FAMILY IN TRANSTION

Susan Jang

University of California, Berkeley

At the time of his death, Grandfather, a rebel who had conspired
with Sun Yat-sen to overthrow the Nanchu Dynasty, had left a will.

Grandmother was given his land and home while his money wa equally
divided among his four children, First Uncle, Second Uncle, Father,

and Aunt. First Uncle , a playboy at heart and not a very resourceful
person, soon parted company with his portion of the inheritance and
turned to Grandmother for money. Grandmother, with no finncial
resources of her own, gradually depleted the portion of the in-

heritance which had been entrusted to her until Aunt becme of age.

GRANDFATHR       ANDIR

0=S 0-S 0=S

!RST  FIRST    SECOND    SECOND       AOTT F                 A1N
AUNT     UNCLE      AUJNT   'UNCLE

ONLY
SON

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A short time later, First Uncle married an American-born Chinese

girl, Aunt died of tuberculosis, and First Uncle left for America
with his bride.

World War II began, and Second Uncle went north to help man
the bastions leaving Father in charge of the household.' With the

approach of the Japanese, Father took Grandmother and fled to North

Borneo. After the war, they returned home while Second Uncle migrated
to Belgium with his Belgian wife. Father married Mother and began

to raise a family. With the advent of the Comunists, the family and
Grandmother fled southward to Hong Kong. Though politically pro-
Communist, economically the family was on the wrong side -- they
belonged to the class of landowners.

Structurally, the family was caught in a transitional phase:

the Chinese family structure was undergoing changes from the traditional
pattern of a large patriarchal two-to-four generation unit to a simple
conjugal unit which eliminated all members save the husband, wife, and
non-adult children. In the traditional sense, the eldest male in

the family unit was the head; after Grandfather's death, First Uncle,
being the eldest son, became the head. He was in charge of all the
family's activities while the supervision of the household fell to
his wife. Since Grandmother was still alive, she may have chosen

to hold sway or, as in this case, go into semi-retirement, retaining
only a consultative position with honorific supervisory power. In
the modern phase, the large household has been reduced to a single

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conjugal unit. Thus, First Uncle, trapped in the transition and

having a European education, could easily excuse his filial respon-
sibilities on the ground of primary obligations to his conjugal

unit. He was further excused by reason of geographical distance; and
his wife, who in the traditional pattern would have ruled the house-

hold, could easily delegate the responsibility for the care of Grand-
mother to Mother who was the wife of a younger son and thus held an
inferior position to First Aunt.

Even if Father did not want to be burdened with Grandmother
and even if he resented First Uncle for his irresponsibility and
Grandmother's unwise play of favoritism, he could not easily dump

Grandmother. There were still the ties that bound a mother and son
together, especially strengthened during the period as wartime

refugees in Borneo and Hong Kong. Also, Father retained a great deal
of the ethic of filial piety since he had lost Grandfather while in
his late teens and lived with Grandmother the longest, First Uncle
and Second Uncle having been sent away to France for much of their
education. Even after First Uncle's and Second Uncle's return to
China, they did not remain at hoe for long. Father, on the other
hand, had lived most of his life at home in China; and for Father,

the integration of Chinese culture was much more complete, the aged
commanded respcot regardless of their station in life.

For Mother, who must work to supplment Father's incom, her

economic position has substantially changed her position in the power

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hierarchy. Her potential economic independence allows her to leave
the family or, in this case, reduce the amount of subordination to

which she will submit. Although Grandmother has become an "accepted"
member of the family, she no longer holds sway. This is evident
in the battles between Mother and Grandmother over child care,

housekeeping, and personal behavior. Paradoxically, these are the
same matters over which mothers and daughters disagree.

As the time approaches for their children to begin seriously
contemplating marriage, there are unspoken words of desire,

especially to Only Son, to begin his family within their unit.

(Traditionally, when a daughter marries, she is no longer a member
of her biological family but of her husband's family). But chances

are slim because Only Son is not only a rebel but also part of Western
culture.

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