Challenge To The Parent Child Relationship In Qing China

Challenge To The Parent Child Relationship In Qing China
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Challenge To The Parent Child Relationship In Qing China
Ancient China is known to have had a rich history in terms of its social, cultural, and political associations. Much of what is happening in the Chinese society has its roots from the practices that started centuries ago. The Qing dynasty is one of the dynasties that have existed in China. In fact, it is the last dynasty that ruled in China before the formation of the Republic of China. The practices that took center-stage during this time have continued to influence the lives of the Chinese to date. Specifically, the parent-child relations in Qing China were considered to be a very special social order that defined family relations. It is through the parent-child relationship that the family became a strong bond and, as a result, the society also became stronger. In Qing China, family values were highly considered because what happened in the family was replicated in the political scene. The parents were highly considered as respected persons who were expected to be respected by their children at all costs. In fact, any disobedience to the parents spelt a big problem to the children. Thus, the parent-child relationship was extremely important.
In the Qing culture, the parent was considered as the superior head of the family unit; hence, the child had to respect him or her and be compliant to his or her demands or expectations. In other words, what the child thought or perceived was not important compared to what the parent or society expected of him or her. It is through this social pattern that the parent-child relationship became a highly structured and esteemed social order in Qing China, which was supposed to be adhered to. However, despite the long-standing trading of the children having to obey their parents at all times, and comply with their expectations, there are challenges that emerged that should be discussed. The major problem or challenge to the parent-child relationship was the deterioration of a child’s capacity to make independent decisions. Of course, the incapacity to be decisive in matters of life especially matters that affected one’s social cultural orientation has a big impact on his or her life. In spite of the much emphasis on establishing social order through the parent-child relationship in Qing China, this social pattern often eroded the ability of children to make decisions because they appeared excessively inferior to their parents.
Irrespective of one’s age, it was expected that a child had to respect his or her parent. As long as one’s parent was alive, it was an obligation for him or her to show unwavering respect to the parent. This shows that the parent was very important in the hierarchy of the society, that the child did not have much to say. As it has been mentioned earlier, the parent-child relationship was so pivotal that it reflected what happened in the political sphere. The leaders of the Qing dynasty were considered to be highly superior, thus whatever they ordered had to be respected. In the same way, the children of the Qing society had to bow to what their parents said or expecte...