Abstract
Family life in China has gone through drastic changes in the past decades. Chinese society has, for centuries, been organized in a highly communitarian manner; people have been oriented toward collective rather than individual goals. Since 1979, the beginning of the economic reform era, Chinese families have gradually evolved into individual enterprises whose members were linked together through bonds of sentiment instead of duties. These cultural changes accompanying with the launch of the “one-child” policy affected the parenting styles and the philosophy of parenting in the families in both rural and urban areas. This framework describes how parents in China, a collectivistic and competitive society, collectively perceive a particular path as the path to success for their children (CDP). The chapter explores some contributing factors to adopting a collective path and factors in forming the path. The current CDP for Chinese parenting and education is to get into good universities and receive a degree in desirable majors, which leads to a career of power, status, and money. Some parenting outcomes of adopting the CDP are focusing too much on academic excellence, favoring obedience over free will, and encouraging children to fit in. There are benefits of adopting the CDP such as social mobility and family prosperity. However, it can also be detrimental to the full development of children. Western influences and new-generation parents (parents born in and after the 1980s) may help to reform the current CDP and parenting practices to promote a balanced development of future children.
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Recommended Readings
Chu, L. (2017). Little soldiers: An American boy, a Chinese School and the global race to achieve. New York: HarperCollins.
Chua, A. (2011). Battle hymn of the tiger mother. New York: Penguin Press.
Confucius. (1999). The analects of Confucius: A philosophical translation. New York: Ballantine Books.
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Wang, Y., & Giles, H. A. (2011). San Tzu Ching: Elementary Chinese. San Bernardino, CA: Ulan Press.
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Qi, Z., Du, Y. (2020). Chinese Parenting and the Collective Desirable Path Through Sociopolitical Changes. In: Ashdown, B.K., Faherty, A.N. (eds) Parents and Caregivers Across Cultures. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35590-6_9
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