The Chinese 51Family Values
American watchdog groups who advocate strong family ties
might well look to China for what truly strong family ties
mean. Growing out of Confucian ideals and other Chinese
traditions, China places a centrality on the importance of
family obligations that surpasses anything most Americans
are familiar with. Most Chinese parents and children grow
up as a matter of course eating almost all meals together,
sharing free time together, supporting each other at times
of stress, and sharing resources remarkably freely from a
Western perspective. The busy American family, leaving
each other Post-It notes on their way to conflicting sports
events, meetings, and so on, is largely incomprehensible to
most Chinese.
However much Westerners admire the upside of Chinese
family closeness, the downsides of it can cause friction
and misunderstandings. Even in adulthood, Chinese family
members tend to involve themselves in each other’s
The family is the centre of focus for the Chinese, and children are brought
up to be fi lial and close to their families.