Life
in China is so varied. I have been traveling to China for the past
six years, and with each trip come new insights. China has the
largest population of any country in the world. There are one
billion three hundred million people that live in the country; one in
every six people in the world lives in China.
There
are 56 minorities and hundreds of dialects spoken. Many people speak
more than one language. Mandarin is the national language and has
been a key to the growth of China because it is the main language
that is taught in school and spoken in business.
Over
the past hundred years, there have been many changes to the basic
family unit in China. Up until 1911, China was ruled by an emperor.
In October 1949, Chairman Mao Tse-Tung declared a new country of
China. Within the next ten years, families were encouraged to have
big families. If you were a mother of eight or more you were called
a super mom. You were honored with special privileges and were
highly respected in the community. Chairman Mao felt that if China
had more people they would have the advantage in the world.
In
the next 40 years, the population grew to more than a billion people.
The family went though a huge change when the government made a new
law that couples could only have one child if you lived in the city
and two if you lived in the country if the first one was a girl.
For
millennia, the family unit in China has been the core of society.
Much respect and honor has been given to the older generation. It
is common for three and four generations to live together under one
roof.
It is not uncommon for three or four generations to live together under one roof.
I
have been impressed with the care and concern the Chinese give their
elderly. In the parks I often see Chinese people pushing their
parents in wheelchairs. The other day in the park I saw a
wheelchair-bike combination. The wheelchair was in the front and the
person who was pedaling sat just behind the elderly person pedaling
the bike.
What
I have learned in my recent trips is that many young people have been
raised by their grandparents. Both parents go off to work, and the
care of the young children goes to the grandparents. When people on
our tours express to me how tired they get when they care for their
grandchildren, I always ask them how many they are caring for. They
forget that in China there is one child in a family and that child
has six people concerned about their care — a mom and a dad,
along with both sets of grandparents.
Four grandparents plus two parents are often responsible for the raising of one child in China.
The
little ones these days are often called little emperors and
princesses because they get so much attention. I do not think that I
have ever seen a shy child in China. They are ready to perform at
the slightest encouragement.
Even
though the family has been changing over the years, I still see the
family unit as a core to Chinese society. Despite all the changes,
much love and care is still going into raising the next generation.
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Dian Thomas was blessed with the good fortune to be born near and raised in
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After more than 25 years of media exposure and 19 books, she now shares her
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A former Relief Society president, Dian is currently serving as a visiting
teacher. Visit her website at www.DianThomas.com