Kinship Structure, Post-Marital Residence and Sex-Role Equality in China

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The aim of this paper is to articulate the significance of Chinese kinship structure and post-marital rule of residence in shaping the direction of family change, and the attainment of egalitarianism between the sexes. By drawing upon the works of anthropologists on factors associated with changes in rules of post-marital residence and the more theoretical work of Hsu on Chinese and Western kinship structure and content, the author wishes to point out the general direction in which family change may take place in China, and to cast doubt on the inevitability of nuclearization. Field notes gathered during the author's unguided three-week visit to southeastern China (Kwangtung and Fukien provinces) in the fall of 1976 during the time of Mao's death are presented extensively to lend further support to her argument that structural constraints inherent in the Chinese kinship system countervail the official goals of promoting sexual equality in China.