Interwoven Lives: Parents, Marriage, and Guanxi in China

In China people rely heavily on the use of interpersonal ties (guanxi) to acquire scarce goods and services. Children often rely on parents guanxi for help in achieving school or career goals. This article examines changes in the role of parents in marriage decisions using the In-Depth Fertility Survey Phase II (hereafter IDFS) which was conducted in 1987 by the State Statistical Bureau (Beijing). The survey included approximately 5000 respondents in each of the 6 provinces of Liaoning Shandong Beijing Guangdong Guizhou and Gansu (n = 31914). All respondents were ever-married women between the ages of 15 and 50. In addition data were collected in Beijing during 1986-87. The focus of that project was marriage and the role of parents in young womens lives. Qualitative data were also collected 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 questionnaire. The proportion of women in marriages in which their parents were not involved was quite high (over 50%) in Beijing but that city stood apart from the other 5 provinces where the proportion was much lower (in all others it was less than 35%). The rate of arranged marriage was especially low in Beijing Guangdong and Liaoning but higher in Shandong Guizhou and highest in Gansu. In Beijing parents often chose friends for their daughters both female and male. Out of 248 married respondents nearly 45% had received an introduction to a potential spouse from their parents. The relationship between marriage and the guanxi system lies in the important role of the family in guanxi networks. Recent economic changes have made resources exchanged 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 has also been important.