payments
in
addition
to
other
pensions
and
their
personal
saving.
The
poor
and
the
old
are
offered
aid
under
federal
and
state
assistance programs.
About
three-fifths
of
all
American
families
can
afford
the
basic
family
needs-food, shelter,
and clothing-and also many of the comforts of
modem living.
Though
most
Americans
are
immigrants
from
different
countries,
American
families
have
certain
characteristics
in
common.
The
average
annual
income
of
a
middle
class
family
is
about
$$
30,700.
The
family
has
a
car,
a
TV
set,
a
washing
machine, a refrigerator, a telephone,
and a house of their own. This is a typical one of
the most American families.
The
a family is usually
composed of a father, mother and two children. It
is seldom seen
that a family have more
than four or five members, or parents live
together with their
children
who
have
got
new
married.
Relatives-such
as
grandparents,
uncles,
aunts,
cousins
and
in-laws
usually
live
separately.
This
family
structure
is
the
so-called
whole family group, the
the
family.
Parents
and
children
often
visit
each
other
and
the
same
applies
to
the
married brothers and sisters when they
live quite near. Loneliness usually comes to
the aged men and women who really
suffer greatly for they can not be well looked
after
or
usually
do
not
have
enough
retirement
incomes.
Some
of
the
widows,
widowers, and lonely elderly couples
often go hungry and homeless.
Marriage
is
a
matter
of
individual
responsibility
and
decision
for
the
young.
They
have their own right to deal with their marriages
and are independent of their
parents.
They
often fall in love with each other in spite of the
disapproval of their parents.
American young people are generally
more affectionate and they usually regard
love as more important than social
class, education, money or religion. They like to
have romantic love. Young people can
get married with each other even if they have
different religious beliefs or
backgrounds. But marriages between blacks and
whites
are still rare.
5
Because of the
social prejudices probably less than I percent of
all the marriages
each year are between
blacks and whites.
Before
marriage, young people date each other, i.e., they
often go out together.
Casual dating usually begins in the
early teens and in the late teens a pattern of
steady dating develops.
There is
great possibility
that one goes to a dance with one
person,
to
a
football
game
with
another
and
a
picnic
with
a
third.
Sometimes
two
couples
go
out
together.
This
is
known
as
dating
Group
dating
is
also
popular
among
the
youth.
Large
groups
of
boys
and
girls
may
go
around
together.
They are almost
free in physical contact such as holding hands or
putting their arms
around each other.
But some are very strict in their codes of
behavior, and some act
according to
their religion.
Young people
may go out together for some length, which is in
effect, a public
statement of the
intention to marry. Broken engagements are freely
performed if the
engaged couple change
their minds.
Men and women
go out together a great deal especially those in
cities. This is
dating
They
ski
together,
work
together,
and
dine
together
either
at
restaurants or in each other’s
apartments.
The American
dating system is a rather casual one. Very often
young Americans
who hardly know each
other go out on dates. It is also acceptable for
them to arrange
a
Most
American
young
people
live
independently
after
marriage.
According
to
statistics, in the early
1970s, only 1.5 percent of all married couples
were not living on
their own. Most
newly married couples set up their own household
immediately, and
begin to perform the
family plans in the future. Most married couples
practice some
kind of birth control.
They plan the number of children they are going to
have and the
time
when
their
children
will
be
born.
In
most
states,
birth
control
information
is
easily available and birth rate has
been declining steadily in recent
years.
Most American live in
apartments or individual houses which are provided
with
electric lights, central heating,
hot and could running water and inside toilets. In
1980,
there
were
about
88
million
housing
units-compared
with
58
million
in
1960.
Old
rundown
houses
are
being
repaired
or
rebuilt
in
many
large
cities.
Many
housing
projects, designed for people with low
incomes, are built with public funds.
Baby
sitting
is
commonly
seen
in
America.
A
baby
sitter
is
someone
who
is
employed
to
take
care
of
children
for
a
specific
length
of
time-usually
relatively
short-while the
parents are out for an evening, going to a party
or a course of study.
In
the
American
family,
equal
rights
are
often
exercised
between
the
husband
and
wife
when
they
make
a
decision.
The
children
also
can
have
a
say
in
family
affairs
when
they
are
old
enough.
The
old
rule
should
be
seen
and
not
heard
is
generally
broken,
and
they
are
often
allowed
to
do
things
independently.
Parents do
not interfere with what they wish to do, and
children are encouraged to be
independent at an early age.
Another subject is also interesting,
that is, the position of women in the United
States.
Since
the
1960s
the
women’s
liberation
movement
began,
and
many
people
now support it. They
want women to achieve equality with men. Their
major concerns
6
are
economic
and
social. Owing
to
the
struggle
of women
and their
supporters, the
gap
between
the
average
earnings
of
men
and
women
has
narrowed,
but
it
is
still
much
wider than the racial gap.
One
interesting
difference
between
black
and
white
families
of
all
economic
levels is the
attitude toward their kinship. Kinship relations
seem to be considerably
stronger
among
blacks
than
among
whites,
and
black
families
take
relatives,
both
children and older
people, into their households more frequently than
white families
do.
2. 1. 2 The Contradiction in Marriage
and Family Stability
In
terms of marriage no child can marry below the age
of sixteen, whether with
or without the
parents' consent. Between sixteen and eighteen the
parents' consent is
necessary. But over
the age of eighteen the parents' consent is
unnecessary. Actually
most girls and
nearly all men are well over eighteen when they
get married. Marriage
marks
the
beginning
of
a
new
and
independent
family,
which
means
leaving
one's
parents and starting one's own life for
both the man and the woman. They are loyal to
each
other,
which
is
their
duty.
The
man
used
to
be
entirely
responsible
for
her
financial
support
and
the
woman
for
the
management
of
the
new
home.
Often
nowadays, the wife works, so the
husband helps in the home. Their relations, such
as
their
parents,
brothers
or
sisters,
have
no
hand
in
their
affairs.
They
are
their
own
masters. Marriages have direct
influence on social stability.
2. 2
The Comparison of
Providing for the Old Folks
2.
2.
1
A
Comparison
of
Attitudes
and
Methods
of
Providing
for
the
Old
Folks
China's goals for the development care
for the aged can be described as follows:
All elderly people are to be provided
for and enjoy proper medical care. They are to
be given opportunities to pass on their
experience as well as to learn new things. They
should be given the opportunity to do
what they can for the society, while enjoying
their
latter
years.
In
recent
years,
the
Chinese
Government
has
worked
positively
toward these
goals. It has strengthened formulation of laws,
regulations and policies
regarding
elderly
people,
worked
out
development
plans
for
care
of
the
aged,
perfected
the
work
system
for
care
of
the
elderly,
encouraged
the
extensive
involvement
of
the
whole
society
in
efforts
to
care
for
the
aged,
and
conducted
international
exchanges and cooperation in this
regard.
In America, old age
normally being sometime after reaching the age of
65. At
this
age,
people
begin
to
retire
from
their
jobs,
become
less
active
in
their
communities, and start to receive their
Social Security benefits. They are now ready to
begin their
grandchildren.
On
the
other
hand,
some
older
people
as
they
become
less
and
less
involved with people
and community life begin to live a more colorless
existence and
end up feeling lonely and
miserable. Each person's circumstances and options
differ.
Older Americans who
are still healthy maintain their own independent
style of
life.
Some continue to live where they have
always lived; others sell their homes and
buy or rent town houses or
condominiums; and still others decide to live in
retirement
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