easy worksheet

Interwoven Lives: Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China Author(s): Nancy E. Riley Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Nov., 1994), pp. 791-803 Published by: National Council on Family Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/353592 Accessed: 23-08-2016 06:08 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at

http://about.jstor.org/terms

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted

digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about

JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Wiley, National Council on Family Relations are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Marriage and Family

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

NANCY E. RILEY Bowdoin College

Interwoven Lives: Parents, Marriage, and

Guanxi in China

This article examines changes in the role of par- ents in marriage decisions in China using two data sets, the In-depth Fertility Survey, Phase II, and data collected by the author in 1986-1987. The number of arranged marriages, in which par- ents have absolute control, has decreased. But in most marriages, parents continue to have an in- fluence on the decisions made. Parental involve- ment in all aspects of young people's lives is wel- comed by both parents and children. Guanxi pro- vides an explanation for continuing strong kin ties. In China people rely heavily on the use of in- terpersonal ties (guanxi) to acquire scarce goods and services. Children often rely on parents' guanxi for help in achieving school or career goals. Marriage decisions are thus made in a context that supports continuing influence of par- ents in the lives of adult children.

Marriage and family have undergone enormous changes in China in recent decades. Many of these changes-a rise in companionate marriage, lower fertility, and a decrease in the power of large family clans, for example-might be seen by some as predictable. The kinds and extent of economic, social, and political changes seen have

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bowdoin Col- lege, Brunswick, ME 04011.

Key Words: arranged marriage, China, guanxi, international, marriage.

frequently been connected to such changes in the family in a variety of cultures and societies (Goode, 1963; Inkeles, 1980; Whyte, 1990). However, even as the historical record and recent evidence in China lends some support to these claims of the inevitability and direction of family change, there are also interesting and important challenges to this literature from the Chinese ex- perience.

In this article, I explore an important aspect of family change, the role of parents in marriage de- cisions. Evidence from recent surveys (Pasternak, 1986; Whyte, 1990; Xu & Whyte, 1990) indicates that, contrary to some expectations, parents re- main actively involved in the marriage decisions of their daughters. Rather than see marriage deci- sions in China as part of a "stalled revolution" (Whyte, 1990), I suggest a different reading of the evidence. I argue that the reasons for continuing parental involvement lie in how the current social, economic, and political makeup of the society has been mapped onto preexisting norms of strong family ties. In a similar way, Malhotra (1991) found cultural reasons for the continuing involve- ment of parents in Indonesia, and suggested that "given a long tradition of parental control of mar- riages in Java, the issue at hand may not be one of displacing the authority of parents, but rather one of accommodating it" (p. 554). In China, it ap- pears that the combination of strong family norms and particular aspects of a socialist economy has actually served to strengthen intrafamilial ties.

Journal of Marriage and the Family 56 (November 1994): 791-803 791

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Journal of Marriage and the Family

As an example of how current Chinese society has reinforced rather than challenged traditional family relationships, I discuss the role of guanxi in Chinese society in general and in marriage de- cisions in particular. I discuss guanxi in detail below, but, briefly, guanxi is a system of interper- sonal relationships that is used in many situations in current Chinese society. China has both a tradi- tion of strong family ties and, until recently at least, a nonmarket system in which there are fre- quent shortages of goods, services, and opportuni- ties; in that context, use of such ties is one of the few and sometimes the only way to achieve a goal or acquire a good or service. Individuals rely heavily on guanxi, and especially on those ties based on kin.

MARRIAGE: PAST AND PRESENT

As in most societies, marriage has always been an important institution in China, and offers a unique window on social inequalities and change in any given historical period. Although marriage behav- ior always has and does now vary by region, his- torical era, and class, among other factors (Goody, 1990; Watson & Ebrey, 1991), in this ar- ticle I focus on changes that have occurred in marriage especially since the early 20th century.

In the past, the purposes of marriage in Chi- nese society were many and included the transfer of rights over the bride (Wolf & Huang, 1980, p. 73), continuance of a family line (Wolf, 1972, p. 14), a way to increase hands in the field (Croll, 1984), formation of alliances (Ebrey, 1991, p. 5), a way to make a statement of class standing (Ebrey, 1991), provision of old age support and security (Potter & Potter, 1990, p. 202), and the transfer of resources from one family to another (Croll, 1984). The emphasis on any of these pro- cesses might depend on a number of factors in- cluding region, class, life cycle of the family, and economic and political circumstances (Watson & Ebrey, 1991). In China, although the purposes and processes surrounding marriage have under- gone enormous change, marriage as an institution remains as central to Chinese family and social life as ever. Thus, my discussion below assumes the centrality of marriage today, and looks at changes in the process of marriage.

Based on Confucian beliefs of harmony and interrelatedness, the family was organized around a rigid hierarchy of age, generation, and gender. Elder men held the strongest power within the family, and the young and women were the least

powerful family members. Each member of the family and lineage was at least theoretically de- pendent on those above in the hierarchy for all needs. The young, both women and men, had very little say in decisions that involved them, and were dependent on family elders for jobs, training, and marriage decisions.

In a system where local communities were ruled by lineages (Watson, 1985, p. 117), individ- uals' lives were dominated by their families (Baker, 1979). Marriage was under the near-abso- lute control of family elders and was considered an important part of a family's strategy for suc- cess; through marriage, old alliances between families could be strengthened or new ones formed. Young people-women or men-had lit- tle say in marriage, either about timing or about partners. Young women were particularly disad- vantaged because of common practices of patrilo- cality, patrilineage, and patriarchy. A new bride usually moved to her husband's family's house; her early marriage years could be very difficult, partly because she usually did not meet her hus- band, his family members, or even other village members until the wedding. Thus, she was a vir- tual stranger to all and, in addition, was subject to the wishes and whims of her husband's family, especially her mother-in-law.

Changes in marriage practices began long be- fore the Communists came to power in 1949 (Lang, 1946; Levy, 1968). In the 1920s, especial- ly in the cities, young people struggled to change traditional family processes, including Confucian ideals of filial piety, practices of arranged mar- riage, and roles of women (Chow, 1960, p. 300ff; Stacey, 1983, p. 72ff). In his research on marriage practices in Chengdu, Whyte (1990) found that between 1930 and 1960 there was a substantial

increase in freedom of mate choice and, in fact, that level did not increase significantly after 1960. Although his results do not exactly mirror those that I present below, they do indicate the enor- mous changes in marriage that occurred before 1949.

The changes that have taken place since 1949 affected the family in some expected and perhaps unexpected ways as well. Of the direct state ef- forts to change family structure and behavior, the most important were the 1950 and 1980 Marriage Laws. They outlawed many aspects of traditional marriage behavior, raising the legal minimum age at marriage, outlawing the exchange of a bride price or dowry, and making arranged marriage il- legal. The various parts of these laws have been

792

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China

enforced to different extents and at different

times; nevertheless, the passage of such decrees at least gave support to alternative forms of mar- riage.

Equally important in changing marriage be- havior of young people were the indirect effects of other social and economic changes, such as ef- forts to make the economy socialist and the even- tual state control of all means of production, job assignments, and decisions about schooling. These changes had enormous impact on the fami- ly because they disrupted the traditional age hier- archy within the household. In the past, the con- trol by family elders of decisions affecting all family members was one way that the young were bound to and dependent on parents. Once these decisions were removed from the arena of the

family, family elders lost an important base of power. Young people, in turn, became less depen- dent on their family members and more depen- dent on the state for decisions about their futures

(Stacey, 1983, p. 217). It was because of the enormous impact of

these changes that speculation grew that the Chi- nese family would lose its strength and cohesion under the new socialist system (Stacey, 1983). In- deed, there is evidence that the strength and ex- tent of lineage ties were weakened in the early decades of Communist rule. However, as I dis- cuss below, the ties between family members, in- cluding those between parents and children, re- main strong and vital in China today. In fact, it can be argued that certain elements of modern Chinese society have actually increased the ne- cessity for maintaining kin ties, and have con- tributed to the continuing role that parents play in their children's lives.

For the reasons discussed above, and others as well, many aspects of marriage have undergone great change in the last 50 years in China. One of the most important changes in marriage has been a steady and dramatic rise in the age at marriage. Mean age at marriage rose fairly steadily between 1950 and 1980; since the mid-1980s, fluctuations in age at marriage reflect periodic enforcement and relaxation of late marriage regulations by the government (Coale, Wang, Riley, & Lin, 1991; Wolf, 1986). Other aspects of the traditional mar- riage patterns have also changed. The amount and incidence of dowry and brideprice decreased for some time during the fifties, sixties, and seventies (Salaff, 1973); however, reports in recent years indicate that these customs are still practiced in some areas, and may actually be increasing since

the government has relaxed its tight prohibitions on the practices (Honig & Hershatter, 1988, p. 141ff; "Marriage Costs," 1986; Niu, 1986; Potter & Potter, 1990, p. 215). Couples (especially urban) are now less likely to live with either hus- band's or wife's parents after marriage, especially after receiving separate housing (Pasternak, 1986; Whyte, 1990; Wolf, 1985).

SOURCES OF DATA

To examine the issue of parental influence on mar- riage decisions, I use two sources of primary data. The first is the In-Depth Fertility Survey, Phase II (hereafter, IDFS), which was conducted in 1987 by the State Statistical Bureau (Beijing). The survey includes approximately 5,000 respondents in each of the six provinces of Liaoning, Shandong, Bei- jing, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Gansu (N = 31,914). All respondents are ever-married women between the ages of 15 and 50. Although the focus of the survey is fertility and contraception, ques- tions about marriage are also included, partly be- cause of the Chinese government's emphasis on marriage timing as an important part of its efforts to control population growth.

In addition to that data set, I rely on data I col- lected in Beijing during a year of research in 1986-87. The focus of that project was marriage and the role of parents in young women's lives. I collected several kinds of data, including qualita- tive data from focus groups and semistructured interviews with 23 women, and quantitative data from 700 unmarried and married women between

the ages of 20 and 35, using a standard question- naire (see Riley, 1989). Although the unmarried women were more educated than the general Bei- jing population, the married women provided a fairly representative cross-section of the Beijing population in terms of occupation and education (further details on the sample are available in Riley, 1989).

Each of these sources of data has strengths and weaknesses that are partially balanced by using them together. The IDFS allows us to see the larger picture, both across different geographical areas, and across cohorts of women. However, it does not have extensive detail or depth on mar- riage issues. My own research concentrated on marriage and parental relationships and thus con- tains much detailed information on the events sur-

rounding marriage. However, the sample was pur- posive and confined to Beijing, and is thus limit- ed in how it can be used to generalize. I will use

793

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Journal of Marriage and the Family

the IDFS for descriptions of current behavior and my research and secondary sources for context and explanations of that behavior. It is important to note that both of these sources of data focus on

young women and present certain theoretical and empirical limitations because of that focus. The different experiences of women and men in mar- riage are obviously important and deserve further attention (see, e.g., Malhotra, 1991, on gender differences in mate choice in Indonesia).

This research was done just before the emer- gence of a strong market-based sector of the urban economy. With those economic and accom- panying social changes, we are in fact seeing changes in marriage behavior; divorce rates are rising, for example. However, marriage in China remains nearly universal and although some of the behavior that I discuss here may have changed in substance or prevalence, many of the issues, in- cluding the role of bureaucracy and guanxi, are still relevant.

RESULTS

The Changing Role of Parents

As we would expect, there have been vast changes in the involvement of parents in young

women's marriage decisions in the last 50 years. Results from the IDFS indicate that the kind and

amount of parental involvement appears to be de- creasing in all areas of China, and among almost all groups of people within China.

In the IDFS survey, information about parental involvement in marriage is obtained from answers to a question asked of married women about how their marriage was arranged. Four answers were possible; women answered that (1) parents alone decided the marriage, (2) parents, respondent, and husband decided the marriage, (3) respondent and husband decided the marriage, or (4) someone else decided the marriage. Thus, we can think of answers (1) to (3) as moving from a great deal of parental involvement to none at all.

The distribution of answers to this question ranged widely, especially by region. The propor- tion of women in marriages in which their parents were not involved is quite high (over 50%) in Bei- jing, but that city stands apart from the other five provinces, where the proportion is much lower (in all others, it is less than 35%). The rate of arranged marriage is especially low in three provinces- Beijing, Guangdong, and Liaoning-but higher in Shandong, Guizhou, and highest in Gansu.

Before discussing some of the more central reasons for these differences, comments on the

TABLE 1. SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF SIX PROVINCES COVERED BY THE IN-DEPTH FERTILITY SURVEY OF CHINA, PHASE II

Population in hundredss Urbana

Belong to ethnic minoritya Urban

Rural

Women with more than junior high educationb

Urban

Rural

Median number of items owned

by householdbc Urban

Rural

Women who chose own husbandb Urban

Rural

Women who lived with in-laws after

marriageb Urban

Rural

Number of women surveyed

Beijing

97,936 65%

Liaoning

377,337 64%

5.7% 10.2% 4.2% 25.2%

96% 57%

6

5

68%

35%

45% 79%

7,622

72%

31%

5

4

34%

20%

63%

82%

6,567

Shandong

268,904 55%

1.3%

0.2%

36%

19%

4

3

37% 27%

74%

89%

6,124

Guangdong

643,171 27%

Guizhou

305,477 33%

Gansu

209,725 27%

1.1% 30.9% 4.3% 7.0% 32.6% 10.6%

65% 24%

5

3

45%

25%

54% 82%

6,654

49%

9%

1

1

61% 26%

47% 81%

6,489

61%

12%

5 2

57%

24%

50%

84%

5,754

Note: Based on a table originally presented by Choe, 1990. aEstimates from the 1% population sample survey of China, 1987. bEstimates from the IDFS.

CNumber of items owned among bicycle, clock, radio, TV, sewing machine, laundry machine, and refrigerator.

794

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China

FIGURE 1. PROPORTION REPORTING PARENTS ALONE CHOSE HUSBAND, BY COHORT

Percent

100

80

60"

40X

20 -

45-49 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29

Current Age

"Beijing + Liaoning X Shandong * Guangdong X Gansu + Guizhou

data are in order here. First, differences in age at marriage between Beijing and the other regions may account for some (but certainly not a major part) of the differences in parental involvement; because age at marriage is lower in rural areas throughout China, parents might have more influ- ence in their daughters' lives. Secondly, there is a possibility that some of the variation among re- gions can be attributed to differences in interpre- tation of the question. The question used in the survey may have different nuances from region to region. It is also possible that people in some areas of the country might be less willing than in others to admit to being in an arranged marriage, especially because state prohibition of arranged marriages and public discouragement of the prac- tice vary from region to region, and from one time period to another (Riley & Zhen, 1990).

However, although these potential influences are important to keep in mind, I believe they af- fect the data quite minimally. More important to note is that the differences in marriage behavior among regions correspond to differences in social and economic development among the regions.

Table 1 presents indicators of social and econom- ic development for each province. The percentage of the population living in urban areas, the aver- age number of consumer items per household (an indicator of economic status), and the education level of women are all inversely correlated with parental involvement in marriage. This implies that social and economic characteristics of the re-

gions have at least some relationship to marriage behavior, as I detail below.

Examining parental involvement for women of different ages allows some insight into trends in changes in parental involvement. Figure 1 gives the percentage of women stating that they were in a marriage arranged by their parents, by current age. (Although some truncation bias is present here, because over 90% of women are married by age 25-and even higher proportions outside of Beijing-that bias is low.) In all six geographical areas, arranged marriage is much less prevalent among the younger women. This pattern holds true in provinces such as Guizhou, which have a high rate of arranged marriage among older women, and also holds true in those areas, such as

795

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-------------------------- ----------------------------

-----------------------

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . . . .

g v

ni

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Journal of Marriage and the Family

FIGURE 2. PROPORTION REPORTING SELF AND HUSBAND ALONE CHOSE SPOUSE, BY COHORT

Percent

.~_.-~............ ----------------------.-------- ...

x -------^^^^^-----------

100

80

60

40

20

n

45-49 40-44 35-39

Current Age

30-34 25-29

*Beijing + Liaoning X Shandong * Guangdong X Gansu 4 Guizhou

Beijing, where even among older women ar- ranged marriage was relatively rare.

In many societies, such a decrease in arranged marriages is balanced by an increase in marriages decided solely by the parties involved (Goode, 1963). However, as Figure 2 illustrates, a dramat- ic shift in this direction has not occurred in most

areas of China. Although there appears to be some trend toward marriages without parental in- volvement in Beijing, in the other five provinces, there has been no obvious or steady change across the cohorts. Thus, it is clear that most parents continue to be involved in the marriages of their daughters.

A slightly different focus on parental involve- ment leads to an examination of changes in inci- dence, rather than degree, of parental involvement. For this analysis, I combined two groups of women: those women whose parents arranged their marriage, and those women who said that both they and their parents were involved. In other words, these women are in marriages in which their parents were involved in some way in their marriage decision. Figure 3 depicts those cohort

changes and indicates that the incidence of parental involvement has not changed significantly.

The findings from the IDFS are similar to those found by others investigating mate choice in China in the last decade. In his study of Tian- jin, Burton Pasternak (1986) found that in the 1980s young people continued to rely on intro- ductions, but these introductions were coming in- creasingly from outside the family. Martin Whyte studied marriage patterns in Chengdu in 1987; his results indicated that marriages that were com- pletely parentally controlled declined from nearly 70% among those married in the 1930s and 1940s to under 10% among those married in the late eighties (Whyte, 1990, p. 184). However, he also found that marriage decisions today usually in- clude some parental involvement.

These findings suggest that there has been very little change over time in whether parents are involved in marriage; the change that has taken place is in how they are involved. Even in Bei- jing, parents often take an active role in their daughters' lives in many important areas, includ- ing marriage. Results from my data collected in

796

\

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China

FIGURE 3. PROPORTION REPORTING PARENTS WERE INVOLVED IN MATE CHOICE, BY COHORT

Percent

100

80;

60'

40

2 0 . . . . . . - . . . . . . . .. . . .... . . ...-.. . . . . - -. .-. ..-. ..-- - -- --- . - - - - -

0' 45-49 40-44 35-39

Current Age

30-34 25-29

-Beijing - Liaoning X Shandong *- Guangdong X Gansu 4 Guizhou

1986-87 corroborate this finding, and, in addi- tion, give some clues for the reasons behind parental involvement.

The Current Role of Parents

When we speak of parental involvement in mar- riage decisions of their daughters in China, we are speaking of involvement that can range from total control, which is increasingly rare, especially in the cities, to limited advice. In my interviews with young women and with parents of young women, it was clear that although arranged marriages are not acceptable in Beijing today, many parents and daughters expect marriage decisions to include the advice of parents. As in any society, one form of parental involvement and influence in marriage decisions in China lies in ensuring that their daughters come into contact with the "right" types of potential husbands (see Thornton, Chang, & Sun, 1984, on the influence of parental characteristics on daughters' marriage patterns). Through enrollment in schools or arranging jobs in certain work units, parents can influence which

men their daughters meet. One respondent, a woman in her fifties with a teenaged daughter, discussed the importance of helping her daughter get into a university (through the use of guanxi, or connections); her daughter's exam score was close but not quite high enough for university ac- ceptance. Her mother was able to use her consid- erable connections to change the exam score to allow her daughter entrance. From all reports, this use of guanxi was unusual and meant a fairly high expenditure of guanxi resources. But the result was clearly important to the family; most family members were intellectuals and the respondent spoke of how a university degree would not only allow her daughter to work in a good job, but would also allow her to marry into another intel- lectual family.

In Beijing, parents are often involved in many aspects of their daughters' lives and that involve- ment includes choosing friends, both female and male. Socializing is often done at home, and par- ents thus have ample opportunity to meet, judge, and comment on their daughters' friends. In this vein, parental involvement in mate choice often

797

I - - - - - - . - - . - I - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - -I . . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

i

- - - I . . . . . . - - - - - - - . . . . - . - I . . I - - - - I

I

------4

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . - - - - - - - - . . . . . . . . . .

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Journal of Marriage and the Family

takes the form of a meeting between parents and a potential husband early in the relationship. At that time, if the parents strongly disapprove, the rela- tionship can be, and often is, more easily ended than if the introduction comes later. Most young women said that if there were a major conflict with their parents over their choice of husband, they would proceed with the marriage. However, it was also clear that major conflicts are often avoided by these early introductions; at that time, disagreements can be resolved before causing a major disruption in family relationships.

In some families, parental involvement went beyond influence and extended to an actual intro- duction of a potential spouse; out of 248 married respondents, nearly 45% had received an intro- duction to a potential spouse from their parents (Riley, 1989). In urban areas, at least, these intro- ductions were often more the result of the lack of

a dating culture rather than an attempt by parents to control their daughters' marriages (see also Honig & Hershatter, 1988, p. 83). Although young women preferred to find a husband without parental help, it was often difficult in the social context of the Chinese city, and they usually had to rely on the introductions of all those around them-classmates, friends, and relatives (see Whyte, 1990, for a similar description of Cheng- du). In rural areas, where girls and boys were often segregated, it was even more difficult to meet prospective spouses (Potter & Potter, 1990, p. 199); because they leave school at young ages, they are even less likely than urban youth to meet at school. Parental introductions were especially important for young women who were reaching the "unmarriageable age" of 30 without any mar- riage prospects. One informant in that situation said that she was grateful to her family (and friends) for their introductions; it simply in- creased the possibility of finding a husband "be- fore it was too late."

It thus appears that the change evident in a va- riety of settings across China is the kind of in- volvement that parents have in their daughters' marriage decisions. As we saw, the proportion of marriages in which parents are involved has de- creased only slightly in most areas. However, al- though parents continue to play a role, their role has changed. It has moved from one of absolute control to one of limited but important influence. This reflects those changes in Chinese society that severely crippled an age-stratification system in which parents controlled the futures of their children. Parents no longer have the absolute

power over marriage decisions that they once had, but they remain influential.

EXPLAINING PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT

The Social Context of Marriage Decisions

In order to better understand why parents contin- ue to be involved in the lives and marriage deci- sions of their daughters, we need to examine how the process of marriage is shaped by certain char- acteristics of Chinese society. In this section I ex- plore the context in which marriage decisions take place.

One of the most important factors shaping marriage behavior in China-as in other societies -is proximity. In both rural and urban areas, adult children usually live with their parents until they marry. This pattern is both expected by cul- tural norms (especially strong in rural areas) and reinforced by both the shortage of housing and rules that do not allow unmarried people to ac- quire housing easily, an important factor in urban areas. Young women and men thus live in close physical proximity to their parents during the time that they choose a spouse. In rural areas, young people are even less mobile, which would contribute to continuing parental involvement.

Two other factors relating to proximity are es- pecially important in urban areas and increase the potential involvement by parents. Because of the housing crisis, apartments tend to be small, with little room for privacy. In addition, there are few places that young people can go in order to so- cialize. Consequently, most of their socializing, with friends of the same or opposite sex, is done in the close quarters of their families' living space, making it very likely that parents will meet any potential spouses or boyfriends.

The difficulty of obtaining housing after mar- riage may also influence parental involvement. Because the wait for housing in urban areas can take years, most newly married couples live with the wife's or, more likely, the husband's family immediately after marriage. It is likely that given the probability of coresidence, parents would want to at least agree to a potential spouse of their son or daughter; when making their decisions, young people themselves might also take into consideration any possible conflict between their spouse and their parents. In rural areas, where vir- ilocal residence is even more common, compati- bility is obviously of equally great, if not greater, importance (Wolf, 1972, p. 178ff).

798

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China

Norms favoring strong kin relationships also contribute to parental involvement. As discussed above, family and kin have always been an im- portant part of individuals' lives in China, and they continue to be valued today. This emphasis on kin ties has at least two paths of influence. One way through which new family ties are formed is marriage, and the universality of mar- riage in China is a reflection of the importance of family. The belief that marriage is an important marker of adulthood, the lack of alternatives to married life, and the negative attitudes toward women unmarried by a certain age all serve to put pressure on a young woman to marry, and to find a suitable husband before she gets "too old."

The importance of family and kin exerts a sec- ond influence on the strength of relationships within the family. In my research, I found that young women as well as their parents welcome the interaction between the generations. Parents were involved in other important decisions in young women's lives as well (see Riley, 1989). Asked about the role of parents, friends, and oth- ers in various areas of their lives ranging from choice of clothing to choice of career, young women indicated that parents were important, and often the most important, figures in these areas of their lives. It is clear that strong family relation- ships are accepted as the norm, and viewed posi- tively. The young women I interviewed all agreed that they would not want their parents to arrange their marriage, and almost all parents agreed. However, young women showed little obvious re- sistance to, and seemed to genuinely accept, a certain amount of parental influence and involve- ment.

Many of the interactions between the genera- tions are also tied to the need for family relation- ships. Young people depend on their parents and parents-in-law for child care and housework help, especially because mothers have to return to full- time work shortly after birth. In rural areas, older women often farm private family lands, providing an important source of extra cash for the family. Older family members rely on younger relatives as well. Sons and daughters usually provide fi- nancial support for their parents after retirement. In urban areas, most retired people receive pen- sions and do not need full financial support from their children; however, children do provide im- portant nonfinancial aid as their parents' age and health begin to restrict their activities.

These needs and interactions among family members in China occur in families in other

Asian societies as well. Morgan and Hirosima (1983) described the importance of parents in Japan, in providing child care, financial support, and other assistance to their young married sons and daughters-in-law. In Taiwan, intergenera- tional ties continue to be strong and important; re- searchers have even found that parents influence the fertility decisions of young couples (Thorn- ton, Freedman, Sun, & Chang, 1986). However, in China, the particular social, economic, and po- litical context in which marriage takes place fur- ther underscores continuing strong interpersonal relationships in general and family relationships in particular, which in turn shape the role of par- ents in marriage. The nature of the society actual- ly encourages individuals to value interpersonal relationships-guanxi-more than they might otherwise.

Of course, interpersonal relationships are used to achieve personal goals in many societies (see Lomnitz, 1988; Rigby, 1979; Willerton, 1979). In his examination of personal ties in modem indus- trial society, Granovetter (1985) makes a strong case for the importance of social relations in eco- nomic activity, arguing that "the anonymous mar- ket of neoclassical models is virtually nonexistent in economic life and that transactions of all kinds

are rife with . . . social connections" (p. 495). In Japan, patron-client ties (oyabun-kobun) are espe- cially important in occupational settings (Eisen- stadt & Roniger, 1984). But although personal ties exist and are important in many societies, there are key differences between Western indus- trial societies or Japan, on the one hand, and China on the other. In the former, these relation- ships are developed and used in a relatively nar- row sphere compared with China, and the scope of and dependence on these connections is very different in these societies.

China's is a highly bureaucratic system in which officials have much flexibility in how they apply and enforce rules (Walder, 1986). Because of this flexibility, whether an official and an ap- plicant have a personal connection can influence how and how quickly any process proceeds. The system is rigid, not because of a strict adherence to the enforcement of rules or regulations, but be- cause the scope of the system is so broad and all- encompassing.

The economic structure of the society is anoth- er important influence. The most important eco- nomic feature of Chinese society in recent decades is that it has been a nonmarket economy where shortages are common. With a large and

799

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Journal of Marriage and the Family

growing population and a shortage of most items, access becomes the most difficult factor in ob-

taining goods and services. In this context, guanxi becomes a substitute for impersonal market trans- actions. In a market economy, a scarcity of refrig- erators might push the price up so that only those with a lot of money would be able to purchase a refrigerator. In China, money is often secondary to access to a good or service. It is more often who one knows rather than whether one has the

money that determines who is able to purchase a refrigerator. In this system, where there are few alternatives to the mainstream route, where there is widespread scarcity of resources, and where there is little else to exchange, the use of interper- sonal ties, or guanxi, has become widespread.

Guanxi

Guanxi can be thought of as a system used to ex- change favors or a way of obtaining a private goal or fulfilling a need (see Yang, 1986). In China, guanxi is an important resource that can be accu- mulated and exchanged and is used in all aspects of life, from the smallest, everyday aspects to the most important events in a person's life.

Thus, for successful string-pulling (la guanxi) one's network ideally should contain everyone from store clerks who control scarce commodi-

ties to cadres who have final say over such things as housing allotments, residence permits, job assignments and political evaluations needed for Youth League or Party membership (Gold, 1985, p. 661).

The nature of guanxi ties varies. Some guanxi ties are strictly instrumental, and some are very much tied to personal feelings. But most of these ties are a mixture of instrumental and personal (Pye, 1985). They are not usually based on a pa- tron-client relationship but rather on more equal exchanges. "Unlike acts of bureaucratic corrup- tion, such strategies do not necessarily transgress any clear rules or regulations; as such they are not corrupt, in the narrow definition of the term" (Oi, 1989, p. 224). Those who have ties or power within one sphere can exchange help in that area for similar aid in an area to which they otherwise have no access. Thus, a physician may help a shopkeeper to get better or faster medical care; in return, she may receive first notice of the arrival of a new shipment of televisions. One respondent in my survey was interested in buying furniture, but wanted a more modern kind than was com-

monly available. She finally succeeded only after

calling upon the help of a man to whom she was distantly related. He quickly secured the desired furniture; she, in turn, will probably be called upon in the future to respond in a similar fashion to a request.

The use of guanxi in buying middle- or upper- class train or plane tickets is so common and nec- essary that it is often the first route attempted.

A friend in Beijing described how he was able to buy a hard sleeper ticket: he approached his mother who works in a hospital serving railroad workers; she made a request to someone she knew at the train station office, who then wrote down her son's name on a slip of paper and also made a telephone call to the ticket seller. The son then took the slip to the train ticket station where they actually have a special window booth just to sell tickets to "guanxihu" or people with guanxi, got in line, and bought his ticket (Yang, 1986, p. 40).

Guanxi is also useful in other, more important aspects of life, as we saw in the example of how a parent used guanxi to secure entrance for her child into a university. Guanxi can be the differ- ence between being assigned to a job in a distant city and being assigned near family. Within a danwei (work unit), guanxi is often involved in decisions about good positions or decisions about which members are allowed to travel abroad. One

of the most obvious examples of the importance of guanxi is in housing. In urban areas, housing is in short supply and applicants often wait years for an apartment. Guanxi is the key to a shorter wait, or to an assignment of better housing.

Guanxi is often necessary to fill even basic needs. The father of a respondent in my research needed treatment for a serious disease, but, be- cause of the lack of available beds, was unable to get into an adequate hospital for treatment. After two weeks of waiting for the "normal" channels to work, during which his condition had wors- ened considerably, the family "pulled guanxi" (la guanxi) to get him into the hospital. Through the help of old classmates and those classmates' guanxi networks, they found someone who was able to put her father's name at the top of the list of waiting patients. This family will in turn owe a favor to those who helped them, and will be ex- pected to use whatever contacts they may have when called upon.

These examples of how people use guanxi il- lustrate several aspects of guanxi. It is clear how important cultivating these relationships is, and how the shortage of goods and services reinforces

800

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China

this system. Because shortages exist in all aspects of life, connections with people at all levels and in all walks of life are useful and often necessary. This may partly explain why guanxi does not usu- ally reflect a patron-client relationship, but more of an understanding and exchange between equals.

The importance of guanxi in all areas of life may also be a factor in whether or not the ties be- tween parents and children are stronger in fami- lies of certain strata than in others. In other soci-

eties, parents in those families that have more wealth or land to distribute or leave to the next

generation often have more power over decisions that young people make about schooling or mar- riage (Cherlin & Chamratrithirong, 1988). We might expect similar patterns in China; children of parents with a lot of power might have stronger ties to their family members, at least partly be- cause maintaining such ties will probably be of benefit to them. On the other hand, because guanxi is needed at all levels of daily life and ex- change, even children of families with less pow- erful guanxi networks may need those connec- tions. In other words, the level of exchanges may be different for different classes in China, but it is

not clear that the intensity or numbers of ex- changes vary among different social groups. The economic and social system and the necessity of guanxi within it may serve to reinforce kin ties in all groups.

The relationship between marriage and the guanxi system lies in the important role of the family in guanxi networks. While family is not the only source of guanxi, kin networks provide an easy and readily available system of guanxi (Gold, 1985). These ties are often easiest to ac- cess, interpret, and deal with. In addition, govern- ment restrictions on mobility in China may have strengthened guanxi networks based on kin. Be- cause of strict rules about migration, it is likely that adult children will stay in the same geograph- ical area as their parents, and that they will natu- rally tie into and use the guanxi networks of their parents as they begin to apply for jobs and hous- ing. Thus, guanxi is important in the process of marriage because the need for guanxi reinforces norms about strong kin ties and the role of family members in any decision a family member makes. A synergism has developed between the old norms and the new system.

Thus, although interpersonal ties might be use- ful in many societies, China's particular combina- tion of cultural norms and socioeconomic and po-

litical situation mean that those ties are even more

important. A brief comparison with Taiwan fur- ther underscores these differences. Many writers have discussed the importance of guanxi in Tai- wan society (Hwang, 1987; King, 1991): "Skill at managing a thick skein of human relationships is the most prized talent in Chinese society. It al- lows its possessor to create a sufficiently wide network of well-placed people to achieve his ends-any ends-gracefully, efficiently, and without excessive expense" (Gates, 1987, p. 194). Indeed, use of guanxi in Taiwan and China seems to be a reflection of common culture and history; however, the socioeconomic context in China ne- cessitates a reliance on guanxi (and kin) that is not present in Taiwan. Although kin and other networks remain important in both, the type of economy and the inflexibility and lack of alterna- tives in China have served to further underscore

the cultural norm of strong kin networks (see King, 1991). In Taiwan, guanxi is helpful, but there are other routes to success; in China, guanxi may often be the only way to get something done.

The lack of private ownership in China may also contribute to the strength of these ties be- tween parents and children. Families are not al- lowed to own land, and rarely accumulate exten- sive cash resources. Even education is not a clear

advantage these days, when intellectuals are regu- larly out of favor with the state. In China, guanxi is, in fact, one of the few resources that parents can pass on to their children. In this context, guanxi can take the place of other resources. "Pulling guanxi" (la guanxi) is a way of helping children, or other kin, find a good job, housing, or schooling, and can often be very effective in help- ing those family members to succeed. Guanxi is thus often more important than money. Because parents are more likely to have stronger and more extensive guanxi networks than their sons or daughters, young people can be as dependent on their parents for their success as are young people in other societies such as Taiwan, who depend on family resources such as land or money.

CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER IMPLICATIONS

The results of this and other surveys have both important theoretical implications and indications about possible future changes. In China, as in many other societies, marriage is an institution that represents a crucial juncture in individuals' and families' lives and that remains vital to the

organization of the society. As we have seen,

801

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Journal of Marriage and the Family

marriage continues to involve the cooperation of both parents and children. Such involvement be- tween the generations suggests an interdepen- dence that does not exist in many Western soci- eties and has not been expected to last through the many social, political, and economic changes that have taken place in China. Nevertheless, we can see that there are both cultural and structural rea-

sons for the continuing involvement of parents. Housing shortages, proximity of younger and older generations, and lack of dating culture all have contributed to the continuing role of parents in their daughters' lives. But the system of guanxi is also important because it represents and reflects both the continuing strong family ties that exist in China and the ways that those ties have been, in many ways, underlined and strengthened in the current Chinese system. In other words, the struc- ture of socialist society-its nonmarket economy, bureaucratic nature, and the difficulties in obtain-

ing goods and services or reaching personal goals -is interwoven with long-established norms of strong family and interpersonal ties.

Tied to norms about family relationships, guanxi is thus related to marriage behavior. Mar- riage decisions are made in a context that encour- ages the continuing influence of parents in the lives of their children. Because of these continu-

ing and very necessary ties among family mem- bers, parents participate in the decisions that their children make and young people depend on their parents for aid in starting schooling and careers. Family members of both generations view kin re- lationships, as they must see other relationships as well, as an important part of the social fabric of their lives. The social, economic, and political system of modem China requires that people look at other people and at their relationships as vital resources. Parental involvement in marriage is thus part of the give and take of the necessity of interdependence of family, friends, and col- leagues in Chinese life today.

When viewed in this light, the continuing in- volvement of parents in marriage found in this and other studies calls into question predictions of family change in China and other societies. Rather than seeing a lack of predicted or expected change as a "stalled revolution," we might instead see such marriage behavior as still further evi- dence that changes are not uniform across soci- eties but reflect the particularities not only of eco- nomic systems but of cultural systems as well.

China continues to undergo changes that will undoubtedly affect marriage behavior. Recent

economic changes have made resources ex- changed, sold, or bought in a market economy more accessible to Chinese citizens. Cash could

replace guanxi in parts of the economy, and the reduction of some shortages is also important. How these and other changes might influence the use of guanxi and its association with the role of parents in marriage is not clear. Young people may become less dependent on family ties. But it is also likely that these new economic policies will mix with continuing traditions of strong fam- ily ties and reliance on guanxi. It will be interest- ing to see just how marriage behavior continues to adapt to and influence ongoing social changes.

NOTE

I would like to acknowledge the support and comments of the following people: Andrew Cherlin, Robert Gard- ner, Susan Greenhalgh, Linda Martin, James McCarthy, the State Statistical Bureau of China, Wang Feng, Wang Shaoxian, and anonymous reviewers at JMF.

REFERENCES

Baker, H. (1979). Chinese family and kinship. New York: Columbia University Press.

Cherlin, A., & Chamratrithirong, A. (1988). Variations in marriage patterns in central Thailand. Demogra- phy, 25, 337-353.

Choe, M. K., Wu, J., Zhang, R., & Guo, F. (1990, February). Timing of first birth in six provinces of China: Findings from the In-Depth Fertility Study, Phase II. Paper presented at the National Seminar on the In-Depth Fertility Study, Beijing.

Chow, T. (1960). The May 4th movement: Intellectual revolution in moder China. Cambridge, MA: Har- vard University Press.

Coale, A., Wang, F., Riley, N. E., & Lin, F. D. (1991). Recent trends in fertility and nuptiality in China. Sci- ence, 251, 389-393.

Croll, E. (1984). The exchange of women and property: Marriage in post-revolutionary China. In. R. Hirschon (Ed.), Women and property-women as property (pp. 44-61). London: Croom Helm.

Ebery, P. (1991). Introduction. In R. Watson & P. Ebrey (Eds.), Marriage and inequality in Chinese society (pp. 1-24). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Eisenstadt, S. N., & Roninger, L. (1984). Patrons, clients, and friends. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer- sity Press.

Gates, H. (1987). Chinese working-class lives: Getting by in Taiwan. Ithaca: Corell University Press.

Gold, T. (1985). After comradeship: Personal relations in China since the Cultural Revolution. China Quar- terly, 104, 657-675.

Goode, W. (1963). World revolution and family patterns. New York: Free Press.

Goody, J. (1990). The oriental, the ancient, and the primitive. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

802

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China

Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91,481-510.

Honig, E., & Hershatter, G. (1988). Personal voices: Chinese women in the 1980s. Stanford: Stanford

University Press. Hwang, K. K. (1987). Face and favor: The Chinese

power game. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 944-974.

Inkeles, A. (1980). Modernization and family patterns: A test of the convergence theory. Conspectus of His- tory, 1, 31-63.

King, A. (1991). Kuan-hsi and network building: A so- ciological interpretation. Daedalus, 120, 63-84.

Lang, 0. (1946). Chinese family and society. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Levy, M. (1968). The family revolution in modern China. New York: Atheneum.

Lomnitz, L. A. (1988). Informal exchange networks in formal systems: A theoretical model. American An- thropologist, 90, 42-55.

Malhotra, A. (1991). Gender and changing generational relations: Spouse choice in Indonesia. Demography, 28, 549-570.

Marriage costs rising. (1986, December 6). China Daily, p. 1.

Morgan, S. P., & Hirosima, K. (1983).The persistence of extended family residence in Japan: Anachronism or adaptive strategy. American Sociological Review, 48, 269-281.

Niu, Q. X. (1986, October 2/3). Press hits extravagant marriages. China Daily, p. 4.

Oi, J. (1989). Market reforms and corruption in rural China. Studies in Comparative Communism, 22, 221-234.

Pasternak, B. (1986). Marriage and fertility in Tianjin, China: Fifty years of transition (Paper No. 99). Hon- olulu: East-West Population Institute.

Potter, S., & Potter, J. (1990). China's peasants: The an- thropology of a revolution. Cambridge, U.K.: Cam- bridge University Press.

Pye, L. (1985). Asian power and politics. Cambridge, MA: Belknap/Harvard University Press.

Rigby, T. H. (1979). The need for comparative research on clientalism: Concluding comments. Studies in Comparative Communism, 12, 204-211.

Riley, N. E. (1989). Gender and generation in modern Beijing. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

Riley, N. E., & Zhen, J. (1990). The role of parents in marriage decisions in China: Findings from the In-

Depth Fertility Survey. Proceedings of the Interna- tional Seminar on China's In-Depth Fertility Survey (pp. 405-420). Voorburg: International Statistical In- stitute.

Salaff, J. (1973). The emerging conjugal relationship in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 35, 705-717.

Stacey, J. (1983). Patriarchy and socialist revolution in China. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Thornton, A., Chang, M. C., & Sun, T. H. (1984). Social and economic change, intergenerational relation- ships, and family formation in Taiwan. Demography, 21, 475-499.

Thornton, A., Freedman, R., Sun, T. H., & Chang, M. H. (1986). Intergenerational relations and repro- ductive behavior in Taiwan. Demography, 23, 185- 197.

Walder, A. G. (1986). Communist neo-traditionalism: Work and authority in Chinese industry. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Watson, R. (1985). Inequality among brothers: Class and kinship in South China. Cambridge, U.K.: Cam- bridge University Press.

Watson, R., & Ebrey, P. B. (Eds.). (1991). Marriage and inequality in Chinese society. Berkeley: Univer- sity of California Press.

Whyte, M. K. (1990). Changes in mate choice in Cheng- du. In D. Davis & E. Vogel (Eds.), Chinese society on the eve of Tiananmen (pp. 181-214). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, Council on East Asian Studies Publications.

Willerton, J. (1979). Clientalism in the Soviet Union: An initial examination. Studies in Comparative Communism, 12, 159-183.

Wolf, A. (1986). The preeminent role of government in- tervention in China's family revolution. Population and Development Review, 12, 101-116.

Wolf, A., & Huang, C. S. (1980). Marriage and adop- tion in China, 1845-1945. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Wolf, M. (1972). Women and the family in rural Taiwan. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Wolf, M. (1985). Revolution postponed: Women in con- temporary China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Xu, X. H., & Whyte, M. K. (1990). Love matches and arranged marriage: A Chinese replication. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 709-722.

Yang, M. (1986). The art of social relationships and ex- change in China. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.

803

This content downloaded from 199.73.44.216 on Tue, 23 Aug 2016 06:08:50 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms