中国日常文化之家庭-这就是中国

中国人非常注重家庭和血缘关系。中国古代有“父母在，不远游，游必有方”的说法。如今，离开家乡和父母到外地工作的人越来越多，但逢年过节，他们总希望回到家乡，回到父母身边。所以，春节和“十一”国庆长假期间，是中国交通最繁忙的时候。

Chinese people place huge emphasis on family and blood relationships. There is an ancient Chinese saying, “While his parents are alive, a son should not go far away;if he does, he should let them know where he goes.” Nowadays, however, more and more Chinese people choose to leave their hometowns and parents, and move to other places for better work opportunities. Nevertheless, they will always make an effort to travel back to their hometowns and visit their parents for the tradition of spending family time together during important holidays. As a result, China's transportation networks are always the busiest around the holidays at the Spring Festival and National Day (October 1).

中国人的姓名，姓在前面，名在后面。

中国人的姓有单姓和复姓两种，常见的单姓有几百个，复姓有几十个。在单姓中，李、王、张、刘、陈是最多见的。常见的复姓有诸葛、欧阳、司马、端木、公孙等。

中国人的姓大多随父亲，也有少数人随母姓，是家族血缘关系的符号。中国人的名字往往具有一定的含义，通常是表达某种愿望，如：“富、财”是希望发财，“贵、禄”是希望出人头地，“福”是希望幸福，“康、健、强”是希望身体健康、强壮，“德、贤、淑”是希望成为有德之人，“栋、杰、才”是希望成为有用之才。同时，不同时代相同的名字往往也代表不同的意义。

中国人的姓名 Chinese Names

Chinese surnames come first followed by first names.

There are two types of Chinese surnames: the one-character (one-syllable) surname and the two-character (two-syllable) surname. There are currently hundreds of commonly-used one-character surnames, of which Li, Wang, Zhang, Liu and Chen are the most widely used; there are dozens of commonly-used two-character surnames, of which Zhuge, Ouyang, Sima, Duanmu and Gongsun are the most common ones.

Most Chinese people inherit their fathers' surnames and only a few their mothers'.The surnames are a symbol of blood relations. First names are often given to imply certain meanings, usually expressing good wishes of the parents. For example, “富”(fù) and “财” (cái) are given as making a fortune; “贵” (guì) and “禄” (lù) as being successful; “福” (fú) as joy and happiness; “康” (kāng), “健” (jiàn) and “强” (qiáng) as health and strength; “德” (dé), “贤” (xián) and “淑” (shū) as being virtuous and honorable; and “栋” (dòng), “杰” (jié) and “才” (cái) as competent persons. The precise meaning of names can also vary from generation to generation.

中国的农业社会有几千年的历史。在这漫长的历史过程中，中国的家庭结构和家庭规模没有发生过较大变化。中国古代，人们追求的是家庭人口众多，崇尚“四世同堂”“五世同堂”的生活。自1949年中华人民共和国成立以来，特别是20世纪70年代末实行计划生育政策后，中国的家庭规模普遍变小。由三人或两人组成的核心家庭约占家庭总数中的60%，其中，仅由夫妻两人组成的家庭呈上升趋势。尤其值得注意的是，单人户的比例近十几年来大幅攀升，据人口抽样调查，2018年，单人户占16.69%，而在1990年，这个比例仅为6.34%。^[1]1949年以前，中国户均人数长期稳定在5.3人左右，1990年为3.96人，2000年为3.44人，2010年为3.10人。^[2]不管是在农村还是在城市，成年子女结婚后都尽可能选择夫妻俩单独居住。还没有结婚的子女，也由于求学或工作等原因，在原生家庭生活的时间越来越短。

China has a history of thousands of years as an agricultural society. During the long historical process, China's family structure and size have not changed much. In ancient China, “four (or five) generations under one roof” was always the ideal concept of family life for Chinese people, as it symbolizes the ideal of a large thriving family. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, especially since the implementation of the family planning policy in the late 1970s, the size of Chinese families has generally reduced. At present, two- and three-person households account for about 60% of the total number of families, of which the number of those consisting of only couples is still rising. It is particularly noteworthy that the proportion of single-person households has been skyrocketing in the past decade. According to statistics, single-person households make up 16.69% of the population in 2018, compared with only 6.34% in 1990. Before 1949, the average number of family members per household remained around 5.3 for a long period of time. It dropped to 3.96 in 1990, 3.44 in 2000 and 3.10 in 2010. Whether in rural or urban areas, adult children choose to move out and live by themselves after they get married. Even those who are single spend less and less time in living with their parents due to reasons such as schooling or work.

中华人民共和国成立后，女性真正走出家门，女性就业越来越普遍，女性的社会地位和经济地位也随之不断提高。根据中国法律规定，夫妻的地位平等，他们在家庭中的权利义务也平等，家务劳动一般都由夫妻共同分担。但由于中国古代长期有“男主外，女主内”的思想，女性分担的家务劳动往往仍多于男性，照顾年幼孩子的比例也大大高于男性。在家务分工上，女性较多承担做饭、洗衣、照顾子女、清洁卫生等事项，男性则较多承担对体力有较高要求的事项。在家庭重大事项的决策方面，男性参与决策的比例仍高于女性。

男女工作合作 Cooperation Between Men and Women in Work

Chinese women began to seek employment outside the home only after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it has now become the norm for women to go to work. As a result, the socioeconomic status of Chinese women has greatly improved. According to Chinese law, husband and wife share equal rights and obligations in the family and their housework is generally shared by the couple.However, under the influence of the historically male-dominated Chinese society,especially due to the idea of “male breadwinner and female homemaker”, women still take on significantly more responsibilities in housework and looking after young children. In terms of housework sharing, it is common that women are more responsible for cooking, laundries, taking care of children, house-cleaning, etc. while men are more likely to do work requiring higher physical strength. In terms of decision-making on major family issues, men are more likely to be the decision-makers than women.

中国是发展中国家，人口众多，过去增长过快，如果不控制人口，势必会造成严重的环境和社会问题。所以，20世纪70年代末，中国政府开始实行计划生育政策。截至2010年，该政策已使中国的人口出生数减少了4亿多，这个数字大致相当于当时美国和墨西哥的人口总数。

中国计划生育政策的主要内容是：提倡晚婚晚育，少生优生。晚婚晚育，就是晚结婚，晚生孩子；少生优生，就是提倡一对夫妇只生一个孩子，而且规定夫妻双方均要做孕前体检，确保夫妻双方适合备孕。实行计划生育政策以后，独生子女越来越多，在同龄人口中的比例不断上升。城镇的计划生育政策更为严格，只要第一个孩子没有健康缺陷，一般家庭里都为独生子女。在农村，如果一对夫妇的第一胎是个女孩，则允许生第二胎。

从成长环境来说，独生子女一般可以接受更多的教育投资，得到家庭更多的照顾，获得更好的物质条件，但他们缺少伙伴，也缺少有助于培养合作精神的家庭环境。另外，这项政策还会带来一些社会问题，如提早进入老龄化社会等。

2013年12月28日，按照相关规定，一方是独生子女的夫妇可生育两个孩子，单独二孩政策依法启动实施。为完善人口发展战略，从2016年1月1日起，中国开始实施全面二孩政策，即任何一对夫妻都可以生育两个孩子。这标志着实行了30多年的计划生育政策正式停止。

China is a developing country with a large population which grew rapidly in the past. If the birthrate had not been controlled, it would have inevitably caused severe environmental and social problems. Therefore, at the end of the 1970s, the Chinese government began to implement the policy of family planning, which had reduced the number of births by more than 400 million in China by the end of 2010, roughly the total population of the United States and Mexico then.

The main purpose of China's policy of family planning was to encourage people to get married later and have children later, and to have fewer and healthier pregnancies.(Specifically, each couple were only encouraged to have one child.) It was also stipulated in the policy that couples should undergo a medical check to ensure their health before planning to have a child. After the implementation of the family planning policy, the number of only children increased, so is the proportion of only children in the same-age population. This policy was more strictly carried out in urban areas, where generally only one child was allowed for one couple as long as the child had no health defects. In rural areas, a second child was allowed for a couple if their first baby was a girl.

二孩家庭 Family with Two Children

In terms of the quality in child care, the only children generally enjoyed more attention and care from family, and had a better material standard of living and access to more education opportunities. However, they lacked companionship from other children as well as a family environment that fostered the spirit of cooperation. In addition, it also caused some social problems, such as the acceleration of the trend towards an aging society.

On December 28, 2013, the government launched a policy, allowing for couples where either the husband or wife is an only child to have two children. In an effort to improve its population strategy further, China launched the “universal two-child policy” on January 1, 2016, which allows all couples to have two children, officially bringing an end to the policy of family planning which has been carried out for over 30 years.(www.xing528.com)

中国现行法定结婚年龄为男22岁，女20岁。但实际上，大部分中国人，尤其是城镇居民，结婚越来越晚。一份对中国十个城市的调查统计数字显示，2015年中国人平均结婚年龄为26岁。^[3]

中国曾经是一个离婚率很低的国家。近二三十年以来，中国的离婚率呈明显上升趋势，尤其是在一些大城市。据统计，2016年北京市有10.58万对夫妻办理离婚登记，而上海市的这一数字为8.26。^[4]

未婚同居和婚前性行为等现象也逐渐增多。北京师范大学论坛“蛋蛋网”发起的一项“2018年北师大学生（含毕业生）性行为调查”的报告中显示，对于“能接受在大学期间有性行为吗”这一问题，选择接受的比例达81.04%，在2016年与2017年同一项调查的报告中，这一数据分别为74.31%与79.00%，比例逐年攀升。对于“是否有过性经历”这一问题，选择“有”的人数比例为46.84%。^[5]由此可以看出，年轻人对婚前性行为的态度表现得更为开放。

结婚证 离婚证 Marriage Certificate and Divorce Certificate

The current legal age for marriage in China is 22 for men and 20 for women. In fact,however, most Chinese people, especially urban residents, get married at an increasingly older age. A survey of ten major cities in China showed that the average age of marriage for Chinese was 26 years old in 2015.

The divorce rate in China used to be very low, but this has changed rapidly in the last twenty to thirty years, especially in some of the big cities. According to statistics,105,800 couples registered a divorce in Beijing in 2016, and that figure was 82,600 in Shanghai in the same year.

Cohabitation and premarital sex are also gradually increasing. A survey of Beijing Normal University students and graduates' sexual behavior conducted in 2018 found that 81.04% of those surveyed chose “accept” when answering the question “Do you accept sexual behavior during your college years?”. And that figure of the same survey in 2016 and 2017 was 74.31% and 79.00% respectively, which shows a rising trend year by year. When answering the question “Have you had sex before?”, 46.84%respondents chose “yes”. This suggests that young people today hold a more open attitude to premarital sex.

在中国古代，结婚不需要去政府部门登记，只要双方父母同意，新人举行拜堂成亲的仪式，就能成为合法夫妻。

拜堂成亲 Traditional Wedding Ceremony with Three Bows

In ancient China, a couple didn't need to register their marriage with government officials. A permission from their parents and a traditional wedding ceremony with three bows (bow to the Heaven and Earth, to their parents and to each other) would make them husband and wife.

词汇NEW WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS

[1]中华人民共和国国家统计局，《中国统计年鉴2019》，中国统计出版社，2019年，http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2019/indexch.htm。

National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Abstract 2019, China Statistics Press, 2019. http:// www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2019/indexch.htm.

[2]国家卫生计生委家庭司，《中国家庭发展报告2016》，中国人口出版社，2016年，第21页。

Department of Family Planning and Development, National Health and Family Planning Commission, China Family Development Report 2016, China Population Publishing House, 2016, p.21.

[3]《中国幸福婚姻家庭调查报告》在京发布，（2015-11-20）[2018-05-17]，http://fj.people.com.cn/2015/1127/c372371-27196229.html。

A Survey of Happy Marriages and Families in China published in Beijing, (2015-11-20) [2018-05-17], http://fj.people.com.cn/2015/1127/c372371-27196229.html.

[4]中华人民共和国国家统计局，《中国统计年鉴2017》，中国统计出版社，2017年，http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2017/indexch.htm。

National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Abstract 2017, China Statistics Press, 2017. http:// www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2017/indexch.htm.

[5]北师大学生（含毕业生）性行为调查报告2018版，（2018-05-02）[2018-11-07]，https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xGDCrnnB5_-540cD_aOUrQ。

A survey of 2018 Beijing Normal University Students' (including graduates') sexual behavior, (2018-05-02) [2018-11-07], https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/xGDCrnnB5_-540cD_aOUrQ.